–These pages are under construction, thanks for you patience!
- Report on 4 seasons of growing erect knotweed. Key findings:
- Growing erect knotweed at low densities (<50 plants per square meter) results in harvest of seeds that are similar to those of the extinct domesticated variety (i.e. they will be easier to cook and will germinate more easily the following year)
- Harvesting erect knotweed as late possible in the season will have the same effect
- Report on an experiment with goosefoot. Key findings:
- Growing wild goosefoot in a garden setting (enriched soil and low plant density) results in harvests of seeds that are similar to the extinct domesticated variety (i.e. they will be easier to cook and will germinate more easily the following year)
- Report on 2018 experiments with sumpweed, knotweed, goosefoot, maygrass, and little barley Key findings:
- Goosefoot and knotweed work well when grown together, and the polycrop is higher yielding and less work to maintain than either crop grown on its own.
- Maygrass can be harvested in the late spring and autumn
- The lost crops seeds need to be prepared in various ways to germinate when planted. Preliminary data suggests that storing the seeds of most species in cold, moist soil for up to 8 weeks increases germination. This is not true of maygrass and little barley, which should be given a warm/dry period that mimics summer before being planted in a cool, moist substrate (see below for details!).
- Goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri) guide
- Sumpweed (Iva annua) guide
- Knotweed (Polygonum erectum) guide
- Maygrass (Phalaris caroliniana) guide
- Little barley (Hordeum pusillum) guide
- Plans for small-seed vacuum winnower