Lauren Sheppard

Good Wednesday to you all! I am here to see if anyone knows whether wild Peruvian amaranth could be a harmful plant to introduce in Eastern Washington. I have been helping in my local community garden, and about a fourth of the space was planted with the grain this year. We've been tearing it down and putting it in a pile. I am harvesting what I can and planning to burn the remainder of material. It produces many seeds and has a large root. I am worried it will spread and invade the area, and we are located in the middle of a lot of grain fields. I've included some pictures to verify if it is actually amaranth.

This is an excellent video I've seen with John Moody, all about elderberries! I'm so excited he is joining to discuss this awesome topic with us.

Where I live in the Pacific Northwest, elderberries grow prolifically in the wild. My aunt and uncle run a fruit winery in Idaho, and for their elderberry wine, they harvest all of the fruit wild. I personally love to take some clusters if I find them on hikes, and make a syrup using raw, local honey. It's always a treat to find their flowers as well, as they can be dried and used in tea.

Thank you for your time here! So excited to see discussions unfold on this topic.