Beside my first house, my neighbour was a permaculture girl and she used to grow buckwheat as a cover crop. I was ignorant, pretended to know which plant it was and never even asked what it actually is and how she processed the grains. (She didn't, it was purely as a cover crop between veggys). I moved, and then, a few years ago, I watched "Goblin", a K-drama where Buckwheat flowers are a symbol of love, Canada post is a symbol of timeless ineptitude, and Quebec City is shown as a glorious tourist attraction. So now, I have started to grow buckwheat, and I would like to know some more about harvesting and processing it. How thickly to seed it? can it be harvested before it is dry and processed and eaten at the half ripe stage? Is it easy to dry it? (I have a fancy tracking solar cooker that I can dry stuff in). Also I grow "Good King Henry", I generally just boil the leaves, (tastes like nettles), but when the seeds are ripe or half ripe, I strip them off the stems and add them in. It ends up "mealy" and tastes somehow better. Sometimes the seeds come apart and part what would turn into the growing shoot looks like tiny worms in the food. But it really is just the shoots! (you MUST discard the water after you boil good king henry, cos the plant makes a soapy insect repellant that tastes foul). I am Irish and I eat most things with mashed potatoes. Actually, if it works out, that might be how I would eat some of my buckwheat too, unripe seeds cooked in with my dinner. The other thing is, sugar beet. My father grew sugar beet for over 40 years. When it was processed in the factory, they would return the growers dry "molassed beet pulp" (Dried beet pulp) with molasses added. The pulp and the molasses were a byproduct of sugar production, and it was used as a "cereal substitute' to feed sheep and cattle during the winter. As part of an European union agreement, and partly to support Caribbean sugar cane farmers, Ireland agreed to shut down its Sugar factories, and the only beet left in Ireland was Fodder beet. Ireland had a beet sugar factory as early as 1851. Anyways, so dried sugar beet pulp is considered a pseudo-grain for animal feed. BUT we loved munching on the beet pulp. There was even a French company that trialed selling pulp as a toothpaste substitute! (It does clean your teeth). I still miss the mollassed beet pulp! So, maybe that could be a thing again for human consumption! No need to remove the sugar, just skin it, grate it and dehydrate it as is. Sugar beet is about 18% sugar, so it can be an energy food in the cold days, or when you are doing physical work. If you feel that you have to reduce the sugar content, there is grating then add water and make an alcoholic beverage, then press the gratings, and dehydrate them. Anyways, that's all for now, what do you think, smallholder sugar beet industry as a pseudo-grain?
I believe good king henry is closely related to quinoa, which also expands to snail like structures.
source Mine is flowering for the second time at the moment.
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