Monday 25 August 2014

Amazing Buckwheat

Up until last week we had three beds full of buckwheat.


As I've watched it grow, and discovered more about it, I've become a big fan. I planted it as a cover crop and green manure for the most dismal of beds in the kitchen garden. 
It adds bulk to the soil, kick starts organisms and aids in the absorption of phosphorous, potassium, calcium, and nitrogen.
It grows quickly-up to four feet in a month in my case. It is a good plant for sustaining interest in the growing process for small children. Turn under any time after flowering. Two or three crops can be grown in a season. While growing they suppress weeds.
The flowers attract bees, hover flies (aphid hunters) and parasitic wasps (caterpillar killers). Our patch has been vibrating with life. I planted beans and peas close to them to take advantage of the pollinators.

I could hardly bring myself to cut it down but I needed a bed for over wintering turnips.



It takes about ten days to break down in the soil. Its fibrous root system improves soil aeration and friability. I turned it all under and a week later already have beautiful soil. When I attack the other two beds I'm going to save myself some hard work, I hope, by covering with compost and sea soil and letting it break down before I dig it in. Some of those stalks didn't want to go under without a fight.

Talking of stalks, I saved some as winter housing for hibernating insects.


The flowers are small, white turning to deep pink then a rust colour. I brought some indoors with some sweet peas. They last a long time, perhaps it is the hollow stems.


I've become so enamoured of buckwheat it will make a regular appearance in the garden from now on. I do so love getting value for money. 

23 comments:

  1. Thank you for teaching me something new today friend! I will have to try some buckwheat in my own space! I love how good it is for the soil and how the flowers attract wildlife! And such a sweet bouquet you have up there! A lovely week to you friend! Nicole xo

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    1. A lovely week to you too Nicole. Those darling beans must be off to school soon?

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  2. I wonder if this would work in my raised beds? I would love to diversify the organic material in my beds - right now, it's strictly llama 'beans'.

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    1. I'm very envious of your llama poo. I think LP is probably more effective, however you do get the bonus of pollinators and beneficial insects with the BW. I have noticed our garden being virtually pest free this year which I'm attributing to the BW.

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  3. I have thought about growing buckwheat but haven't taken the plunge. Is it too late to start some now? Did you turn it under by hand or with a rototiller? Interesting post.

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    1. Being me I would go for it, who knows we may get a nice Fall. I dug it in by hand. I bit of a chore as the depth of existing soil is not significant plus more rocks had come to the surface since the original clean up.

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  4. This was a learning post and I will look into buckwheat further.

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    1. I think I would have enjoyed being a teacher.

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  5. Interesting post! I have never considered growing Buckwheat, but it seems to have so many great advantages I would love to try growing some.

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    1. It was the right plant at the right time for us.

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  6. Smart, cheap way to improve the soil. :o) I wish I'd given this a try when I was trying to improve my soil when I began my garden.

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    1. Whatever you did , the results are wonderful. I'm always learning from your blog.

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  7. I grew it in vacant land next to my house once, but I didn't like the smell of it wafting through my dining room window!

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    1. Honestly I can't smell a thing. Maybe it is the house size pile of horse dung on the next property.

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  8. Very interesting. We have a spot of land at the back of our new property that has not been worked in a number of years. We plan on leveling it this next week and turning it into a garden spot. Do you have any suggestion for enriching the soil for spring planting. It's about a 50 foot square. We have a rototiller but no tractor.

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    1. Connie, we are making some new beds by the sheet mulch method.

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  9. I thought I had quite a bit of dog poo outside my window, but when I went to investigate, I realized it was the buckwheat flowers! Yeeee, never again. (At least not in the city, where there are no piles of manure.)

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  10. That's great that it only takes 10 days to break down in the soil! You are going to have some really good soil when all is said and done. We planted fava beans around the yard for a couple of years, not onlyfor the beans but also because I heard they were good for the soil. I just added them to the compost heap though instead of turning them over. It's all good stuff!

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    1. I love the taste of fresh fava beans. I'm planting some in October for a Spring crop.

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  11. With such a small garden I've never tried a cover crop. Do you see any advantage for putting something in after my summer harvest is done? - Margy

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    1. Hi Margy, cover crops add nutrients when you turn them under in the spring. They keep weeds down. They help mitigate nutrients leaching out due to heavy rain and with soil erosion. The last two might not be such a problem in raised boxes. Some of the ground covers contain a substance which inhibits growth of other plants so you need to let them break down in the soil for at least three weeks before planting anything else-or you can remove them and put them in the compost.

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