Tell me about amaranth

[mothhawk]

I've got an amaranth plant in flower. I have no idea where it came from, but it's growing in my "mix and chuck" growing area. My only thought is that there must have been amaranth seeds in the 2016 flower seed swap because I certainly have never bought any.

Of course I didn't keep a list of what I "M & C'd", and I can't find the list of seeds and donors from the seed swap. (I found the thread but no mention of amaranth by anyone).

I need help and advice.

First, is it a perennial and if so can I move it, and when? Naturally it's not growing in a very convenient place.

Next, which parts are edible, does it need cooking or can it be eaten raw? I can only find a couple of recipes for the seeds - either popping them like corn, or cooking like porage. So what about the leaves? Edible or not?

How do you tell when the seeds are ready to harvest, and how do you do it?

If it's perennial, does it die down completely for the winter, or stay above ground?

Lastly, it's a pretty flower and worth growing just for that, but is it worth growing as a vegetable? Who's tried it and do you still grow it?

[Penellype]

I tried growing it (Amaranth Red Army) as microgreens - it is said to have a "delicate pea flavour". It makes an interesting addition to a salad as it is bright red, but I couldn't discern much in the way of taste. The seeds and leaves are edible, but apparently some varieties of amaranth are better than others, and if the leaves have spines on, these should be removed.

I have no personal experience of anything other than the microgreens.

[Jay-ell]

I believe that it's an annual. It produces edible seeds along the lines of Fat Hen and Quinoa (to which it's closely related).

Here's Realseeds page on processing the seed
Processing Amaranth

[mothhawk]

Thanks for that link Jay-ell. I think it might be a lot of work for little return, but I've only the one plant so I'd like to save seeds to grow it again just for its flowers, it's very pretty, and I'm sure I read somewhere that it is drought resistant, which could be a bonus if the 4 year predicted heatwave materialises

[Penellype]

4 year predicted heatwave???

[Jay-ell]

Love Lies Bleeding is another name for Amaranth

[mothhawk]

4 year predicted heatwave???

I think this is the original source -

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05442-8

which was far too wordy for me to do more than skim and not understand, but apparently all the tabloid press jumped on it as gospel truth.

[mothhawk]

Love Lies Bleeding is another name for Amaranth

The one I've got doesn't hang down like the garden flower though, its flowers are upright spikes. Much prettier IMO.

[Jay-ell]

Just gone through my seeds and hunted out the amaranth packets. I've 3 packets

Amanthus "Pony Tails" - doesn't mention anything about eating as it's a garden flower seed packet.

Chinese Amaranth "Passion" - use as a cut and come again salad crop... We have enjoyed them as
the leafy ingredient in a saag.

Amaranth "Red Army" - use as a cut and come again salad crop. Allow some plants to grow larger for adding to stir fry or oriental soup


Callaloo is a type of amaranth used a lot in Caribbean cooking.

[mothhawk]

Ah, so it's safe to eat raw or cooked, that's good to know.

I guess the Caribbean cooking bit means it's a half hardy annual, so I don't have to worry about moving it.

Thanks, Jay

[Mistlepie]

I had a packet of amaranth seeds to cook with in the kitchen cupboard, so I chucked some in the ground to see if they'd grow.

I've been eating them in salads (they add more bulk than flavour!), and I'm planning to cook them a bit later in the season too, as they get bigger and I don't fancy so many salads. Apparently they need temps in the 20s to do well, so I don't know how long they will last.