What is buckwheat and what does it look like when it grows in the field?
Buckwheat porridge is a taste familiar from childhood. Buckwheat is grown by many farmers in Russia, because the grain is very popular. Abroad, it is considered ecological food. In its sprouted form, it is often consumed by raw foodists.
If anyone ever sees how buckwheat grows and blooms, they will never be able to forget this sight. A green carpet strewn with flowers exudes an intoxicating aroma, and bees fly over it to collect nectar and turn it into healthy honey.
What kind of plant is this
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is a herbaceous annual plant from the genus Buckwheat (Fagopyrum), honey and bread, also refers to pseudocereals (pseudocereal). WITHPeople and songbirds feed on them.
The homeland of this crop is Northern India and Nepal, however, it has a different name there - black rice. A wild form of buckwheat can be seen in the Himalayas. About 5 thousand years ago, buckwheat was introduced into culture.
Ancient evidence was found in Altai that buckwheat porridge was eaten by people. Also, in places where burials are located or where trade routes ran, fossilized buckwheat grains were discovered.
The Great Silk Road contributed to the spread of culture in many countries. There is a version that the plant came to Europe thanks to the Tatar-Mongols. In the 7th century, they learned about it in Byzantium, and then in Greece. There is mention of buckwheat in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”
In Japan and China, buckwheat is used to add color or flavor to flour.In Europe it was called “pagan grain” and “beech wheat”.
The healing properties of buckwheat honey have been known since ancient times. Vitamin infusions are obtained from leaves and flowers. The cereal is recognized by doctors as ideal for patients with diabetes. It is also recommended by nutritionists for those who want to lose weight. It is believed that buckwheat is a national Russian dish.
The plant is undemanding to soil. Buckwheat itself fights weeds, displacing and killing them in the first sowing year. The second field is already clean without pesticides, which has a positive effect on the environment.
What family does buckwheat belong to?
Buckwheat belongs to the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae), there are several types. In the European part of Russia there are only 2 species: cultural and Tatar. The first is used for industrial production.
The second one is also called kyrlyk. It is resistant to low temperatures, the fruits are thick-skinned. Used to feed livestock. Grown as green manure. It grows wild in Siberia.
What it looks like in nature
Flowering fields sown with buckwheat are very beautiful. It is not for nothing that many artists depicted such landscapes, for example, N. A. Borisov. At first it is just greenery, but then flowers appear, bees fly in to smell them, and the landscape becomes truly magnificent.
During flowering
When flowering, small flowers appear, white or pink. They are very fragrant, which attracts bees. The stem is erect, not pubescent. As it ripens, it becomes intensely red. The leaves are heart-shaped, triangular in shape, and partly green in color. Petiolate below, sessile above.
The flowers have 5 petals, shades of pink, the inflorescence is collected in a brush. There are from 600 to 2000 flowers in one inflorescence. They are bisexual.Buckwheat is characterized by sexual dimorphism, when the columns and stamens of one flower vary significantly in height.
Formation and development are observed simultaneously: both buds and fruits.
Attention! Buckwheat blooms for up to 2 months. The peduncle is very delicate and is easily damaged by frost. It is also the first to suffer from drought.
Before harvest
At the end of summer or early autumn, the bunch turns into a fruit that looks like a small nut with 3 sharply defined edges. The color of the fruit is light gray to dark brown and even black. The fruits themselves are divided into winged and wingless; There are also intermediate ones, they are covered with husk.
The photo shows buckwheat.
How buckwheat grows in the field
Buckwheat is sensitive to air temperature. Large differences have a detrimental effect, so they try to avoid frosts by waiting for stable positive values. In order for the seeds to germinate, the soil layer is allowed to warm up and the air temperature is allowed to rise to +8°C. Optimal indicators for growing season are +15°C, flowering – +25°C. At higher temperatures, pollination deteriorates and the ovaries die.
For the field, select an area with good lighting, next to the forest, so that it shields the crops from strong winds. If there is a body of water nearby, the harvest will be rich and of high quality.
Usually, beehives are placed around the perimeter of the field, since buckwheat is a honey plant. Bees pollinate plants and can increase yield by 50%.
If the weather is favorable, seedlings appear 6-7 days after sowing. Over the next week, the first leaf will form, and after 12 days, the second. At the same time, branches form in the axils of the leaves, and buds - buds - appear on their tops.
Reference. The flowering period depends on the variety: early ripening - 3 weeks after emergence, late ripening - after a month.
One flower blooms for a day, a brush for two months. The fertilized ovary increases and after 8 days reaches normal size, and after 10 it matures completely. Flowering and fruit formation are extended periods. The “nuts” begin to ripen at the bottom, and then the process goes up, so on the lower tier the grains will turn out more full.
The height of the plant varies, minimum 15 cm, maximum 70-120 cm. The root system of buckwheat is taprooted, poorly developed, deepening by 40 cm, with numerous shoots on the sides. The stem itself is hollow, like a reed. If the buckwheat is young, the stem is green, but as it matures it acquires a reddish-green tint and then turns completely red.
The upper part of the plant is responsible for the absorption of the necessary components from the soil, the lower part is responsible for water supply. In this case, the root system develops while the growth period continues.
Buckwheat ripens unevenly: the top grains are not ripe, the flowers are still visible, but the bottom grains have already ripened and even managed to fall off. Harvesting is done after 2/3 of the fruits turn brown. Delays are fraught with large crop losses.
How buckwheat grows can be seen in the photo.
Read also:
How to eat buckwheat if you have type 1 diabetes
Is it possible to eat buckwheat if you have type 2 diabetes?
How to eat buckwheat during poisoning and can it cause it?
Calorie content and nutritional value of boiled buckwheat with milk
Conclusion
Buckwheat has gone through almost all the steps of development with humanity and today never ceases to delight people with its nutritional and healing properties. This is the most popular cereal in Russia. In Japan and Korea they make flour from it.In Europe, buckwheat that has not undergone heat treatment is sold in pharmacies, and brown buckwheat is sold in pet stores as livestock feed.