Sesamum indicum
Origin: Thailand
Improvement status: Landrace
Seeds per packet: ~25
Germination tested 12/2024: 65%
Life cycle: Annual
This is a productive heirloom sesame from Mae Hong Son, Thailand, that yields little light-brown seeds used in making a traditional dessert known as "Khaw Buk" (no doubt among other uses). Despite its tropical origin, this variety seems to be well-adapted to much of the US. In addition to being a productive seed producer, the plants are quite ornamental, with foxglove-like flowers that are bright white tinged with pink.
We can't find any information online about this variety of sesame or the dessert said to be made from (so noted by the original collector, one D. Bedigian of the University of Illinois, who donated it to the USDA in 1983). This is not too surprising, since the Mae Hong Son province in far northwestern Thailand is one of the least populated, most remote, and most diverse parts of the country, inhabited by Shan, Karen, Lihu, and many ethnic groups. So if you can tell us anything about this "khaw buk" dessert, or anything else about this sesame, please reach out!
These seeds were produced from seedlings started by EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman in New Jersey, then handed over to our Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance colleagues who grew them to maturity at Ujamaa's Tayman Field demonstration farm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Ujamaa growers and harvested and processed the seeds. Huge thanks to Ujamaa growers Kathy Anderson and Rick Carter in particular for doing such an amazing job!
GROWING TIPS: Sesame are best started indoors a couple weeks before last frost. They can be surface-sown, or planted just a 1/4 inch deep. Seedlings should be kept warm and well-watered. Once plants reach a few inches in height, plant out. Space plants at least a foot apart, because they can bush out. Harvest the seeds once pods begin to split open. Can be harvested over a long season, or just at the end, though in that case you're sure to lose some to wind, birds, and gravity.
NOTE: All photos (except the handful of seeds) are care of Kathy Anderson, from the Tayman Field planting. Thanks Kathy!!
