"Nova Scotia" Tartary Buckwheat

Fagopyrum tataricum

Origin: Nova Scotia

Improvement status: Landrace

Seeds per packet: ~40

Germination tested 10/2025: 95%

Life cycle: Annual

Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) is a close relative of common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), and it has many of the same uses, but it also some important additional traits — including better tolerance of cold temperatures and drought, and higher antioxidant levels, vitamins, and minerals. While considered a "minor" crop in the US, we believe it is destined for much more. Indeed, it has a long history of local and regional importance in many disparate parts of the world, including China, Japan, Bhutan, Nepal, and northern India in Asia, Northern Italy, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany in Europe, and Quebec, New Brunswick, Maine, and Appalachia in North America. It is still grown commercially in some of those places, and we're pleased to report that Tartary buckwheat flour, along with seeds for edible sprouts, is still available for sale in Quebec right now. The original "ployes" pancakes, famous across French-speaking Acadia (northern Maine, parts of New Brunswick, and Quebec), were made from Tartary buckwheat flour, and traditionalists there still insist on its use for this important regional food. This variety comes from Nova Scotia and was provided to EFN by our good friend Dr. Micaela Colley of Washington State University (and recently of Organic Seed Alliance).

"Tartary" is an archaic European term for a large, little-known-at-the-time region spanning much of Central Asia and the northern part of modern China, from the Caspian Sea through the -Stans, the Himalayas, Mongolia, all the way to the Manchurian Pacific coast. The species is indeed believed to originate in the heart of that region, possibly in Xinjiang or Tibet, which explains its notable cold hardiness and frost tolerance.

Tartary buckwheat is generally much more difficult to de-hull than common buckwheat, so the entire seed is typically ground into flour and as much as possible of the hull is then sifted out. The presence of hull imparts a slightly bitter flavor to the flour, which is why the species is sometimes called "bitter buckwheat" (though French speakers call it "sarrasin vert" or "green buckwheat"). Flour that contains the groat alone has a mild yet rich flavor, somehow closer to wheat flour than common buckwheat flour (and, to my tastes at least, much more delicious).

In parts of east Asia, especially China, Tibet, Bhutan, and Nepal, the plant is still commonly grown both as a grain and for a medicinal tea, which is made from the entire plant. The roasted seeds are also a popular tea, which can be found in some Asian markets in this country. The plant is believed to be the most potent natural source of rutin, a powerful and incredibly healthy antioxidant, but it is seldom used commercially as a rutin source (though many companies now sell rutin as a supplement). It is also a major potential source of quercetin, another compound much sought after as a nutritional supplement. A recent article entitled "Tartary Buckwheat in Human Nutrition" pubished in the journal Plants — an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal — outlines a wide range of potential health benefits from including Tartary buckwheat in one's diet, from weight loss to serum cholesterol reduction to fighting cancer. Like all buckwheat, it is gluten free, so an excellent wheat substitute for people suffering from celiac disease and others whose bodies don't tolerate gluten well.

Also like common buckwheat, Tartary buckwheat has value as a honey plant and a cover crop. It can grow a good-enough crop on soil with poor nutrition, and in otherwise marginal environments, so it is a resilient crop and good for agroecological, climate-change-mitigating farming systems.

GROWING TIPS: Start in flats or direct seed, once risk of frost has passed. Plants should be grown somewhat close to each other, as they will support each other in staying upright (if planted in neat rows they are liable to fall over, unless the rows are very close together -- six or 8 inches or so). Seeds should be planted about a half an inch deep.