Three sisters not playing nicely

 It's always the same with three - one of them always gets left out or doesn't want to join in properly. With my Mohawk 'Three Sisters' bed it's the corn that isn't co-operating. A few of them have come up, but the majority haven't (I'd sown two separate lots), so I had to re-sow them again on Sunday night.

The runner beans (Wisley Magic) and squash (various varieties - Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin, Small Wonder (spaghetti squash), small mixed ornamental gourds) germinated almost instantly, but the sweetcorn (Bon Appétit) doesn't want to play. Only five have come up so far, and as they are supposed to be forming the framework for the beans to climb, this is not much use. I tried soaking the kernels in water for an hour or two this time, so maybe that will help. Otherwise I'll have to put up some bean poles, which won't be the end of the world - just a bit irritating.

The Three Sisters feature in the Mohawks' creation story. There's a version of this, as told by Anataras (Al Brant), available from the old Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory site. It took Anataras nine hours to tell this story in the classes I attended earlier this year - so it is quite long and involved!