It’s Baaccckkkk!

After harvesting a cover crop of Buckwheat at the end of August, one Farmer was ecstatic with the improvement in her soil…a deeper darker color with handfuls much looser to the touch. She took the buckwheat stalks home, dried them and saved the seeds for next spring’s cover crop. Then she used the cut-up stalks as mulch on top of the new compost in her plot thinking: “you can’t get too much of a good thing!”

Well…the unexpected happened.

Five-day old buckwheat seedlings...

Within five days, little buckwheat seedlings had popped through the mulch…ready and raring to grow! There must have been some seeds in that mulch although NOT that much seed! But sure enough…this Farmer has a new crop of buckwheat growing this fall! Her plan is to let it grow around the tomato plants to help her fall crops extract phosphorus and potassium from the soil. “Vive la buckwheat!!!” (9/17/11)