As we have already said in other articles, due to the inclement meteorological conditions at the start of the spring season, the barganews vegetable garden is this year more or less one month behind schedule but this morning finally conditions were right and this year’s work started in earnest. Yesterday was a full moon, so from today onwards – a the moon is right for planting seeds – The moon planting rule says to plant crops that produce above the ground during the increasing light of the moon (from new moon to full moon) and to plant crops that produce below the ground during the decreasing light of the moon (from full moon to new moon).
The gravitational effect on water in large expanses is well know. Tides are the result of the gravitational pull of the moon, sun, and earth. The moon moves around the earth in an elliptical orbit, as does the earth around the sun. The result of these elliptical wanderings on gravity is very complex. but needless to say the pull of gravity on the earth can be increased when the sun, moon, and earth are in specific positions in space. The gravitational effects also have a direct effect on the way all plants grow.
A lot of people are sceptical about the benefits of moon planting techniques. It’s hard to believe that a satellite orbiting the earth 400,000 km away could influence a small seed in the way it grows and produces fruit but in this area it not just planting seeds that is governed by the movement of the moon but also decanting wine, moving wine and even haircuts should be done at certain phases of the moon according to local custom.
Planting the Saraceno seeds
Saraceno grain, originated in China but was brought into Europe as early as 1200, probably by the Mongol invasion. By the late 1500’s it was grown extensively in Garfagnana, where it was known as “grano nero” – black grain, before gradually disappearing during the 19th century as other grains from the New World took it’s place.
For the past three years researchers and scientists from the University of Florence have been collecting seeds and plants of various types of Saraceno and growing them under rigorously controlled conditions in two places in Garfagnana — at 1200 metres above sea level in Sillano and further down the valley at Camporgiano. The idea now is to reseed and repopulate Garfagnana with these Saraceno grains.
The barganews vegetable garden has been chosen as one of the sites where these seeds will be planted.
The staff at barganews and those working on the barganews vegetable garden are obviously very proud and pleased the garden will now be at the forefront of the gradual reintroduction of Grano Seraceno back into this area – full article here
no images were found
Sowing the seeds was not all that difficult but making sure there is enough water from a nearby stream to water the field was a little bit more troublesome. Large areas of overgrown brambles had to be cleared and new pipes put down to feed the water to the far end of the field. Work on the electric fence to keep the marauding porcupines out was also started.
So, a brief recap of what has been planted so far –
Saraceno
100 tomato plants ( 4 different varieties)
12 red pepper plants
12 aubergine plants
24 basil plants
Still to do at the start of next week _
seed potatoes
maize
beans
onions
First crop of the field this year – 3 strawberries from the plants that were moved back in March – thanks to Heidi Burden
Some random thoughts on saraceno, known as “buckwheat” in English:
It’s unlikely that it accompanied the Mongols on their epic 13th century conquest of China, the Central Asian steppes, the Middle East and much of Europe. Nomadic by legacy and by choice, they subsisted almost entirely on dried meat, mare’s milk and wild greens encountered on the move. Moreover, seed strains of buckwheat dating from 6,000 BC, 70 centuries prior to the birth of Genghis Khan, have been discovered in the Balkans.
Nonetheless, there is no doubt that several varieties of buckwheat have a long Asian history, continuing to this day. It is used to produce “soba,” a Japanese noodle usually served cold with a soy-based dipping sauce, and has traditionally been the principal grain of China’s rural poor, especially in the upper Yellow River basin. “Red Sorghum,” a celebrated film by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, recounts the lives of the region’s impoverished villagers — one is played by the young Gong Li, later China’s first international star — who live almost entirely on buckwheat and its by-products. (The English title is an incorrect translation).
Of course none of this explains the Italian name, “saraceno,” which implies North-African Arab origins. It ‘s possible, although unlikely, that buckwheat made its way into Italy from the other side of the Mediterranean. A more convincing theory has to do with racial perceptions. In many European countries and their former colonies, dark-colored foods or culinary preparations acquired popular names associated with the Arab world in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, when the conflict between Islam and Christianity was at its apex. Hence the Latin-American dish, “Moros y Cristianos” — Moors and Christians — which mixes black beans and white rice. Buckwheat’s dark color may well have led to its assumption of the name “saracen” in Italy, alluding to the Muslim invaders of Sicily (who, ironically, were mostly Berbers from North Africa, and often as blond and fair-skinned as the Celts who are their distant cousins).
several years ago I looked into the business of growing “Grano Saraceno” and more specifically “Kamut” up in Tiglio
my agronomist and the helpful people at http://www.kamut.com informed me that the prevailing weather patterns in this area were not favourable in as much as these cultivations require dry, almost arid conditions, together with good soil drainage – otherwise they become susceptible to fungus and poor yields …
buona fortuna!
Jack’s observation certainly fits the climate and terrain where buckwheat is grown in China. But oddly, it thrives under just the opposite conditions — rainy and damp year-round — in Brittany. The genuine Breton crepe is made with flour milled from buckwheat, “sarrasin” in French. It will be interesting to see if our editor’s mini-Brittany down there in the mucky valley below the Duomo will deliver the goods. Agronomists take note!