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Quinoa

W

wordwiz

I ordered five packages of these seeds: Red Quinoa, Brilliant Rainbow Quinoa and Quinoa. Linda, who is diabetic, told me about these a few months ago and they were on my list, but got forgotten among the tomatoes, peppers, peas, chard, onions, etc. Then I was looking up diabetic recipes for Apple/Strawbery/Rhubard Crisp and saw Quinoa as an ingredient. Looked at it again and it is highly recommended as an anti-oxidant, good tasting, productive plant. I have room for maybe 200 plants, which might give me 200 pounds of seeds. Plus, the leaves of the plant can be used in salads. The $10 cost of the seeds seem like a great investment, especially if they help her health.

Oh, and I hope to fix her a diabetic friendly Apple/Strawberry/Rhubarb/Banana Crisp for Mothers Day, even if I don't have the Quinoa to add to it!

Mike
 
I know that unprocessed quinoa has a bitter substance called saponin. If you buy quinoa make sure that it has been processed to get rid of this.
 
Pileiton,

I growing, not buying it! Washing the saponin off the seeds seems relatively easy - if worse comes to worse, put it in a big bag cloth bag and throw it in the washer! But the saponin is supposed to deter birds from eating the seeds.

Mike
 
I have heard amaranth is similar to quinoa but without the bitter stuff. I planted some but got poor germ rate. Gonna try again.
 
Tonly,

I read similar stuff. But the quinoa, after washed, is suppose to be sweet tasting. How did you sow the stuff - directly in the ground or in seed starting media?

Mike
 
Quinoa is delicious, cook and eat just like rice. Last time I sowed some store bought grains, they sprouted in less than 12 hours. They promptly died as it was end of season and I forgot about them after that.
 
wordwiz said:
Tonly,I read similar stuff. But the quinoa, after washed, is suppose to be sweet tasting. How did you sow the stuff - directly in the ground or in seed starting media?Mike
Click to expand...

I direct seeded into the garden. My poor results were probably due to cold weather. It's finally starting to warm up so maybe I'll have better luck this time around.


Binchnunker said:
Quinoa is delicious, cook and eat just like rice.
Click to expand...

Tabouli salad made with quinoa is a favorite of mine. I also like it as a hot cereal for breakfast too.
 
Tonly said:
I have heard amaranth is similar to quinoa but without the bitter stuff. I planted some but got poor germ rate. Gonna try again.
Click to expand...


I can't stop amaranth from growing. It comes up on it's own every year in the thousands. We pick tons of it up as seedlings for fresh greens. Right now I have maybe 35 or so Amaranth plants starting to bloom. I grow Elephant head, Opopeo, and Love lies bleeding. I think I may have one Orange Giant out there as well. The Elephant head puts out seeds like no bodies business. Very heavy producer. I've never had a problem with birds getting at mine. They just ignore the plants for the most part.

Just spread the seed where you want it to grow and really lightly rake over the top. My dirt has a fairly loose mulch top layer. Then just water lightly morning and night and up they'll come. If you let them drop seeds they will come up on their own again without a problem. I have found Amaranth to not be a heavy feeder at all. Definitely don't hit it with Magnesium foliar sprays. It puts it into flower way to early, and really curls the leaves up.

We Looked into doing Quinoa, but Amaranth just makes a better looking plant in the yard. Elephant head seriously looks like purple Elephants heads with their trunks sticking up in the air, with dark purple leaves. Opopeo is Green and purple with really pretty flowers as well. Huge flowers.
 
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