Buckwheat
$4.00
(Fagopyrum esculentum)
We only grow one variety, but it has interesting variations in stem and immature seed colour; some are green and others are red. Like all buckwheats this one is indeterminate; seed matures gradually while the plants continue to flower. 1 tbsp/packet.
—
Buckwheat is both a valuable food crop and a cover crop. It grows so fast that it has to be seen to be believed. Technically a “pseudo-cereal,” it is used like a grain, but is actually more closely related to rhubarb than to the true grains, which are grasses.
Buckwheat seeds have hulls, which must be removed before eating. We have made serviceable buckwheat flour by simply grinding them in a Corona mill and sifting the product to remove the hulls. We haven’t yet come up with a way to remove the hulls while keeping the seeds whole.
In stock
Buckwheat is not frost hardy. If you want the seeds to mature for food, plant about 70 days before your average fall frost date and harvest just after frost hits the plants. If you want it only as a cover crop plant somewhat later so that it is killed by frost before it can go to seed (or mow it down and replant partway through the summer). Broadcast and rake in.