I bought some organic quinoa and amaranth seeds (to cook with.... I'm
staying away from wheat for a while) at my local health food store and
realized that the cost of buying them this way is tons cheaper than through
seed catalogs. I went back and found some pretty exotic beans at that
store as well, and oats, and rye, and ...... you name it! Now I need to
know, does anyone else grow quinoa and amaranth? Any special tricks?
thankS!
Laura
(RE: talking to plants..... after that horrible freeze, when my cherries
still managed to bear a bit of fruit, I have to admit I thanked each and
every one of them!)
> know, does anyone else grow quinoa and amaranth? Any special tricks?
I grew both last year, Laura. I don't quite remember what I did, exactly,
but I do remember taht I followed the advice in Salt Spring Seeds'
catalogue and they (the q. and a.) both grew fine. The catalogue is
online--you can look for archives for the address or I could unlazy myself
enough to look it up for you...
They are both easy to grow, but I found them difficult to
harvest--probably just me.
Diane Ridout, Instructor, ACP.............................................
Kwantlen University College, "Talk
12666-72 Avenue doesn't
Surrey, BC, Canada V3W 2M8 cook rice," they say.
Tel: (604) 599-2964 Voice mail 9837.......................................
Diane, how much space did it take to grow these? I'm wondering if I have
enough space.
--Natalie
*******************************
Natalie McNair-Huff, organic gardener
"as a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era or
corruption in high places will follow...until all wealth is aggregated in a
few hands, and the Republic is destroyed." Abraham Lincoln.
> They are both easy to grow, but I found them difficult to
> harvest--probably just me.
Agreed, on both counts.
The secret to harvesting seeds is to wear stout gloves to rub the seeds out
of the spiky heads. If they're properly dry, you end up with a mountain of
chaff and a good hil of seeds. To separate, winnow by hand or with a small
fan.
Jeremy Cherfas
I grew amaranth several years ago and my experience was similar to Diane's.
Very easy to grow, beautiful to grow, but I never did figure out a good
way to harvest it. I was expecting them to dry, similar to corn if your
growing it for corn meal, but the plants never reached what I would
consider a harvestable stage. But some came up again the following year,
so obviously the seeds were ripe enough.
I'd love to try again if anyone can help out.
> know, does anyone else grow quinoa and amaranth? Any special tricks?
I grew both last year, Laura. I don't quite remember what I did, exactly,
but I do remember taht I followed the advice in Salt Spring Seeds'
catalogue and they (the q. and a.) both grew fine. The catalogue is
online--you can look for archives for the address or I could unlazy myself
enough to look it up for you...
They are both easy to grow, but I found them difficult to
harvest--probably just me.
Diane Ridout, Instructor, ACP.............................................
Kwantlen University College, "Talk
12666-72 Avenue doesn't
Surrey, BC, Canada V3W 2M8 cook rice," they say.
Tel: (604) 599-2964 Voice mail 9837.......................................
> Diane, how much space did it take to grow these? I'm wondering if I have
> enough space.
> --Natalie
I grew "experimental" amounts--one 10-foot row of quinoa, and
approximately one 10-foot row of amaranth (it was planted in a mixed bed
with sunflowers, broom corn, cosmos and zinnias--it was fabulously
beautiful, btw., especially in the morning when the bed was backlit by
early sun, or sidelit by the lowering sun in the evening). The amaranth
produced a much more abundant crop for the same area, for me. The plants
were large, multicoloured, and bore enormous multiple seed heads.
I suppose if one were trying to grow all one's grain from these plants, it
would take a lot more area than that! I would think that one could replace
rice with amaranth quite easily with, say, about 50 row feet of amaranth
plants (??), unless of course rice is a large and vital part of your daily
fare.
hth,
Diane Ridout, Instructor, ACP.............................................
Kwantlen University College, "Talk
12666-72 Avenue doesn't
Surrey, BC, Canada V3W 2M8 cook rice," they say.
Tel: (604) 599-2964 Voice mail 9837.......................................
Ok,
I want to try it. Can someone give me these specifics?
1. Where can I buy the seed?
2. When should it be planted?
Thanks,
Natalie
*******************************
Natalie McNair-Huff, organic gardener
"as a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era or
corruption in high places will follow...until all wealth is aggregated in a
few hands, and the Republic is destroyed." Abraham Lincoln.
Buy it from Abundant Life, OR.
Plant it in May, wqhen the soil is good and warm.
Jeremy
One of my favourite seed companies that have recently gone on line is Seeds
Blum. Their home page is http://www.seedsblum.com/ If you only have
access to Internet E-mail, you can let me know and I'll look up their fax
and telephone number for you. They list both Quinoa and amaranth, they
list at least 6 types of amaranth, both for grain and for greens. They
tend to be a bit pricier then some, but they are actively involved in
promoting heirloom vegetables, working with small growers and also their
seed packages are more generous then most.
Ok,
I want to try it. Can someone give me these specifics?
1. Where can I buy the seed?
2. When should it be planted?
Thanks,
Natalie
*******************************
Natalie McNair-Huff, organic gardener
"as a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era or
corruption in high places will follow...until all wealth is aggregated in a
few hands, and the Republic is destroyed." Abraham Lincoln.
There are probably American companies that sell them and that might be
more convenient for you to oreder from, but I know for sure
that Salt Spring Seeds does. Their catalogue is online somewhere or
other--does anyone have the address handy?
> 2. When should it be planted?
When the soil warms up--same time you'd start beans outdoors. They're
direct-sown, then thinned (you can eat the thinnings). The SSS catalogue
has detailed directions for growing them.
Diane Ridout, Instructor, ACP.............................................
Kwantlen University College, "Talk
12666-72 Avenue doesn't
Surrey, BC, Canada V3W 2M8 cook rice," they say.
Tel: (604) 599-2964 Voice mail 9837.......................................
Other good sources, besides Abundant Life, are: Seeds of Change, Native
Seeds Search (remember focus on low desert varities) and SSE has a huge
listing as well.
> 2. When should it be planted?
Depends where you are, need to balance warm soil with expected days to
maturity. But, soil should be pretty warmed up.
:-)
eliza
