I know that there are grain amaranth and amaranth that are grown for their greens. The leaves can be used as a substitute for spinach in salads and recipes. ECHO offers a couple varieties of seeds on their website.

Hello from Florida; we have been eating the multicolored leaf amaranth the past few weeks. It's as good as spinach. Likes hot weather to grow. Paul.

Thanks for the info Joy and Paul. I've been reading that amaranth does better than spinach in the south as far as not bolting as fast in our heat. How does the humiduty act on it? Anyone know? I'm considering trying both the seed and greens varieties.
Thanks
D

Hi RootDigger, I'm in Georgia and I have both a green leaf amaranth with burgundy blooms and a burgundy leaf amaranth with burgundy blooms.

These are both beautiful plants and are very healthy in our usually dry humid summers. I've had the green leaf variety for three years and it reseeds which I like. I'm sure the burgundy leaf, which I just planted from seed this year, will do the same.

I planted them for cooking purposes but actually have not tried that yet. They are beautiful plants and I have them in both the vegetable and flower garden.

If I do a little research on the varieties I have, it would be interesting to use them as spinach and also to grind the seed heads up and try some in baking.

Thanks Daughternature.... If it works in the humidity of GA it should work here too. I've read that the flour is very nutritional. Below are a couple links that give information about the different varieties. Someone is sending me some of the Love Lies Bleeding which according to information the leaves and seeds are both edible. Would like to look into some of the others too. Thanks for the information and good luck on trying yours. Hope it's tasty!
D

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hsca/Har_9806.html

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Flowers/Annuals/amaranth.htm

Hi RootDigger - came across a post in the Asian Vegetable forum you may be interested in. It's listed as "How to sow amaranth" and was posted on July 15th. Thanks for the info above.

Some info below. Beware! Amaranths are incredibly invasive. They self-seed prolifically, and I've had plants pop up many metres away from the original plant, and at present I have several growing up in the cracks of tightly-spaced pavers!
It is also extremely attractive to grasshoppers, and as a result of that, I pulled out the original plant - the plaque of beasties was too much to handle. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, never again.

Tampala (A. tricolor): Also known as Chinese Spinach or Hinn Choy. Leaves are broad and fuzzy, usually green but sometimes blotched with purplish-brown. Grows to 1 metre tall, with a spread of about 45cm. Excellent cooked as a green vegetable. Grows best at temperatures around 21-29C.

Pilewort, Prince's Feather (A. hypochondriacus) This is the variety grown mostly for its seed. The leaves are used as a tea. Leaves and flowers used medicinally. Leaves eaten as a vegetable. The seeds used as a grain crop.

Foliage of all varieties is edible and nutritious. The official (medicinal) amaranth is H. hypochondriacus, also known as Love Lies Bleeding or Red Cockscomb

Tampala (A. tricolor): Also known as Chinese Spinach or Hinn Choy. Leaves are broad and fuzzy, usually green but sometimes blotched with purplish-brown. Grows to 1 metre tall, with a spread of about 45cm. Excellent cooked as a green vegetable.

Daughternature, what is the exact variety name of your burgundy leaf amarnath and where do you get the seeds?

At what size do you harvest the leaves?

I'm in Birmingham, so what grows in Hotlanta will do well here.

AdrianaG

The red amaranth I have growing is Vietnamese Red Amaranth from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. I have not cooked this but the catalog says it is excellent for many oriental dishes. The flowers are a very pretty burgundy, the leaves are a dark green on top with red veins and the underside of the leaf is burgundy/purple.

I have this amaranth growing with a green flowering amaranth and some lambs quarters. All three look nice together and take well to the heat.

I'm also trying Amaranth Polish from J L Hudson Seedsman. I got these seeds very late in the season so they are just seedlings at this point. The seedlings stem and leaf are very bright burgundy colored.

Abundant Life Seed Foundation has 14 varieties listed under their grain section and Seeds of Change has 6 varieties listed. Next year I'll be ordering Golden Giant from Seeds of Change. Seed Savers Exchange also has a very nice selection offered, around 70 listings, though you must be a member to order.

As I've said, I have not cooked my amaranth. I would guess that you would harvest the leaves at a young age before they became too tough. In Eating Wild Plants by Kim Williams it states "the new leaves of amaranth are just as edible as beet greens...the taste is mild...therefore, season with butter and vinegar or mix the amaranth greens with a strong flavored green such as mustard or dandelion... you must gather the amaranth when only inches high for tender greens"

BOUNTIFUL GARDENS,(WILLITS, CALIF-- AKA ECOLOGY ACTION) ALSO HAS SEVERAL AMARANTH CULTIVARS IN ITS CATALOG.K

Hi all,I am growing A tricolor a great spinach alternative in the heat of summer.I usually use the leaves when the plants are small,ideal way to use the unwanted self sown seedlings.When the plants get to full height a bit over a meter I've found,you can trim the side branches,peel the outer bark off and cook and use these as you would asparagus.I believe amaranths will cross pollinate quite readily.

I just ordered seeds of Golden Giant Amaranth after seeing pictures in the Seeds of Change Catalog. I ordered off the website (with a quickorder) but they do not have all the types listed in the catalog up on the webpage. Maybe order a catalog as they do have interesting things and the grain type Amaranths are very ornamental.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seeds of Change

My goodness! How does one grow amaranth?? I thought it just did! I used to live near a riverbed. The plain that leads up to it is chock full of amaranth plants. Last year I dried and froze batches of it. I had recognized it as the same plant that magically appeared in my backyard in Tennessee. It grows along sidewalks here in Japan. I like to add it to curry or tomato sauce. It is also good stirfried with a litlle oil and salt. The early flour spikes and the youngest leaves, both of which are slimy, can be eaten raw. I've eaten them in the field-much to the dismay of my friends who somehow believe that you need to buy it in a supermarket to trust it! The early leaves of spring are mild in flavor. Later in the season I need to wait for leaves less than five inches or the just sprouted flower bud if I want to use them as a uncooked green. I found that the large leaves that are so abundant later in the season, along with the leaf stalk are good as a cooked vegetable if there is a strong flavor to complement the rather bitter meaty flaor of mature amaranth. By the way, the young shoots and leaves have a slight lemony taste!
I hope I didn't sound smug. I'm going to be trying to grow amaranth too this summer, as my present neighborhood doesn't seem to have very much of it. Anyone know about the success of transplanted amaranth?

Hi All:
Has anyone from the Albuquerque area grown amaranth? I was thinking of trying it, and would appreciate any information anyone can give me about this.

Joey

When you say this is an alternative to spinach in the hot south--do you mean to say as salad, as cooked spinach or both?

Both...it depends on the variety. The tricolor amaranth makes a nice large leaf which can be used either way. I read that the stems can be peeled with a vegetable peeler and cooked like you would asparagus.

Hillbean do you have any idea what variety of amaranth it is that you are familiar with?

Hello I am so glad I found this web site. I have been growing amaranths for about three years now. It all began with my trying some poke sallet (remember the song Poke Sallet Annie?) at an old friends house. Poke sallet is a weed that many of you have in your back yard righ now. In one season it can grow up to 8 feet tall. It has little blue and purple berries on it. When I ate the poke sallet at my friend"s house she told me to only eat it in the spring before the stem turns red and to par boil it (boil and throw the water away 6-7 times to leach out the natural toxins in the plant) I loved the flavor of the poke sallet but I did not want to deal with the toxins in the plant. I also liked the idea that the plant grew six to eight feet tall and was edible! Amazingly I found a plant called, in many parts of the world, Callaloo. I asked around and got some seeds from a Jamaican gentleman here in Atlanta. Callaloo is an amaranth that grows 6 to eight feet tall, loves hot weather, can be cut and harvested thru out the growing season and it tastes great! (a cross in flavor between spinach an broccoli). The Callaloo leaves and the stalk can be eaten (the stalk has to be stripped like the stalk of broccoli). I have found it to be great in stir fry with other vegetables. If you are interested in this plant please go to a web site I set up on callaloo at:

way.to/callaloo

(sorry some of the links on the site do not work but there is still some good info there).

I've grown the Golden Giant and out of 6-8 plants, harvested about a half pound of seeds. They're very small and light so you have to chaffe them. I cooked them with other grains and had a nice multi-grain rice.

The amaranth I've tried for their greens must be picked very young, otherwise they become stringy. Personally I rather grow other greens, as I find even quickly sauteing them, they have a grainy texture which I don't care for.

Malabar spinach has very nice tender leaves on an inderterminate vine that grows until frost. These can be eaten raw or cooked. It has very attractive spade green leaves, red vine and small white flowers.

I've grown Love Lies Bleeding and am trying Elephant Head Amaranthus this year for the first time. I've never eaten amaranth.
If anyone would like to try my Elephant Head Amaranthus, email me and we can do an SASE.
Robin

Lots of good info, thanks everyone! I'm trying several kinds this year. Does anyone know if the Love Lies Bleeding variety has any edible parts?

Well, duh!! I feel silly, lol. I posted the info abt the LLB last year....
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hsca/Har_9806.html
"Love Lies Bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus ) This is the most common ornamental variety grown for its lovely red tassels that droop down like ropes, originally from South America, growing to 1m. Both leaves and seeds are edible.
Let's just call it a senior moment, hehehe.......

I started seeds of Golden Giant this year but with the weather being so cool and rainey this spring, they are barely growing. I am having trouble envisioning these tiny plantlets growing into the 7 foot tall plants that they are supposed to be.

We've had so much rain mine look awful and started going to seed while still tiny.

Well, the Amaranths look good. Finially grew to about 5 feet tall and no where near done yet. They have large leaves and the plant size is astounding as they come from these TINY little specks of seeds. Can't wait for the seedheads.

I think mine got a late start and I'm afraid it won't go to seed... they list it as a hardy annual... do I need to take a cutting inside for the winter?

Mine have gorgeous seedheads now. Don't think they are fully ripe yet as the clumps of seeds keep getting bigger. Very dramatic.

The Goldfinches did enjoy eating the seeds off the Amaranths. Later when the plants got flattened by the snow, Mourning Doves started feeding on the seeds.

Seedlings coming up all by themselves that self seeded. We will see how they turn out.

I began by allowing one plain old Green Amranth volunteer to thrive last year, then this year - ZOWie - I have loads - everywhere. I like the green variety just fine, as others have said, cooking the larger leaves. Had a pasta last nite with *lots* of amaranth sauteed with fresh garden tomatoes, shallots, squash and balsamic vinegar. Yummy. I like it in eggs also, and that is my favorite way to enjoy young Poke (no need to parboil leave or stems under 8" tall - i would NOT eat any part of older plants!)

I also use tender/smaller amaranth and poke leaves in mixed salads or burritos. I'm going to season and fry up a bunch of the stems tomorrow! Am gathering seed and drying it - as I heard it is excellent toasted and added to baked goods and pizza dough. Despite all effort to harvest, I know there will still be PLENTY for the birds, compost, and me next year!

Having said that...

Those living in rural areas may need to pull & eat ALL Green Amaranth when young - as they are on many invasive lists...and I think they are a problem for grazing livestock. Many websites talk as if it is an evil plant! One also recommended eating it with more flavorful things, however, and said it is: a remarkable source for the amino acid lysine. YAY!

Cousin Poke, btw, is tall and VERY *beautiful* in the fall..and all parts are quite poisonous. Leaving just one to grow as an ornamental is what I like to do, and leave enuf space clear around it for lots of cooking greens to appear in spring. It will sow in place, and birds will share the seed in winter. Try to harvest and eat ALL POKE (but one) by the time it is 6' tall. NEVER eat the roots or berries. If you use the berries for ink or dyes, WEAR GLOVES. Enjoy!

can someone send me a pic of the amaranthus elephant heads?

Probably all of you know this already, but basically any amaranth has both edible seeds and edible leaves. It's just that some varieties have been bred for one or the other (like cilantro/coriander or dill seed/weed).

One thing I've never seen or heard anywhere -- amaranth *seed* eaten in any quantity (e.g., as a bowl of cereal or as a rice substitute) gives some people diarrhea. I know this is true because it affects both my husband and me this way, though not real bad, thank goodness. It took a while to figure out what was doing it. We've tried the whole seeds boiled, the flour, and popped seeds. They all do it to us. We've never noticed any problem with eating amaranth leaves, though we haven't eaten them very many times. Just something you might want to watch out for.

Here's one photo of Elephant Head amaranth (see link below). If you want to see other photos, do a Google search on

amaranth "elephant head"

Here is a link that might be useful: Elephant Head amaranth at Seeds of Change

I am growing amaranth for the first time (both green and Hopi red dye). I ate the leaves of the young green plants I had to thin, but now my beds are sufficiently thinned out and I am letting the plants grow to get seed because I like the grain. However, greedy as I am, I would also like to continue enjoying the greens. Do I harvest the leaves closer to the ground as you would do with kale and collards? I want to do it in such a way that I do not interfere with the plants ability to generate flowers and seeds.
Thanks for any input!
Cabrita