28 February 2022

sesame: not great

One of the plants I tried growing last year, and didn't get good results from- sesame (aka benne). It was really intriguing to see how the seed pods were shaped- these fluted lobes
where all the seeds are stacked together and they just pop out.
I only had two plants, so didn't expect a lot of seed, but what there was, disappointing. Some of the pods got musty, the seeds didn't look usable. Probably I waited too long to harvest and they got damp.
Others never matured- the pods didn't open. Also it was difficult to get the seed clean of chaff and debris. And the taste was sometimes a bit bitter. I'm sure my timing with planting and/or harvesting, or amount of watering, was off in some way- and there's methods to clean the seed- but this little growing experiment was in the middle of pandemic time and I just did not feel like making a lot of effort with it. 

Maybe another year I'll try them again.

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