A buckwheat pillow has many advantages and uses. But, before you can make a buckwheat pillow, you need buckwheat. Which, despite the name, isn’t a grain at all, rather it’s a fruit.
Buckwheat plants have been domesticated and grow in many places. As mentioned before, buckwheat is not a grain, cereal, or grass. To further clarify the difference, it is referred to as a “pseudo-cereal.” Buckwheat is related to rhubarb and gets its name because it is used like wheat in noodles and other dishes. The name also refers to the triangular shape of the seeds, which are similar to the seeds from beech trees – the beech nut – and so buckwheat is also referred to as “beech wheat.”
Buckwheat plants have been with us for thousands of years. Possibly as early as 6000 BC it was grown in southeast Asia, most likely the western region of Yunnan in China. Later it traveled north to central Asia and Tibet and further still to Europe. When the Europeans traveled from the old world to the new world of American, they took buckwheat with them. By 2006, buckwheat was grown around the world when the Chinese cultivated a variety first developed in Canada.
Growing buckwheat, especially in hot regions, often requires planting late in the traditional season to it can bloom when the weather gets cooler. It does well on soil that is otherwise too acidic or nutrient barren for other crops. In addition to being grown for flour and the buckwheat hulls which will later end up in a buckwheat pillow, buckwheat has other uses. When the plant flowers, the nectar is used in making a kind of dark colored honey. Other uses of buckwheat include: gluten free food, manure, planting for erosion control, wildlife feed, and medicinal uses. The plant is highly useful, which is why is has lasted for thousands of years.
So, the plant has many uses and benefits, but the important part in making a buckwheat pillow is the husk of buckwheat. It’s not the seeds themselves that end up in pillows, but rather the hull portion that covers the kernels of the seed. After being removed from the seeds, before becoming filling for a buckwheat pillow, the hulls are roasted. This helps to eliminate any dust remaining after harvesting and seed husking. The buckwheat is now ready to be put into a pillow slip to become a buckwheat pillow.
From field to pillow, buckwheat has many uses and is grown around the globe. So, next time you sleep on a buckwheat pillow, you can appreciate the process the filling went through to become that buckwheat pillow.
