# Buckwheat Harvesting



## Dave Burrup (Jul 22, 2008)

I harvest seed every year. I started out just stripping it by hand. Works well, but very slow. Now I cut bundles with a hand sycicle and beat the tops into my garden cart or wheel barrow. You can harvest 50 -100 pounds in a busy afternoon. I wait until after a killing frost to reduce the moisture. Spread the harvest seed out for a day or two to let dry completely. You can just pull the plants too, but I tend to get a bunch of dirt in the seed.
Dave


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## LeonardS (Mar 13, 2012)

Sounds like a good plan. I was going to ask a friend to combine it, but it would be a pain for him to adjust the combine for one acre of buckwheat.


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## luke0927 (Aug 16, 2011)

did your bee's work it well I'm about to plant an acre for a late summer crop for mine.


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

LeonardS said:


> I planted 1 acre of buckwheat this Spring and it is doing well. Have any of you harvested buckwheat by hand and saved the seed for next year? How did you harvest it?


I did not harvest it at all. Just let it die off........it reseeded in the Spring!


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## LeonardS (Mar 13, 2012)

The bees love it and it has blossomed for 3 weeks so far.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

People I know plant buckwheat for a cpl of reasons. One: it is so think that it keeps anything else from growing. Two: it makes a good green manure as it is called. It gets disced down and adds to the soil. I believe if planted early enough that discing it down after it goes to seed it will come up again the same year. And then there is the hope of a honey crop. Most of the buckwheat planted these days doesn't produce nectar or enough to make any honey from.

Why did you plant buckwheat?


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

Planted 4 acres of buckwheat - once. Got nada, zip, nothing in terms of honey..... then I was told it was only a certain "variety" of buckwheat that would produce nectar. Well... got disgusted - those seeds are not cheap - and have not thought of messing with it since.


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## Dave Burrup (Jul 22, 2008)

Mark the lack of nectar production in Buckwheat has come up before. It was stated that the old variety Japanese Silver Hull was a good nectar producer. I contacted the National Germ plasma storage and got some of the seeds. It took 2 years to increase the seed to plant a patch next to the variety (?) I already had. I did not see any difference in the bees response to either variety. I wonder if the nectar production is more environmental than varietal. Our bees work the Buckwheat well in the morning, but we do not see a big effect on our honey production.
Dave


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of acres of buckwheat are planted around Penn Yan,NY. The last 10 or 15 years friends of mine have had apiarys around there. No buckwheat honey. What can I say?


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## LeonardS (Mar 13, 2012)

Well, the bees sure spend a lot of time on the buckwheat? I also planted yellow sweet clover with it and that will blossom next year. What would be better to plant for a first year crop, that I can under seed with clover?


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## spunky (Nov 14, 2006)

Leonard:
I would try alfalfa . I never seemed to do well with sweet yellow, crimson clover worked well and reseeded itself. I just buy whatever buckwheat the co-op has and planted it in the garden- the bees will work it if there is a dew , but quit as the day goes on . White dutch clover no 1# for me


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Thats a bummer about the lack of nectar in buckwheat. I just planted about 4 acres to hold the ground until I disked it under and plant my white clover in the fall. I figured the bees would love it. Well, I have tons of white clover and alfalfa now anyway, so I guess that will carry them.:waiting:


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