SSFS Farm Blog Sep. 2026: Everyone Needs a Friend

Farming has been off to sort of a slower start given the hot and then soggy conditions over the last couple weeks. And although I haven't been able to get quite as many seeds in the ground as I would have hoped, it doesn’t mean the learning hasn’t been happening. To start off the year in the Lower School, we learned about a topic called Companion Planting.  

Companion planting is a concept that has recently been gaining popularity among commercial growers. The idea is that planting two or more plants together creates favorable conditions for each plant that allows them to grow better than if the plants were to be grown alone. And, although it is recently getting a lot of attention, it’s quite an old concept.  Perhaps the most famous “companion planting” of all time is the Native American concept of Three Sisters. The idea is that by planting corn, beans, and squash together, each plant relies on the other for its own benefit. Corn grows strong and tall but is susceptible to insects and is a large consumer of nitrogen. The beans need structure, so they grow around the corn, shielding the corn from insects, while adding nitrogen to the soil. The squash creates a sort of ground cover along the soil, regulating soil temperature and trapping moisture, sort of like a living lunch. Grown together, you get a crop of each plant greater than if each plant were to be grown on their own.  Plus, you get three crops from one growing space, greatly reducing the amount of weeding effort, soil prep, etc.

I think there’s a valuable lesson here for students. For starters, it shows that all of nature is connected in a way that’s probably more complex than we understand. It also highlights and reinforces the physical characteristics of different kinds of plants in a real-world setting. It allows students to take observations, make inferences, and reinforce other topics being taught in the classroom.   

All that academic stuff aside, there’s an embedded lesson in here that’s probably even more important. If plants grow and mature better with companions, just imagine how important it is for people.  And, at a school like Sandy Spring, starting the school year off making sure we are being friends in a community of Friends may be the most important thing we can do all year.  So, here’s to a great start of the school year, and a commitment to being the best friend we can possibly be.