The Multi-tool of Plants

Do you need a plant that can serve many functions? One that can act as a cover crop. A plant that can stabilize your soil. How about something that can provide you with food? Oh wait – also something that doesn’t need a lot of care and is great for pollinators? Well, I have the perfect ‘multi-tool’ plant for you: the humble buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum).

I personally just started my buckwheat journey in 2022 and was very pleased with the whole experience. I had read about its benefits many times but over the years continually saw too many shines and forgot to give it a try. Now as is the case when I go hunting for plants to grow and experiment with, I like unique varieties. I don’t recommend doing this unless you are willing to deal with a lot of frustration until you figure out your new unique varieties. I may like to punish myself. I found a red flowering variety from Japan and decided that was the one I was going to grow. A note on this: I was only able to get a limited quantity of these seeds, but your common white flowered variety will do absolutely wonderfully and will more likely perform better.

Last year I planted it in an area of my yard that is very sandy but still gets a lot of weeds. That area is adjacent to some of my garden space. My hopes were to suppress some of the weeds. I didn’t order very many seeds, because it was difficult to get, and just in case the whole experiment failed I didn’t want to waste a lot of money.  Besides, I was really hoping to give my friendly neighborhood pollinators a little boost.

Buckwheat is vigorous and will quickly mature and begin to flower. Typically the flowers are white. There are a few varieties that come in pink and red but trying to get a lot of those seeds is very difficult. I recommend if you have a large area to plant, go with the white variety or have patience and play the long game, saving seeds each season until you have enough. Once it flowers it immediately begins to attract pollinators of many kinds. I sat next to my little patch and watched honey bees and many itty bitty native bees flitting from flower to flower. It will also attract other beneficial insects to your yard that will hunt some of the baddies munching on your precious plants. My plants flowered throughout the whole season and seeded irregularly, but were seeding within 50 days of germination.

When the seeds are ripe and ready they are hard, brown, and diamond-shaped. The red and pink varieties typically have a lower yield than the common white variety. These seeds are super easy to store. Pick them. Let them dry for a day or two and then store them in an airtight container. You can grind these seeds to mix with flour, or cook and eat like oatmeal. I noticed as I tended my garden that my bird friends were enjoying some of the seeds as well.

I personally had a lot of delight while collecting seeds to save for this year's planting. I would reach into the patch and collect the small seeds and frequently our tiny gentle native bees would land all over my arms to rest for a spell. After a small rest for their tiny bodies they would go back to their foraging. I may have giggled a few times and startled my insect friends into buzzing excitedly around the flowers. If that’s not your thing then maybe give your plants a gentle shake first before you collect your seeds.