Buckwheat

Buckwheat used to be the most important crop for people living in marshland areas. Cereal crops did not grow very well in the marshy soil. Incidentally, buckwheat is not a cereal at all, but a member of the knotweed family. Its fruits resemble small beechnuts, which is how it got its name.

Buckwheat is undemanding and grows on poor peat, bog and heath soils. The plants grow to around 30 to 80 cm tall. The flowers are white. At harvest time, from early to mid-September, the plants bear both flowers and ripe and unripe seeds. 

Buckwheat can be grown on the same plot for seven years in a row. The plant is sensitive to frost. So if there was another frost in spring or early summer, as there sometimes was in the past, the buckwheat could not thrive. People often had to go hungry in winter as a result.

Buckwheat used to be cut with a short scythe. The mature plants had to be cut early in the day. It was still damp then, so the grains were less likely to fall out of the ears. The grain was spread out on the threshing floor. Then the ears were beaten with flails. Once the straw had been removed, the grains were swept together.

They were then cleaned and ground into flour. This flour could be used to make pancakes. In France, buckwheat is still used to make delicious crêpes.