Employees of USDA-Agriculture Research Service in Urbana, Illinois teamed up with the University of Illinois to establish a unique Peoples Garden this year. The garden was named ‘Three Sisters’ because we grew variations of the three main agricultural crops of some Native Americans: maize, beans and squash. The garden produced sweet corn, which has been improved in multiple, significant ways by the University of Illinois. We also grew 14 cultivars of edamame developed in Urbana by retired USDA-ARS plant breeder Richard Bernard. In addition to green beans, we also cultivated several types of pumpkins, recognizing Illinois grows 95% of the nation’s pumpkins used in processing.
