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Amaranth seedheads vs birds

Pearl Sutton

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posted 1 year ago

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I finally managed to get some amaranth to make it (not a lot, but better than zero!) and the starlings are starting to flock up heavily.
I need to cover the heads. I have lots of tulle, which I use for bigger seeds, I'll check and see if they fall through the holes. Maybe I can make sure there's a lot of layers around each one in case of falling.

Questions:
Do amaranth seeds fall out easily, or stick in well?
Has anyone done this, and what worked for you?

Varieties I have are both from Baker Creek, Amaranth, Elena's Rojo and Amaranth, Golden Giant
Both are such pretty plants!! And are surviving heavy bug pressure, some kind of itty bitty beetle.

not my picture, from here: oroseeds.com elenas rojo

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Pearl Sutton

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I looked it up, the pretty red heads are actually the flowers. Do they get pollinated?
If I cover them am I going to mess them up?

I'm headed out to work in a few, I'll see if there's anyone pollinating them, but I didn't notice the other day, and I tend to notice pollinators on my plants.

EDIT: I see zero pollinators on any of it.

Joylynn Hardesty

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Birdies? Uh oh.

I had pics, can't find em. Amaranth is wind pollenated. It has teensy pollen threads inside the flowers. Reminicent of corn tassel threads.

The brightess of color fades as amaranth seed ripen. If you can't id if grain is devrloped? Hold one hand beside stalk. Bump stalk with other hand. Any grain fall? If yes, I may cover with a with paper grocery bag, twist tied to stalk.

More often, in my garden, the color has nearly vanished, seed has already been raided, so I cut the heads and shake the remaining seedz loose in a bag or container.

Sigh.

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Larisa Walk

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posted 1 year ago

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If birds are showing interest in the amaranth (and not just bugs that may be on the heads), the grain may be mature and ready to harvest, long before the seed heads have dried down. If you can rub seed out into your palm the heads can be cut, placed into a tub or onto a sheet, and carried into a protected space free of birds and rodents to finish drying down. It helps to pull off any leaves and really big heads can be trimmed down to individual branches. You'll need to dry the heads on sheets or cardboard as screens will let seed sift through. Having several screens hanging above a sheet is the best option as that way you'll maximize airflow while having the sheet to catch seeds. We've been growing and eating grain amaranth for nearly 40 years using this method.

Pearl Sutton

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No bird attention yet, but when a flock of starlings notices something they want, it's way too late to cover them.
They are all bright, not fading. No bugs on the flowers (hmm. didn't notice any on the leaves I glanced at either) I took pics, haven't had time to process them to post them.

So I can cut the heads and bring them in? I'll wait a while before I do that, they are still growing. I thought to colored stuff was all full of seeds now, but it looks like it's barely pollinating now. I might put tulle on them, soon though....
Thank you both!
:D

Chris Whitehouse

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Showing my ignorance, as amaranth is not common here in the uk, other than as ornamental, but how do you use the seeds?

And I have something like it called callaloo (but it’s just pale green), used I think in the West Indies as a vegetable. Has anyone tried that with your lovely amaranth?

Chris
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Pearl Sutton

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Amaranth seeds are used a cooking grain, I use it in my rice mixes (I never cook just one kind of rice) and in my breads, and any hot cereals I make.

The MAIN reason I want it so bad though, is there are, as far as I can find, only 2 plant sources that are a complete protein, containing all the essential amino acids: Quinoa and Amaranth. Quinoa does not stand a chance in this climate, but wild amaranth is a weed around here, so that tells me that grain amaranth has a good chance.

I use it to increase the nutrients in anything I can put it in! I put some into some odd bread type stuff I made yesterday, I have been known to put it into puddings, cakes or cookies, and cooked vegetables. The seeds are tiny and have little to no flavor, they hide easily, and add nutrients.

:D

Alina Green

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For me, amaranth is one of the few weeds that my chickens and ducks will not eat, so they dont' need to be behind a fence. They are very drought tolerant, and I have had better results just flinging seeds around, come what may, over planting them in pots and watering them.

The greens cook down to nothing, very soft and silky, similar to spinach or sweet potato leaves--and unlike something that retains more texture when cooked, such as kale or cassava greens.

Anne Pratt

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It's my understanding that callaloo is basically the same plant - the colorful ones are developed for their color and grains, and callaloo for the greens.

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Pearl Sutton

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I'm starting to see sees on the ground, not a lot. What happens if I cut the heads off too soon? Will they keep ripening? I have no paper bags, and plastic got too wet, I took them off.
I don't want to cut too soon, but I don't want to lose them all either.
Rain coming in tonight, been windy all day.

Mk Neal

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Pearl Sutton wrote:I'm starting to see sees on the ground, not a lot. What happens if I cut the heads off too soon? Will they keep ripening? I have no paper bags, and plastic got too wet, I took them off.
I don't want to cut too soon, but I don't want to lose them all either.
Rain coming in tonight, been windy all day.

My thought is that for eating it does not matter so much if the grain is fully ripe, only matters for planting seeds. So no real harm in harvesting as long as the seeds you can shake out are good eating size.

Weeds are just plants with enough surplus will to live to withstand normal levels of gardening!--Alexandra Petri

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Douglas Alpenstock

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I have a zillion happy seed eaters out here, migratory birds of all shapes and stripes, aggressive squirrels, etc. etc. None of them touch amaranth. I end up composting it all.

Rebecca Norman

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I grow red amaranth here as an ornamental, and as a minor vegetable. It self seeds all over the garden and tries to become an annual weed. I only planted once, 5 years ago, but it comes back in force every year.

Red amaranth leaves are popular with Bengalis. I see it for sale in the Bengali markets in Delhi.

If you cook it straight, e.g. just sautee onions and then add the amaranth, it colors the food red, a kind of dark intense pink. If you pick through it and don't use the larger stems, it's a very smooth and mild cooking green.

I used to add it for color when we made ketchup: I'd let a big branch of red amaranth simmer in the ketchup for a while, until it had given up most of its color, and then I'd remove it.

I've made palak paneer with it, that turned out to be bright green. For that, I boiled the red amaranth leaves a few minutes, then drained it. The waste water carries the red / brown color away, and then the leaves are just green.

Last year I collected seedheads in woven plastic sacks but then I guess the sacks were too plasticy and I didn't check often enough, so they all went moldy.

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Timothy Norton

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posted 7 months ago

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Pearl, how did you make out with your Amaranth?

I have grown it for the first time this year, a green and a red variety, and I would like to primarily save seeds for next year to try and grow it in earnest.

Did you face any challenges with the birds or otherwise?

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Pearl Sutton

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posted 7 months ago

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I fared very weirdly. One bed had a LOT of bugs that made the leaves look like lace. Both beds put out big full heads, impressive looking (if lacy) plants.... and as far a I can tell, not a single seed.

I cut the heads, hung them in a safe place to dry, beat them later, lots of flower debris, no seeds. No volunteers came up either.

Maybe they got in too late? They certainly LOOKED right (except for the lacy ones) but ... weird.

Timothy Norton

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Thank you for that update.

I will let my plants go for as long as I can into the fall before collecting the seed head and see how I fair. They are still growing/forming so we will see how they do.

Judith Browning

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Mine are just now sending up flower heads.
I planted a little late to avoid the worst of the flea beetle damage (that's the lacy damage) and that worked although they are a ways from making seed.

And I forgot about the birds...they manage to clean up any uncovered sunflower and tithonia seed so I know they will be watching the amaranth.

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