In November 2022, I visited one of the MCC/Cambodian Rural Development Team project participants on a remote island in Sambour district, Kratie province. She is a poor farmer named Sopheat. She’s part of the local vegetable producer group and village savings bank. She had started a tremendous vegetable garden and I asked her why she had decided to start with such a big garden.

When I asked Sopheat why she had decided to start with such a big garden she explained that her oldest son, 18 years old, had left the island to work at a company mine in a neighboring district. Mining is dangerous work that pays little and has no safety net in case of injury. Sopheat shared that recently some miners have died in accidents so she is very concerned about her son. She hopes that increasing her farming income will convince her son to return home and make a safer living as a farmer.

During my January 2023 visit to the island I made a point to stop at her garden again. I was surprised when, at first glance, the second half of the garden looked untended except for a few stalks of corn.

When I stepped closer I realized that Sopheat was using a Native American farming technique known as the “three sisters.” It looks untended at first but when you look closer you can see the gourds are planted around the corn. Bean is planted once the corn reaches a certain size. This technique benefits all three plants and enriches the soil.

You can learn more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)

I’ll continue to follow up with Sopheat and the three sisters when I visit the island. And I’ll let you know how things go, both with her son and with the farming technique.