Amaranth, Hopi Red Dye

Quick facts

• Easy to grow plant of many uses!
• Adds a lot of color to the garden landscape
• Nutritious

Amaranthus sp.

40 days to leaf, 90 to grain.  Delightful plant of many uses!  Amaranth is traditionally eaten when the leaves are young or as an iron-rich grain when fully mature, is used as a dye plant, or is harvested as a long-lasting cut flower.  We love the deep red of 'Hopi Red Dye' and feel that it just adds so much to the garden landscape.  This one is tall, between 4-5 ft.  When used as a cut flower, amaranth heads keep their color for a long time.  Seeds are easy to harvest.

More about amaranth-

Amaranth is a unique and ancient grain native to the Americas.  It was a staple food of the Aztecs, Inca, and Mayan and was first cultivated in 8,000 BC.  It is still of huge importance in Central America, where it thrives not only as a resilient, low impact staple food but as spiritual symbol of cultural thriving.

We have followed the work of the non-profit Garden's Edge ever since being introduced to their work at the Santa Rosa Heirloom Festival in 2014.  Working in Guatemala, Garden's Edge "supports sustainable agriculture, micro-enterprise, and education in rural communities in order to revitalize cultural knowledge and improve economic well-being."  Central to their work is amaranth, as they assist indigenous communities in preserving local amaranth varieties that are vulnerable due to colonization and civil war.  Please learn more about their work with indigenous communities and amaranth, and find traditional recipes, HERE.

We grow amaranth because it simply thrives in our hot, dry, summers and we want to promote it as a low-impact, high nutrition plant for a changing world.  The grain separates quite easily from the plant when ripe, and can easily be winnowed in a light wind. 

Eat the tender young leaves, pop the grains, or make a nutrient dense porridge.  The possibilities are really endless.  Find Josselin Chun's recipe for Amaranth Torta here!  Amaranth is resilient and easy to grow, and the 2 varieties we grow mature well in our short season climate.  It's tall and vigorous and easily outcompetes weeds- so its great for organic gardens.  

For more information, we LOVED this article from Edible New Mexico about amaranth.

How to grow it: