Golden German foxtail millet
$4.00 – $8.00
(Setaria italica)
A Moharia-type foxtail, this millet has enthusiastic plants which are very uniform and produce many tillers with beautiful heads. Competes well with weeds, and visually stunning, with no lodging! A remarkable variety. Its only downside is that it is slightly harder to thresh than some. Popular as a cover crop, and it would do well in this role.
In a booklet (Greg Hinze, Millets in Colorado, Colorado State University Experiment Station Fort Collins Bulletin 553S, May 1977) I found a brief history of the variety: Golden German was grown by J. J. Deschamps and his son David for 35 years near Wray, Colorado in the northeastern corner of the state. It was then released as a named variety by Colorado State University Experiment Station in 1968. I obtained my original seed from the USDA National Plant Germplasm System (the American national seedbank), where it is accession # PI 363068.
Plant once soil is warm, a week or two after the average last frost (about the same time as common beans and amaranth). Sow seeds ¼” deep, 6” apart in rows 8” apart. Millet likes heat. Bird like millet; when the heads near maturity, pay close attention, and take precautions if you observe the birds beginning to feast. Seedheads can be harvested after frost kills the plants and dried further if necessary before threshing, which is easily accomplished by treading on them.