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Has anyone propagated lamb's quarter in any way-seed, etc.?

Marcus Billings

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Location: South Central Indiana

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posted 7 years ago

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I wanted to know if anyone had saved lamb's quarter seed and planted it the next year with success. And yes I know that it grows like a "weed" in certain areas. But lately, not so much here. In the past, my grandfather put in many annual gardens on this same property and it seemed like you couldn't get rid of it. Now that I've stopped tilling the past 15 years and have initiated a food forest, I can't seem to find any. I even turned over a small patch of ground hoping some would volunteer this spring, but no luck. There's about five acres that I've searched and only found five small plants beside some trees I planted this year.

If I thought I could germinate the seed from these plants, I'd do it, but it would be nice to hear from someone who has done it themselves.

Thanks in advance.

Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 7 years ago

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I wanted to know if anyone had saved lamb's quarter seed and planted it the next year with success.

Yes, I save seed every year and usually gather the dry seed and plant it right then everywhere I can. This year's crop I'm still thinning...sowed way to thickly.

I've saved seed and planted in the spring also but like just letting it winter over and pop up when it likes.

The only issue there is, that I know of, is needing to choose the plant (or two or three) early to let go to seed. I keep picking growing tips to eat all summer and that prevents the plant from going to seed until too late to make viable seed, so just mark one or two plants so no one picks them starting early summer, soon anyway...

If you just pinch the growing tips for greens to eat that makes the plant kind of bushy and it also makes more seed.

EDIT...when we first moved to this place less than two years ago, I was in a panic because I could only find two lambsquarters plants....I let them both go to seed last year and spread it over any bare soil I could find. This year it has been our favorite green, prolific. As far as I know it only spreads by seed and is an annual.

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Deb Rebel

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posted 7 years ago

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Come here, I am up to my armpits in it. At least it seems like it. At least I'm getting my greens (I can't eat lettuce so this is my go-to green to replace that). I have a beauty in the middle of my opuntia bed, I'll let that one have the honors then of making me seed. Thanks for the info and advice!

Marcus Billings

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Location: South Central Indiana

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posted 7 years ago

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Judith Browning wrote:

.I let them both go to seed last year and spread it over any bare soil I could find.

Thank you Judith, Just to be clear, you didn't loosen the soil or clear it? You just sowed the seed on top of bare areas? Thanks again.

Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 7 years ago

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Marcus Billings wrote:
Thank you Judith, Just to be clear, you didn't loosen the soil or clear it? You just sowed the seed on top of bare areas? Thanks again.

Marcus, what I did last year when the seed heads were mostly dry, was cut whole branches and shake the seed everywhere in the garden that wasn't heavily mulched. I didn't do anything to the soil surface (it was bare after digging our sweet potatoes and cleaning up other things) but did lay the lambsquarters branches on top of the raised beds also just loosely. Other years I've spread just the seed and then really really lightly mulched with grass clippings or a fine straw just so the soil wasn't so bare....no solid mulch though. I think they would be fine without mulch.

I planted way too thick last year and the beds were solid seedlings....might be good for weed suppression but I did gradually thin them to just a few individual clumps and they are now bushy and stocky from pinching out the new growth to eat.

We have both the wild lambsquarters and a domestic version that folks here call 'gossip weed' that has somewhat larger leaves and a very pink center....easier to spot but not as tasty. We eat a big pot of the leaves cooked almost every day.

Try planting a few different ways and see what works for you and your garden...I don't think it hurts for the seed to have some cover, loosened soil, but I usually just sow on the surface...the seeds are tiny so are easily beat into the surface by rain.

I do notice the biggest healthiest plants are in the garden beds...other places the seed germinated but the plants were much smaller.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Marcus Billings

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Location: South Central Indiana

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posted 7 years ago

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Judith Browning wrote:

Marcus Billings wrote:
what I did last year when the seed heads were mostly dry, was cut whole branches and shake the seed everywhere in the garden that wasn't heavily mulched.

Judith, Again, thank you so much. One last question and I'll stop bothering you! What time of year did collect the branches, late summer, fall?

Thanks

Judith Browning

Posts: 8931

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2406

posted 7 years ago

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What time of year did collect the branches, late summer, fall?

I cut them when the seed was ready and shook out what I could to plant and then roughly chopped up what was left and put on the beds...I think it was late summer early fall. Just watch for the seed to shake out when you tap the seed heads...they will fall into your hand. It's never a big rush and they seem to mature at different times on the same plant.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

robert e morgan

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Location: ne kansas

posted 7 years ago

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feed the plants with seed to some pigs . the next year the pen will be solid lambsquarter. sowed and fertilized in one move mnt

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Burra Maluca

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posted 7 years ago

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I haven't saved seed yet, but at this time of year in Portugal most of the green stuff, including fat hen/lamb's quarters is getting a bit past its best so I'm going to save seed off the three rather lush plants growing right outside my door, if they ever get around to going to seed...

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Judith Browning

Posts: 8931

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 7 years ago

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...more pics. The pink centered is 'gossip weed' and the other is wild. I've been pinching these back a lot and this thread has reminded me I need to mark some seed plant for both varieties. We have clumps of them among other things in the garden and everyone seems to get along well

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Rebecca Norman

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Location: Ladakh, Indian Himalayas at 10,500 feet, zone 5

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posted 7 years ago

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Well, we've got no shortage of lambsquarters / fat hen (Chenopodium album) right now so I've been eating some every day. Sometimes I cook up "a mess of greens" with an onion and eat it with chapattis, and lately I'm on a kick of adding it to a cheese sauce on pasta. A few weeks ago, the mallow (Malva neglecta) and weedy amaranths were small and easy to pull right out out along with lambsquarters, but now their tap roots are becoming tenacious and the flower or seed portion makes them less palatable, but anyway now the lambsquarters leaves are getting big and much more worth collecting in larger amounts.

Pretty soon our mystery local weed will get big enough to collect, a fragrant oak-leafed thing that I think might be a Chenopodium; in previous years I eagerly collected it all and it wasn't spreading much, but I'm happy to see this year I must have missed some in the lower garden because there are a lot of small ones there.

Maybe there are other delicious edible weeds in your garden, if you learn what they are.

Works at a residential alternative high school in the Himalayas SECMOL.org . "Back home" is Cape Cod, E Coast USA.

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Location: Middle Georgia

posted 7 years ago

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Chenopodium should be easy.
Are you sure that you left the seed on the plant long enough?

I allow my best plants to set seed, and the birds drop enough for a nice patch.
I also tossed entire plants into the new garden area.
None of the seed collecting or branch pruning for me.

I did collect some seed, and after winnowing in large bowl, added to pancake batter for additional fibre.

Ryan M Miller

pollinator

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Location: Dayton, Ohio

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posted 5 years ago

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I plan on growing some Lamb's Quarters in my garden this year from some seed I saved, but I don't know if I need to rinse off any remaining chaff clinging to the seeds or saponins before planting them in order for the seeds to sprout. I have never been able to successfully sprout Lamb's Quarters from seed when I plant it directly in my garden the same year, so there must be some germination inhibitors in the seed I'm not aware of.
Over Christmas, I got the chance to winnow some Lamb's Quarter seed I had collected in October of last year (images below). I rubbed the seeds between my fingers to free the chaff from the seeds and then lightly blew off the chaff from the seeds held in a shallow dish. It took me several evenings to use this method to winnow 3.2 ounces of seeds. This was my first time trying this method, but it might normally take less time for people more familiar with this process. I the process from one of Aaron Thatcher's videos on Youtube. He sent me a link to his video when I asked him how to winnow smaller seeds. He uses garden sorrel in the video (Rumex acetosella), but the same process can also be used to winnow Lamb's Quarters and Amaranth: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8SE8l0CfMdo

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Ryan M Miller

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posted 5 years ago

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Update: I planted the lamb's quarter seeds in the middle of March along with some quinoa seeds, and about half of the lamb's quarter seeds sprouted. Perhaps the wild plants require a longer period of cold to consistently sprout, but it may just be the normal pattern of sprouting for this plant. I have already made about four batches of steamed lamb's quarter and quinoa this year. I plan on saving lamb's quarter seeds from the plants that sprouted earliest. Hopefully I get a more consistent germination after a few generations.

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Ryan M Miller

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posted 5 years ago

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I recently found a blog post explaining the best way to break the dormancy period for lamb's quarter seeds. Besides planting them the Fall prior to growing them, you could soak the seeds overnight, change the water, rub off the saponin layer in a fresh change of water, rinse off the coating that floats to the top, then plant the wet seeds immediately in the garden. I haven't tried this method yet, but I plan to use it next year when I grow lamb's quarters again.

https://wildfoodgirl.com/2014/seed-sprouting-with-quinoas-wild-kin/

Rachel D L Smith

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posted 3 years ago

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I like what you said about none of the seed planting and pruning! LOL I have found all kinds of ways to "Harvest" Lambs Quarter seeds, but yours certainly seems the easiest! :)

I cut off several branches already in the hopes of getting seeds, but I wonder if I was too hasty. One gentleman said to cut them off and let them rest. That you should not touch the seeds with your hands unless they are well washed as the oils from your body can cause them to go bad. He has this whole process you have to go through.

Lambs Quarters Video

I see several out here have mentioned shaking the heads to see if the seeds fall out. Mine are not doing that yet. But I do have a lot of seeds on my beautiful plant! Do you just check everyday to see if the seeds are shaking out?

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Ryan M Miller

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posted 2 years ago

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Rachel D L Smith wrote:I like what you said about none of the seed planting and pruning! LOL I have found all kinds of ways to "Harvest" Lambs Quarter seeds, but yours certainly seems the easiest! :)

I cut off several branches already in the hopes of getting seeds, but I wonder if I was too hasty. One gentleman said to cut them off and let them rest. That you should not touch the seeds with your hands unless they are well washed as the oils from your body can cause them to go bad. He has this whole process you have to go through.

Lambs Quarters Video

I see several out here have mentioned shaking the heads to see if the seeds fall out. Mine are not doing that yet. But I do have a lot of seeds on my beautiful plant! Do you just check everyday to see if the seeds are shaking out?

I usually begin testing the seed heads of the lamb's quarter plants around the beginning of October and harvest the whole seed heads once they begin to shatter. I let them dry in a warm room in my house for about a month or until the seed heads are brittle to the touch. This Winter I've also discovered that the best way to clean lamb's quarter seeds is to rub off the outer chaff with a rubber dehuller attachment on a hand-crank grain mill. The dehulled seeds can then easily be sifted from the chaff in a fine mesh kitchen sieve. This process will leave some bits of broken leaves if the leaves were not removed before drying and hand-threshing the seed heads. I'm hoping to make a video better demonstrating this procedure in the future.

Sharon Elizabeth

Posts: 16

Location: Colorado, Zone 3b

posted 1 year ago

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Judith Browning wrote:...more pics. The pink centered is 'gossip weed' and the other is wild.

I know this is a very old post, but hopefully this will help someone. The "gossip weed" is called Magentaspreen Lamb's Quarters. I bought seed and have some that I've been growing inside, and they are anxiously awaiting planting outside.

God gave us such a blessing in plants - some for medicine, some for eating (even "weeds"), and some just to give us joy!

Sharon Elizabeth

Posts: 16

Location: Colorado, Zone 3b

posted 1 year ago

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Ryan M Miller wrote:I recently found a blog post explaining the best way to break the dormancy period for lamb's quarter seeds. Besides planting them the Fall prior to growing them, you could soak the seeds overnight, change the water, rub off the saponin layer in a fresh change of water, rinse off the coating that floats to the top, then plant the wet seeds immediately in the garden. I haven't tried this method yet, but I plan to use it next year when I grow lamb's quarters again.

I know this post is old, but I'm new - so... Would this method work for doing microgreens (without soil) instead of winnowing them first? I figure leaves for food in the summer, then save the seeds for microgreens for the winter. Thoughts?

God gave us such a blessing in plants - some for medicine, some for eating (even "weeds"), and some just to give us joy!

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