Lots more info on Amaranth and seeds.

This looks promising.
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedcleaner.html

 

IsplatU:

Is that the book "Amaranth: from the past for the future" by Cole? I have that book too. I found a blower from Harbor Freight that looks like it is very close to the same capacity/power. Check it out, it even has a variable speed....

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-blower-with-variable-speed-dial-93231.html

harbor freight puts out 20% off any single item coupons all the time, and I was tempted to try it. 40 bucks would still be a bit steep though. The vacuum route looks the most promising to me if the suction/blowing can be moderated somehow.

 

Yes that is the book.

 

I am familiar with this type of blower. We use them in house construction. Are you sure this is what you are looking for? This blower moves a whole bunch of air. jus sayin

 

Yeah, I was wondering if that thing was way overkill.... The book states a blower that can do 525 CFM and is 0.1 HP. I thought wow, but apparently it worked after damping. The Harbor Freight blower comes out to about 300 CFM and around .1 HP I think. I thought even a large computer-type fan might work, though. Amaranth is really lightweight and I could easily blow it all out of a bowl with just a sneeze.

 

Just an update on the amaranth......

This stuff is really growing now, it's incredible. In a week, it seems to grow about a foot. Check out these two pictures taken only 6 days apart.

 

ISplatU,

How is the "Back to Eden" method coming along? I'd like to try that if it works well for you.

 

I found this in the new issue of mother earth news and thought I would share. http://www.fedcoseeds.com/ogs/search.php?item=9245&search=sieve& this is a frame and 3 screens of different sizes. Looks to be a quality product for $28.
.
Off topic, I have discovered a wonderful productive, at least for the south and southeast, variety of heirloom Okra. Look it up or take my advice and info to heart. Cowhorn Okra. Grows well even in various poor conditions. Produces an abundance of large (up to 10 to 14) inch long fruits. Many say at any size it is not stringy and has more taste than commercial grown products. Others say harvest at a maximum size of 10 inches to ensure not stringy. My friend who told me about this has never let his grow beyond 10 inches before picking and he wouldn't grow any other variety if you gave him the seed. He and his love this stuff. It is not stringy. It is good fresh or canned. Sounds like a winner to me. I have my seed for next year of it. enjoy..... BTW, this was the okra grown in the south during the war of northern aggression for supplying the brave southern fighting forces. Florida was the heart of the bread basket for that effort.

 

Yes, this is the fun stage where they grow fast. My tallest plant is now over 6 feet.
Sorry guy I have been meaning to post for weeks, but I have been out of town most of the time.
The Back to Eden method seems to be doing well. It is easier to keep the weeds out (I just need to weed more). My plants seem to be growing like they did two years ago, which is good. I think that after a couple years this method will produce even more.

So some pics






And Jimmy!

 

Well I finally harvested my Amaranth, and these are the stats:

Russian River Merlot Amaranth planted 5/24/12
Amaranth harvested 9/18/12 for 117 days of growing
88 plants on 12.5x20.5=256.25 square feet
yielding 5.6 cups of seed. approx 1 TB per plant.

I think my yield was a bit low... I wish I could have let them grow a bit more, but I needed to cut them down for other reasons.

How did you guys end up or how are your plants coming along?

 

Here's an informational blog post about amaranth (probably not for you guys growing the stuff).

http://www.prep-blog.com/2012/10/02/survival-gardening-growing-grain-amaranth/

 

Just harvested my "for seed" plants and looks like the seed heads produced plenty. Had a terrible growing season this year and the plants were only about half the height of normal, but the seed heads were the size that would have been on a normal size plant.

 

Anyone growing Amaranth this year. I'm going to do the same as last year by planting 2 Burgundy "for seed" plants in the garden and try planting by the spring again to hopefully get a volunteer crop going.

If anyone wants free Burgundy seeds from what I grew last year just PM me and they will be in the mail to you.

 

I haven't put mine in yet, but I plan on giving it a go this year. Our last place had tons of wild green amaranth and spiny amaranth, but I have yet to locate any on our new place. I ordered some seeds from a couple of domesticated varieties; which I intend to cultivate, as well as plant around the property to see if I can establish some free-growing colonies.

 

I've tried putting out seeds and planting starter plants without any success for a volunteer crop. Going to try it again since I am stubborn that way.

 

I still own my old property, so I may go over and dig up some green amaranth, and bring it over here. At my old place, you couldn't hardly kill the stuff; and the spiny amaranth was everywhere; not that I think that spiny amaranth would ever be worth the trouble of harvesting it. Those thorns are vicious.

 

Spiny Amaranth, did not know there was such a thing until now. Looked at pictures of it and that is one variety I would definitely not want growing freely here.

 

Hey guys, I am going to plant again, I just hope I have time this year to harvest it at the right time and in the right way.
Mountianman, I bet if you till the ground where you put those seed and leave it alone, about in June. I think you will get a lot of volunteers.

 

Sounds like a good plan and when I'm disking fire breaks I could hit the spring area.

 

Hey guys, I'm going to try to plant some amaranth in northern Wisconsin in a field that I till and then just let it go to see how it does on its own without any tending/weeding, etc.

Last year I grew quite a bit of the Russian River Merlot, and I would be happy to send some seeds to anyone who wishes to grow it.

Let me know.