Buckwheat

Unlike its name, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is not related to wheat at all, but rather is a fruit related to rhubarb and sorel. We grow it for a number of reasons. It is a wonderful smother crop which suppresses weeds and provides a good source of organic matter to the soils when it is plowed under before maturity. When left until maturity, it produces buckwheat grouts. These can be milled into buckwheat flour, and the husks recleaned and used for pillow stuffing and organic garden mulch.

The tiny white flowers require pollination for the seed to mature. This work is performed by the pollinators, including honey bees. There's nothing quite like walking into a field of flowering buckwheat and hearing the quiet hummmmm of pollinators at work. Buckwheat honey is a rich dark honey that some say is an acquired taste.

Flour

Stone ground buckwheat flour is most commonly used for buckwheat crepes, noodles and dumplings. After milling, the flour must be sifted to remove the hulls. Depending on the fineness of the cleaning screens, there will be some residual hull fragments, giving the flour tiny dark flecks.

Hulls

A 'waste' product of flour milling, buckwheat hulls can be recleaned and used for pillow stuffing. For most people they are hypo-allergenic, and the pillows are warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, and will outlast synthetic pillow stuffing. They also make a great garden mulch.

Kashka

Kashka is the buckwheat grout with the husk removed, while leaving the inside in tact. Once we figure out how to do this on a small scale, we will bring them to market. :)