The morning that I was walking home while looking at the clouds, I took a slight detour to see what was going on at my favorite neighborhood gardener’s front yard. I met her briefly once when I was standing gawking, and learned that she grows nursery stock to sell to local stores. She obviously loves to plant all kinds of things for her own enjoyment as well, such as these poppies I wrote about one May; but last week my focus was on the gorgeous amaranth and its relatives.
I believe these are types of Quail Grass, Celosia argentea, which is in the amaranth family. I read that in some places, especially parts of Africa, it is “cultivated as a nutritious leafy green vegetable.” In Nigeria it is known as “soko yokoto,” meaning that it will “make husbands fat and happy.”
This garden also was lush with perfect dahlias, cosmos blooming extravagantly, and Hyacinth Beans. Do you know about these? The gardener had three arching trellises along the walk going to the front door, each with a different edible plant climbing on it. These are the hyacinth beans, which were on the arbor closest to the sidewalk:
I did manage to sprout amaranth seeds in my planter boxes once, but I think something ate them before they got very big. I wonder if my neighbor collects the seeds to eat? Maybe next year I will experiment by growing the usual amaranth and quail grass, too.
I no longer have a husband to feed, but if I get amaranth growing in my garden, any of you is welcome to come and pick a bunch to try out in your own kitchen and marriage.
Gladsome Lights 
Fascinating. What a lovely idea it is to be able to nibble at things on your way to the front door!
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Besides the Hyacinth Beans, the other two arbor plants appeared to be cucurbits, so I’m not sure she would want to nibble any of them raw 🙂 but it does make for a charming entry!
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What beauty! A friend grows amaranth and gave us some bagfuls of amaranth greens this summer. We steamed them, and then drizzled olive oil and lemon over them. I can attest to my husband (and sons) being very happy when they were served!
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That’s good to hear! I have only ever eaten the seeds.
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I can see why you love the amaranth. It really is beautiful!
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I grew amaranth for a while because of the pretty leaves. It is tricky to keep them alive when they are small seedlings. I’ve found that it’s best not to put them out in the garden where creatures eat their leaves. I usually put them in pots and closer to the patio area and I wait until they are about 5-6 inches tall (the older amaranth does better than the younger seedling plants).
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Thank you for the tip! I also thought I’d start them in the greenhouse next time…
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I’m wondering if amaranth is the name of what volunteers in our garden the last few years. One of my blog friends put a name to it last year but my memory fails me. Your neighborhood gardener’s is lovely and what a charming idea to have edible plants growing on trellises leading to her door. I wish you the best with your amaranth!
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There are 165 genera and 2,040 species in the family Amaranthaceae, so it’s likely something related is around! Beets and spinach are in the family, Celosia, and a type of tumbleweed.
I guess I’m only really interested in the ones listed here, that are grown for food:
“Amaranthus cruentus is a flowering plant species that is native from Central Mexico to Nicaragua.[2] It yields a nutritious staple amaranth grain, being one of three Amaranthus species cultivated as a grain source, the other two being Amaranthus hypochondriacus and Amaranthus caudatus. It has several common names, including blood amaranth, red amaranth, purple amaranth,[3] prince’s feather, and Mexican grain amaranth.” (Wikipedia)
When I looked up caudatus, I see that one common name is “Love-lies-bleeding,” which I have heard of before…
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I do remember from other past posts here that you are an adventurous soul in the realm of cooking foraged vegetation. I have a former daughter-in-law (still close and beloved) who has the same interests. Alas, I cannot claim to share it! I have called RH my Euell Gibbons many times over the decades. Remember him? Once RH got quite a sick tummy after eating something in our garden. I’ll have to ask him what it was and I bet he remembers it.
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