Gardeners rarely include buckwheat among their garden crops, except occasionally as a green manure. That’s not a bad idea, although often not the best. For soil that already has a modicum of fertility, other green manures – oats, for example – return more on a given investment.
Those of us who seek to be more self-reliant are often content to grow our own veggies and perhaps some of our legumes, such as peas and beans. The more extremist among us may also aspire to producing our own grains, which after all have been the staff of life for most of mankind through most of our history. But what about fat or oil? For meat eaters, suet and lard are rather simple options, although at a great loss of eco-efficiency. From our first years on the land, we aspired to produce our own vegetable oil, but that seemed elusive until recently....
I’m amazed that so many gardeners plant a row of sunflowers along the edge of their garden to feed the birds. What amazes me is that they plant only for the birds (and perhaps for a windbreak on the north side) and that they plant only a row rather than a whole block – not just for birds, but for themselves to eat....
We usually class pumpkins along with other succulent vegetables; however a particular type of pumpkin is much more nutrient-dense, in that it is an oilseed, like sunflowers, sesame and peanuts....
