Thanks for the link. I see it gets much bigger when in full bloom. May be somewhat of a moot point now. This morning I see half my patch got layed down last night. We got some rain but only .15 to .75 inches (depending on which rain gauge I go by). I don't see any deer tracks in there. I have an electric fence around the garden that keeps them out pretty good.

I did learn early on when I used buckwheat, not to plant it too thickly. It makes the plants grow tall and spindly and they don't stand up as well. I wonder if that is what happened to you.

If you till in the spring, you need to be very careful about the soil being too wet, as this destroys soil structure. It's much safer to do it in the fall.

I think fall would be preferred, get the nitrogen buried, not exposed to loss.

I found this utube about buckwheat that I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
My patch is now 4 weeks old. It hasn't started to produce seed yet. I hope it won't for another week because I'm gone from this Saturday until next Tuesday so I won't be able to work on it until next Wednesday. I plan to cut it down then with a weed wacker and till it under. Since it only took 5 weeks to the point where I want it I have enough time to plant another crop that I will till under this fall.