I am making sure all the seeds I order are open pollinated.
I am interested in trying amaranth.
I hear that the leaves can be eaten like spinach, and when it goes to seed, you can use it as a grain substitute.
What varieties would be good for that?
Does anyone have any experience with that?
I’ve been wondering the same thing. It looks like it would also be a very pretty plant.
I’ve grown amaranth many times. My first suggestion is to check if it’s growing wild around you already. The domesticated varieties will cross with the wild ones very easily.
All the amaranths I’ve tried had leaves that tasted like spinach. I don’t like the taste of spinach, so I can’t tell you how the eating quality compares. But, if you get a grain type, you’ll get the greens as well. The inverse is not always true. The ones bred for grain production tend to have bigger (relatively speaking), more tender seeds, and more of them. You can still eat the grain from leaf-types and from wild amaranth, but the seeds will be smaller, harder, and have less yield per plant. I’m told that some even have a bitter taste, although I haven’t encountered that.
There used to be a company called “Bountiful Gardens”, that had an incredible collection of heirloom grains, including amaranth. The company closed, but some of their varieties were picked up by other companies. Looks like Quailseeds.com, Adaptive Seeds, and Southern Exposure got the best of them.