4 ms·

For anyone else confused about the three sisters and why they weren't mentioned in the article, it's a reference to this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_

For anyone else confused about the three sisters and why they weren't mentioned in the article, it's a reference to this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)

themadturk 1y ago
Thank you! That headline really threw me for a loop.
rusk 1y ago
Thank you. The other thing I really wanted to know was why they were arranged in mounds/quilt? I’m guessing it relates to irrigation
- alephnerd 1y ago
  My hunch (based on how my grandfather would cultivate) was to provide a mount of fertilizer for added nitrogen along with the added irrigation aspects. It's surprising ("I'm shocked, shocked, well not that shocked") how this style of farming somehow made it all the way to my ancestral village for cultivating these New World crops. Gotta love proto-globalization.
lambda 1y ago
Was the article edited? I don't see a reference to the phrase "three sisters" on it, it just says "corn, beans, and squash." Did the original headline mention it? No, not in the archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20250612153046/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/massive-field-where-native-american-farmers-grew-corn-beans-and-squash-1000-years-ago-discovered-in-michigan-180986758/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250612153046/https://www.smith... Oh, was this mentioned in the original HN title? Has that been edited? Yes, it was. https://web.archive.org/web/20250615154352/https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44257422#44284035 https://web.archive.org/web/20250615154352/https://news.ycom... Original HN title was "1k year old 3 sisters crop farm found in Northern Michigan" I really wish that when titles were edited there was some history, it would make it much easier to understand these little discussions based on the original title.

4 ms·

For anyone else confused about the three sisters and why they weren't mentioned in the article, it's a reference to this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_

by romanhn 1y ago

themadturk 1y ago
Thank you! That headline really threw me for a loop.
rusk 1y ago
Thank you. The other thing I really wanted to know was why they were arranged in mounds/quilt? I’m guessing it relates to irrigation
- alephnerd 1y ago
  My hunch (based on how my grandfather would cultivate) was to provide a mount of fertilizer for added nitrogen along with the added irrigation aspects. It's surprising ("I'm shocked, shocked, well not that shocked") how this style of farming somehow made it all the way to my ancestral village for cultivating these New World crops. Gotta love proto-globalization.
lambda 1y ago
Was the article edited? I don't see a reference to the phrase "three sisters" on it, it just says "corn, beans, and squash." Did the original headline mention it? No, not in the archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20250612153046/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/massive-field-where-native-american-farmers-grew-corn-beans-and-squash-1000-years-ago-discovered-in-michigan-180986758/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250612153046/https://www.smith... Oh, was this mentioned in the original HN title? Has that been edited? Yes, it was. https://web.archive.org/web/20250615154352/https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44257422#44284035 https://web.archive.org/web/20250615154352/https://news.ycom... Original HN title was "1k year old 3 sisters crop farm found in Northern Michigan" I really wish that when titles were edited there was some history, it would make it much easier to understand these little discussions based on the original title.