Tags: Heirloom Open Pollinated

Growing Practices:

Latin Name: Fagopyrum tataricum

Days to Maturity: 80

Description:

This is a wonderful non-gluten grain that is a delight to grow. It is easy to sow, quick to mature, easy to harvest, and packed with nutrition. It adds a wonderful, full-bodied, flavor to breads and makes a nutty, slightly bitter tea when lightly roasted. The bitter, astringent flavonoid comes from rutin which is highly concentrated in Tartary buckwheat.
I sow either a week before or after the last frost-- it can handle light frost without damage--for a late April, early May harvest. It can also be sown around mid-August for a fall crop here. It likes water and good fertility but is resilient and tolerates a variety of conditions. However, I find that it does not like the intense heat and humidity of our summers here, often producing irregular grain, low yield, and thin plants. In milder weather, it produces large leaves that easily cover and shade out competing weeds.
I sow fairly thickly in rows 6 in apart, however using a seeder, seeds could be spaced 3-4 in apart and will grow into large, multi-branching plants.
To harvest, I wait until at least 3/4 of the plant is yellowed, cut in bunches using a sickle, and slap the bundle a few times on the inner side of a large barrel to release the seeds, similar to how rice can be harvested by hand. The seeds easily come off like this. Then I let them dry for a week and then winnow.