This is one branch off a HUGE plant that I got a sweet potato growing up. It’s a trellis! I’ve seen all sorts about how much iron the leaves have and how great the grain is, which is great. But I need some super practical advice. Do the leaves do anything for tea? What flavor do they give soup? Is it more like cabbage in soup or basil in soup? I read it needs to be cooked? Useful is salves? Worth drying and infusing in oil?
I can try tea easily. But I’d rather crowd source on these more involved options. Thank you!
Oh what a great question! I’ve been considering growing amaranth. That’s a beautiful picture.
I’m really looking froward to reading the replies you’ll get.
I find this is true, but they seem more prone to getting fibrous and tough as they age than either beets or spinach.
If the leaves get big and a little past their prime, I’ve used them to wrap small fillets of fish and bake or steam them with an herb rub/marinade on the inside.
I imagine they could also be decent dried and powdered as a nutritious soup thickener, but haven’t tried that myself.
Gosh . . . I have some Love Lies Bleeding amaranths in my front yard right now. Little ones. If they’re strong enough to be a trellis, maybe I should plant some pole beans near them?
Are your Love Lies Bleeding strong enough to hold themselves up? I received some seed that said it required a trellis. I was thinking I might not plant them the same year as the culinary amaranth for that reason, but I have wanted to grow it for a long time.
I don’t know if past their prime, but I imagine bc the plant is blooming the leaves are getting old. They are quite big, size of my hand. Ha! Maybe they also become green mulch, which is what I do with all the native sunflowers. Strip lower leaves and drop to mulch, etc. things that grow vigorous but shade out other plants get this treatment.
My Love Lies Bleeding amaranths are currently about two inches tall, so . . . they’re holding themselves up just fine! I guess I’ll have to see what they will do later on.
. It’s huge!