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Black and Tan Sesame

Sesamum indicum

$4.50
Description

Just a lovely flower to have in the summer garden! Sesame is heat-loving, their blooms are attractive to bees and resemble foxglove type flowers, and they make a great nematode remedy summer crop. Yes, these are sesame seeds like the ones on your bagels. You can easily save seeds to grow these each year, and keep a few to eat too. They are a mix of black and tan colors. Lovely!

We love watching the big huge bumble bees go all the way inside the blossoms. They absolutely adore sesame as much as we do.

Product details
  • About 100 seeds
  • 100-130 days from seed to seed
  • Seeds grown in Working Food gardens at GROW HUB in Gainesville, Florida

How to grow

Direct sow or transplant 1/4" deep, spaced 12" apart after frost. Sesame loves the heat, so wait till it's warm.

We sow in July for a seed harvest around October, but sesame can be planted anytime that it's hot and frost free.

The plants can get very tall around 6'! If growing for seed you'll let them get to full maturity, but if using for cover crop, chop them down while stems are still green and very tender, for easier decomposition back into the soil. Lightly working in the clipped plant residue will help with the anti-nematode effect.

How to save seeds

Flowers are gorgeous and very attractive to pollinators, especially bumbleebees. After flowers are pollinated, you'll start to notice green seed pods forming all up and down the stem.

Wait for them to dry brown before harvesting. Pods will mature at different times along the stem. You can pluck individual pods as they are ready, or wait to clip an entire stem when 1/2 to 2/3 of the green pods have turned brown.

Seeds easily shake out of the pods, so be ready with a bucket or bag!

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