Growing buckwheat in the garden

Buckwheat is one of the oldest crops and also one of the most useful plants to grow. Prehistoric evidence suggests that the use of the grain from this food plant goes back more than 9,000 years. However, this is likely to be an under-estimate since virtually all parts of the plant are edible and the consumption of leaves and flowers may go back much further.

It is a valuable food plant for several important reasons: Firstly, it is not a cereal grain and so is completely Gluten-free. It is also high in two things that are not readily obtained from cereals - high quality protein (almost equal to that of eggs and milk in digestibility) and has all eight of the essential amino acids, including Lysine, Methionine and Tryptophan.

As a food, the uses for Buckwheat are almost endless - from being an alternative in rice puddings, pancakes and porridge, to noodles, breads and even beer!

An additional benefit from growing buckwheat is its requirement for bee pollination, which gives the opportunity to produce a unique and much prized honey.

However, it has still more uses - especially in the garden. The plant has a very fine, shallow root system that enables it to survive on very little water (even an overnight dew can be enough to revive wilted plants after a hot day). These roots are also extremely efficient at scavenging nutrients from the soil that other plants cannot reach.

Together these characteristics mean that Buckwheat is an excellent green manure crop in the garden; increasing both soil structure and the availability of nutrients for following crops.

Although you could not harvest grain if you had planted Buckwheat as a green manure crop, it could still be used as both a soil improver and food crop - something that is impossible with most other plants. Your aim will be to dig in the plants as they begin to flower, but just before you do this, you could easily harvest the flowers and top few leaves. These can be used fresh in salads, stir-frys and stews, or dried and used as a flavoring herb later.

Planting

This is one of the easiest crops to grow. It is also one of the fastest, flowering in about 4 weeks from sowing and having finished grain in 8 to 12 weeks. Harvesting normally occurs when 75% of the grain has turned black. Waiting too long will result in losses as they fall easily when ripe. Ignore the presence of unripe grain and flowers, the plants will continue flowering and setting new seed as long as the plant lives.

Although easy to grow in most soils, there are a few important requirements. It prefers daytime temperatures less than 30°C with a large day/night difference. Seedlings can survive a mild frost but frost before ripe grain is formed can severely reduce the yield.

Buckwheat is also very effective in suppressing weed growth, but only once it is well establish, early weed growth can easily overwhelm newly emergent seedlings. The plants are also highly sensitive to waterlogging - even for very short periods. For this reason, sowing should be done into soil that is already moist enough to support germination.

Honey

Unlike other grains, the flowers of this crop require pollination by bees and rewards the beekeeper with a moderately dark and distinctively flavored honey. For some growers, Buckwheat honey is considered almost as important and output as the grain.