"Three Sisters" Companion Planting

The Survivalist Blog explains:

Corn acts as a living trellis for beans. beans provide nitrogen for the following year’s garden, and squash is a living ground cover helping to naturally prevent weeds and retain moisture in the garden.

The idea behind the three sisters garden was to grow food for winter storage without the need for refrigeration or canning. Corn, beans and squash compliment each other nutrition-wise as well and make a relatively complete meal. Corn and beans are dried and winter squash lasts a long time on the shelf providing a source of fresh nutrients throughout the winter season when little or no other plant life is to be found.

Additional information and videos at the link.