Lots more info on Amaranth and seeds.

And the exact name of the book is?

 

I believe this is it:

Amazon.com: Amaranth from the Past for the Future (9780878572403): John Cole: Books

ISplatU, if not please correct.

 

Sorry about not posting anything here for a while. I was gone for most of the month of Nov. and only got to the point of drying out what I harvested and storing it in paper grocery bags partially cleaned. Can you please post your cleaning method and I'll try to get off my butt and get what I have cleaned.

My top picks for growing in SW Oregon is Burgundy and second is Golden Giant.

 

There I changed the post. I had the name of the book there, just not in quotes.

As for how I am processing, I am still learning, but here is what I am doing.

I bought a wire colander, and a couple shifters with different size screens. Got several bowels from the kitchen and then the practice began.

I rub the Amaranth through the colander. Then I rub the amaranth between my hands, over and over again to release the seeds from the chaff. Then I run it through the shifter. What does not go through the shifter, I set aside to rub with my hands again, because I have found that there are still a lot of seeds hiding in there.

I then run the shifted stuff through the shifter a few more times to get the big stock out of it.

Then put in bowl and shake and blow in circular motion so chaff blow out. This part seems to be an art.

Or you can pour from bowl to bowl in a wind, or there are plans to build a cleaner in the book "Amaranth from the past for the future", that I will build later.

Edit: I just tried to use a small shop vac to aid in the cleaning, and really seamed to speed things up. However, you still need to use it out side, because the chaff will blow right through the vac. I will try later using the vac (cleaned out) as a seperater to see if it works. I will have to see if the seeds will stay inside the vac while the chaff blow out. I will let you know later.

As you can see in the two jars I have cleaned by blowing, that there is still a small amount of chaff. I could take more time to clean it better, but I will do that with Red Leaf Grain(In pictures) which is a blond seed Amaranth, not black like in the jars.










See how with shaking and a little blowing you can see the blond seeds.

 

If you take 2 buckets on a day where you have a lite wind you can pour the seeds and the chaff back and forth between the 2 buckets it will blow the chaff out and clean your seed. It works good just takes a little practice. We have grown amaranth in the past, but haven't grown it for the last couple years.


BWM

 

Finally got around to the final cleaning. Did the 10 Burgundy plants today and got just over 2 pounds of seed from them.

I had previously removed all the stems and dried it out inside a pillow case in the dryer. First I filled a flour sifter 1/4 full and broke up the material with my fingers before sifting. Material was then sifted into a 1 gallon plastic mixing bowl. When there was about 1 inch of material in the bowl I brought it over to a fan to remove the chaff. Fan was on high and I held the bowl towards it at a 45 degree angle and agitated the seeds with my fingers until almost all the chaff was gone. Transferred cleaned seeds into another bowl, emptied sifter then refilled and repeated until done. I ran my material through this process twice and the second time I got so little out of it I only had to do the fan part once. The finished product is not perfectly clean, but the amount if chaff left is so small I am not going to worry about it, plus it's edible anyway.

 

Mountianman, is burgundy a blond or dark seed? I would like to know because after this years experience, next year I am only going to plant blond seed amaranth, but I have about 10 different types pf blond seed already.
I am going to plant a lot of my own seed I grew of the Red Leaf Grain, it was the hardiest that did not fall over that tasted great especially the leaves, and is a blond seed.

 

Burgundy is a blond seed and I cleaned this one first because it was the best producer. This spring I would like to try out the Red Leaf Grain you grew and try eating the leaves. If you are planting your own seeds grown last year, aren't you worried that it might have cross pollinated?
​

 

Have to wait for ISplatU to answer that one since I did not try eating the leaves. From what I have read, spinach and lettuce are 2 of the ways.

 

Yes just like spinach. The stems were really good too. Young stems and leaves just boiled slightly. Raw the leaves tasted a little healthier than spinach, but boiled it tasted better than spinach. That was red leaf grain, others tasted close to the same.

 

Ok it is time for a few reviews. I have now cooked and eaten three types of amaranth, that I grew last summer. All three were cooked like porridge, with one cup water to 1/3 cup amaranth ratio. I am quite surprised about the results.

The first one I tied was the Russian River Merlot, that I attained from SustainableSeedCo.com. This is a black or brown seed variety And it grew quite well here in NC. I had read that the brown seed varieties were not as tasty. Well, I disagree. I guess it comes down to taste, or texture. When I cooked it I noticed a sweet smell. A smell that the Co-op bought amaranth I cooked did not have. I put some raw sugar on it, and it was sweet tasting close to a honey flavor. My kids agreed with me, that it tasted like honey. It did, however, have a crunchier texture that I would understand some people would not like. I saved some for later that night, and when I ate it, it was not as crunchy. I thought to myself, as I ate it that night , that this might taste good over ice cream. Anyway, I would not hesitate to grow this for a food grain.

The next one was Marvel Bronze, that I bought at Orchardhouseheirlooms.com. I had trouble getting some of these seed to germinate, but the ones that did took off.This is also a brown, or black seed. The taste was just like Russian River Merlot, but I would say maybe just a bit crunchier. Still good tasting, and if it grew better I would regrow this also. However, This will be the last time I grow this variety from this source.

The last one I cooked in the group was Red Leaf Grain, from BountifulGardens.org. By far this is my favorite this year. The seed are blond and look close to the seeds I bought through a local Co-op. It grew well, and did not fall over like many others amaranth plants did, and the leaves tasted great. Well, no surprise the seeds tasted, a little nutty, about the same as the co-op bought seeds. However, a little milder nutty flavor than the co-op seeds, but this is a good one that will take on the flavor of most things you cook with it.

Even though, I like the sweetness of the black or brown seeds better, Red Leaf Grain wins because, I can do more with it. Make amaranth flower, porridge, cook with other foods, or pop it like popcorn.

Side note: I would still like to try popping, and pulverizing into flower the black seed varieties.

More reviews to come...

Added edit: My wife just told me I had better grow some black seed amaranth next year, because she just had the Marvel Bronze in her yogurt, and love it. I was just going to focus on blond seed amaranth only next summer. Well, wife knows best.

 

Excellent review and multiple posts throughtout the thread. Thank you so much!

 

I just reread this, and realized I did not answer this question.

No, I am not worried about cross pollination, because I am growing this for myself. If it did cross I will have something similar to the host plants, which is fine for me. I do have just a few of the original seeds that I will plant and keep from crossing next summer, just in case I am unhappy with my crossed plants. So far I am happy with all plants that grew well.

 

Thats right! The black was very tasty I ate mine without sugar. I don't know why I can't find the black seeds to buy, they are so much better than the blond.

 

Check here. The Russian River Merlot is the one you are looking for. The info was in the text above, and I verified it before making this post and link. Heirloom Seeds: Sustainably Grown, Organic, Untreated and Open-Pollinated Amaranth Seed

 

Tacmotusn, that is my wife that made that comment. She is now on here sometimes. She was agreeing that "wife knows best" Ha. Also, what she meant was that in the health food co-op we can not buy the black seed grain. Untill I harvested our Amaranth we had only eaten the blond seeds from the co-op.

 

I have some test plots out this year. Golden amaranth, from Southern Seed exchange, a white that I got from a local health food store bulk bin, and also some Inca Red quinoa, from the same health food store.

Sowed them in 25x50 plots last week, and the quinoa is already popping up.

 

Good going!

I just came inside from prepping my field for amaranth this year. I will still wait to make sure we do not get any surprise freezes, before planting my main crop. However, I did throw some seeds out, that I grew last year, in a small area two day ago, in hope of some early veggies.
I have noticed a few small volunteers growing in my plot.

 

Ok, I just planted my amaranth today on May 14th, 2011. This year I am planting many new types.

I planted Mexican Grain, Guatemalan, Alegria, Rio San Lorenzo, New Mexico, Guarijio Grain, and Moenkopi Mix all from Nativeseeds.org.

Also from Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds, I planted Golden Giant, Green Calaloo, Thai Ruby, Thai (RW) Tender, Miriah, and Orange Giant.

I also planted some favorites from last year, Red Leaf Grain, Russian River Melot, and Burgundy which Mountian Man from this site sent me, as his favorite from last year.