Amazing Amaranth : How to grow, harvest, and cook with this hardy, delicious, and nutritious plant

Amaranth is one tough weed -- it's also tasty! Both the leaves and seeds are edible and full of nutrients. We're going to harvest, thresh, and winnow the seeds, then pop them, and then make candy (alegría) with the puffed seeds.

[@kenbrown438]

Thank you for all the close ups !!!! In our community garden several amaranth plants volunteered and produced hundreds of seeds !!!! The leaves are very tasty !!!!

[@ShoestringMartha]

I don’t know where you are, but here in the SW, Palmer’s amaranth (AKA pigweed) is pretty common, and also edible. So maybe that’s what you’ve got!

[@kenbrown438]

@@ShoestringMartha ; we had the red variety !!!!

[@ShoestringMartha]

OOHH Lucky!! 👏👏👏

[@highlandscommunityclub1160]

I Exchanged seeds today and was SO happy to get amaranth!! My goal is to cook and eat the leaves, have flowers for the bees, and give the seed heads to our chicken girls. I liked your method of winnowing. Thank you!!

[@ShoestringMartha]

Sounds like a lovely plan! Once you grow amaranth, you’ll always grow it, thanks to its prolific self-seeding. 😂

[@nateroxx]

Thank you for making this, been wanting to grow my own amaranth but other videos have a much more complex way of separating the seed which put me off. Will do it now though! I love puffed amaranth.

[@crispusattucks4007]

Dang this is awesome. Bout to try making puffed amaranth energy bar 💪🏿

[@GreenLove1]

I harvested amaranth for the first time this year, and did the winnowing process over some grow bags by accident , and a few days later I now have hundreds of amaranth plants growing! Not complaining, those are free plants. They grow super quickly at this time of year, and I am already harvesting greens just 3 weeks later. Great video, thanks!

[@ShoestringMartha]

Aren't they fantastic?? This is the first year I have not grown them, nor have they grown themselves, and the garden just looks weird without them 🤔

[@B30pt87]

What a great video! You hit that perfect sweet spot of information & humor/character. I'm excited about making Alegria - until now I'd only knew it as the title of a Cirque de Soleil show.

[@ShoestringMartha]

😂😂😂

[@jayc6159]

That looks like fun can’t wait to try growing my own grains 🌾

[@joannthompson765]

thanks for the bloopers at end and let us know that's not all perfect in take 1

[@da1stamericus]

Ty. Beautiful video

[@wendycampbell1949]

Thank you for putting the nutritional benefits.

[@LenkaSaratoga]

this is great 🌱👍💚

[@erikasanchez7972]

Great video. The candy looked gross and like a rock.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Welp. Tasted good 🤷

[@thedisappointedoptimist6916]

This is the coolest thing ever!

[@ml9633]

Thanks :)

[@amandanelson9697]

Amaranth! Love Lies Bleeding (along with cockscomb) is my favorite flower for arrangements. I'm looking to plant the larger variety for harvesting-Thank you so much for your video.

[@ShoestringMartha]

I've seen those -- so pretty!

[@ImDunton]

I loved your floral shirt.

[@ezrakamari8123]

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[@ahmirdamon3953]

@Ezra Kamari Yup, I've been using instaflixxer for months myself :)

[@balconygardener5459]

Puffed amaranth, never thought of that, I'll definitely try that. Do you have recipes for the greens too? ( This is my first video of yours I'll definitely check other videos), I tried stir frying amaranth leaves with garlic and peppers, some salt and turmeric powder and it was a good side dish for rice especially with an Indian dish called Dal made from pulse.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Your recipe for greens is very similar to mine, and I imagine would be great with dal. I just sauté with olive oil, garlic, salt, and a little chile flakes. Sometimes I add a small splash of balsamic. Otherwise, I like them in soups and stir-fries. I also included them in the eggs I made in the Eat Your Cactus video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKfWd32MiLyAq6s

[@balconygardener5459]

@@ShoestringMartha adding balsamic, I'll try that. 😄

[@leovegan8079]

@@ShoestringMartha .. Time-Iapse pig carcasses. 5-10 days in your stomach puutrefying 🤮. Deodorant mask the symptoms but you still smell bad in your feet and shoes and socks 🔴🍖🦠🧟‍♂️🥾🦶🧦, 🧟‍♂️💩🚽🤮🤮🤮. No Fibre. PH 4, hard arteries.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKe2i4ejjLepjrs .. Vegans they don’t smell, because lots of fibre if you eat plants and fruit and nuts and berries and tubers and lentiIs beans and potatoes etc. Lots of fibre !! PH 7-10. Smooth arteries. ToiIet ✅❤️💩🚽😉 neutral. And you get bigger and stronger and fitter when you go plant based. No fat deposits because fat deposits is animals and cheese and fish etc. Herbivores like gorillas and bonobos and Orangutans, no plaque because plaque is eating corpses 🧟‍♂️🦠🍖🔴... Hard arteries. No fibre !! We are herbivores. Like bonobos and orangutans and gorillas. Ape family. They are herbivores like humans. We act like ‘Omnivores’, and get heart attack and cancer and high blood pressure and strokes no fibre and fat deposits clog your arteries !!!! 51% death rate !!!! Vegans have 4% cancer. And Gorillas they have 1% cancer in the wild 😜. And they don’t eat meat, and they are huge, 97.6% the same as us !!! Fibre is plants and fruit and nuts and berries and sweet potato 🍠 and lentils and beans and rice and oats etc. Peer reviewed scientific fact !! Yeast is B12. Teaspoon 500% !!!!! And it’s natural, 🦠 (hint hint🥖🍞B12). Or marmite teaspoonful 480% !!!!! Duckweed B12 500% teaspoon !!!. Nori sheets B12 46% 1 piece......

[@Realatmx]

I soak amaranth in water for 5 min then drain all water and let them air dry for 10 min.. They jump like pop corn in deep contain on stove.. You can use oven just seal them in paper bag

We add themto "beijus" (I am in Brazil)- cassava tortillas. They give a nice toasty flavor- very good!

[@ShoestringMartha]

Those sound delicious!

[@buzzardscry1383]

Gracias

[@buzzardscry1383]

I just grew a bunch in spring and now they're big. Looking forward to eating

[@ShoestringMartha]

Nice -- enjoy!

[@silvershadow013]

You need to talk louder....

[@juanbarrera3051]

The audio is terrible...you have to turn it on full blast in orer to hear. :(.

[@Mariah-ms5eo]

Volume is too low, especially with all the back ground noises. Thanks for the info.

[@ohno248]

Early November? Where are you located? It looks warm...

[@ShoestringMartha]

Phoenix, Arizona - and yes it is 🥵

[@brideoftheking9316]

Harvested amaranth for the first time this Fall and I’ll be making that candy, thank you. Also, did I hear someone snoring in the background while you were making it? 😂😊

[@ShoestringMartha]

lol that would be our English bulldog, Hogan! He’s an endless source of delightful sounds. 😂

[@bilithic7421]

Something that is overlooked/unmentioned/🤷 ...are the stems edible. I know they are stringy but don't seem that different in texture from celery. Have yet to see a video saying yeah or nea on the stalks and stem. Anyone have any info?

[@ShoestringMartha]

I did a little research, and found that they are, but require a little more attention. They’ll probably need to be peeled until the tender inside it reached, and then cooked quite a bit. I would say, prepare as one would broccoli stems.

[@bilithic7421]

@@ShoestringMartha thanks I appreciate it. I have about 2 acres of this stuff growing wild and will be interesting over the next few months if I can convince my wife to add "weeds" into her stir-fry. 😁🥘

[@crystalmyrick9429]

What kind? where can u find seeds?

[@ShoestringMartha]

I’ve been saving the seed for so long, I’m not sure, but it may be Okite from Native Seeds. Baker Creek also sells several varieties. www.nativeseeds.org/collections/popular-warm-season-varieties/products/c015

[@christiribbons6394]

Most libraries have a seed bank free

[@hibiscus-dreams]

​@christiribbons6394 That's where I got the seeds from. I think my 1st amaranth plant is developing flowers.

[@buzzardscry1383]

You have a recipe for leaves

[@ShoestringMartha]

As a main ingredient, I like to cook them a bit like southern greens -- a little bit of fat (butter, oil, or bits of smoked pork), salt, (maybe a pinch of chile too!), a splash of stock, cover and cook on low heat until tender. Serve on rice, grits, or the grain of your choice. Otherwise, I just add them to stews, curries, and stir-fries. Young, tender leaves can be eaten raw in salads. The leaves are also good with eggs. I included them in this nopales frittata recipe, a while back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKfWd32MiLyAq6s

[@shriyaskuttyfarm]

This is great. Awesom.Give your valuable comments to improve our channel thank you. Stay connected and stay blessed.

[@briannataylor5678]

My seeds are black when I separated did I leave them too long?

[@ShoestringMartha]

Oh, bummer! I honestly do not know, but that seems like a good theory to me. 🤔

[@prismatica8416]

You likely just have a different cultivar. I wouldn't stress it, as long as the seeds were completely dry, and still on the plant they're gonna be edible.

[@christiribbons6394]

Im thinking cut up the stalks and bread and fry like okra

[@ShoestringMartha]

Maybe when young. 🤔 When mature, they're like wood -- very tough and fibrous.

[@maureenbuggy7022]

Candy and loose the beneficial properties and make processed sweeties that longterm over consumption of sugar leads to inflammation and possibly cancer❣️🤦🏻‍♀️😔 Something healthier would be preferable. I’ve only found out about this lovely plant. That may help with depression as people have found I think because of the tryptophan.💁🏻‍♀️💞😅

[@lputop4163]

can you eat the leaves raw

[@ShoestringMartha]

Yes! But the leaves can get be pretty tough and fibrous. Small, young ones would probably be ok in a salad or similar.

[@yeevita]

Grow leaf amaranth. Either green kind or the bicolor kind. The stalks and leaves are very tender. It does not have as big seed heads, but its leaves are delicious!

[@nmhrkjoy1]

@@yeevita Can any type of Amaranth leaves eatable?

[@yeevita]

@@nmhrkjoy1 Yes. You can eat the whole amaranth plant. It just might not be the right texture (woody stem for example). Leaf amaranth is grown specifically for its tender large leaves and tender stems. Even fairly sizable stems are tender. Their seedheads are much smaller than the seedheads of seed amaranth though. Seed amaranth leaves, when they get bigger, can be kind of tough, so generally people don't like eating those leaves. However for any amaranth, I would say try it and see. I often grown random amaranths and harvest the young leaves, which as far as I can tell, are tender on all types of amaranth.

[@scottmartinezguitarandbass]

9:25 OK, was that a dog snoring in the background?!

[@ShoestringMartha]

Without even checking, I can say yes. It’s hard to find a quiet space with a bulldog around. 😂

[@scottmartinezguitarandbass]

@@ShoestringMartha LOVE IT

[@SimonHaestoe]

Oh god, did that tiny amount take 20 min to winnow? 😫😫😫 I was excited about buying 1000 amaranth seeds, but now In unsure if I even want them in the ground 🤣

[@ShoestringMartha]

Sorry to report, that is the case. 😅 It's right up there with shelling beans, seeding roselles, and prepping peaches for freezing, as far as tedious garden tasks go. I try and think of it as moving meditation, so I don't lose my mind.

[@buckeynakey1]

Is this a invasive plant or companion plant to marijuana....a few of these have sprouted with my plants wanted to know before I pulled them

[@ShoestringMartha]

I do not know from personal experience, but depending on conditions, amaranth can be a vigorous growers, and may shade and crowd out any nearby plants.

[@takforalt]

can't hear you clearly--a shame.

[@ShoestringMartha]

😔