This thread is to gather information and chronicle adventures in growing this supergrain. I will be testing this out in my fall/winter 2010 garden here in southeast Houston.
The information that I have gathered so far is that this is a cool weather crop for Houston and germinates well in cooler soils. It likes well drained, rich soil, but is reputed to grow anywhere there is full sun. The plant is very ornamental and the flowers that precede the seeds (which you eat) are very pretty.
I buy organic quinoa from the grocery store, so I'm going to try to sprout that in seed trays here in the house. There are places to order it online, such as Salt Hill Seeds.
Sapphire it looks like a beautiful plant, I am just wondering if it requires much room to grow, I have limited space and that is the problem. Also what store do you buy quinoa from? I might be interested in trying it and maybe growing it as well if I really like the taste.
From the reading that I have been doing, it looks like it is tall, but not bushy. Some of the pictures showed that it needed some support, like a bamboo pole. Apparently the leaves are edible as well, like spinach.
I buy it at H-E-B here in the bulk foods aisle, but any store like Whole Foods, Central Market, etc. should carry it organically. If you're just going to eat it, I have seen it (washed) in a turquiose box in the regular grocery stores near where they keep rice, dried beans, etc. To grow it from the store stuff, I'd probably get the organic, unwashed stuff.
You will also sometimes find it in the cereals aisle. I've cooked it with other grains as a cereal. How do you chose to eat it?
I have used quinoa it by adding a couple tablespoons to a cup of rice and cooking as rice. The pilaf effect.
I do everything from make a pilaf with it, eat it straight (cooked with chicken broth and seasoned), mix it into cornbread dressing and place that on top of summer squash for a casserole, or cook it with cranberries, almonds, onions, bay leaves, and chicken broth (sometimes adding butternut squash) for a one pot meal. Always on the hunt for new recipes. Even made a soup with it once using beef broth.
My husband has high cholesterol and heart failure, so finding sources of lean protein that my meat-and-potatoes husband will eat has been a struggle and this has neatly solved a lot of that. Very versatile.
I've tried cooking Quinoa, but it's always tough. What am I doing wrong? I do rinse it before cooking.
Is this in the same family as Amaranth?
Are you adding enough liquid? I have noticed that it is a water hog and always requires additional water/broth to finish cooking. It is fully cooked when there is no white in the center (should be translucent) and just a thin white band around the outside (the germ).
I love thois stuff - everything from breads to cereal. Add a dollop of butter, a little brown sugar, and fresh almond milk. otally to die for!
And i agree whole-heartedly with saphhi, sound like you are not fully cooking it. The grains will look look opaque and kind of pop in your mouth. Oh, boy!
I'm going to try growing it next season, so I definitely look forward to your being the Guinea Pig...or as my little step-daughter used to say "The Guinea Food Pig"!
I got my seeds from Seeds of Change, unfortunately I ran out of sapce and steam before I got them planted for this season.
how did i know that you would be growing it next seasn. luckily yoyu only have a few plants in the ground so it shouldn't be too much of a strain on you. LOL
i cook it instead of rice and its good in soups.
Honey - not sure if they are in the same family (I think not), but they sure do look similar. I also used the amaranth in bread.
Thanks for the Quinoa cooking tips. I'll have to try again this weekend. I have both the white and red grains here, somewhere!
I like Quinoa, I buy it already cooked from Trader Joe's, but I would prefer to prepare my own.
Who has grown this, and what directions do you give for growing it, as well as to where to purchase the seeds?
As Imentioned above, I gotmy seeds from Seeds of Change, but if you do a search, you will surely find other sources, and they will include growing instructions. (Not sure about harvesting/processing instructions, though.)
The plant looks like amaranth [pigweed] to me. I bet the seeds are tiny like amaranth?
OK, so is quinoa an amaranth? Sorry for all the silly questions...
Its listed in the Baker Seed catalog under grain,and cover crops, amaranth is listed separately.
I found this link about growing Quinoa and Amaranth, plus other info regarding these two
http://www.saltspringseeds.com/scoop/powerfood.htm
Thnk you , honeybee!
Honeybee- that is an excellent article! Thanks.
And half price seeds, too! (OMG - did I say that???) HOWEVER, THEY NO LONGER SHIP TO THE US!
They saved me from myself!
This message was edited Jul 16, 2010 11:11 AM
Rareseeds.com has cover crops, quinoa and amaranth some for 5.50 for 1/4lb. I'm haven't gone to their website for a while, due to the fact that I have no self control!
If you go to http://www.jlhudsonseeds.com they have both quinoa and amaranth.
Look under Amaranthus hypochondriacus and Chenopodium quinoa
~ Evelyn
Territorial or Seeds of Change may too. I have seen them in a catalog
1lisac ~ I understand...I have the same problem! When I look for something I just want to get the one item, and then I am told about some special, or the shipping fee for one item...etc
Evelyn-I don't really WANT to get 1 item, but I'll I NEED is 1 item. So the list gets longer and longer. Baker Creek ships whatever you order for 3.00 so I want to get my money's worth :)
This message was edited Aug 18, 2010 10:14 AM
1lisac ~ Yes...the list always gets longer...
If anyone missed it, from HoneybeeNCs' excellent link above. Quinoa is probably difficult to grow in the south.
Planting Times. Quinoa grows best where maximum temperatures do not exceed 90°F (32°C) and nighttime temperatures are cool. For most southern Canadian and northern U.S. sites, the best time to plant quinoa is late April to late May. When soil temperatures are around 60°F (15°C) seedlings emerge within three to four days. However, when quinoa seeds are planted in soil with night-time temperatures much above that, quinoa, like spinach, may not germinate. In this instance, it's best to refrigerate seeds before planting.
Amaranth is a warm season crop that requires full sun. Best germination occurs when soil temperatures range from 65 to 75°F (18-24°C). For southern Canada and the northern U.S., this usually means a late May or early June planting.
That's why I was thinking that in the south, its a winter crop. Based on that data, it should be pretty freeze tolerant too.
I know the wild forms grow all over NM, but the farther south you go, the more nearly you'd need the winter temps, for Fl, southern Ms, etc....might be some var that take to the southern USA better...
From what I've read it is recommended in warmer climates as a winter/early spring crop. It should be sown in the fall
ss10 and podster ~ So we are to wait for cooler weather...will it do anything before winter, or will it winter over and come up in the spring? According to pod's directions, I should plant this in late spring as well, or maybe a bit earlier?
Do we sow the amaranth in late spring? That one seems a bit easier.
I will be starting mine in September here in Houston with the rest of the winter crops. I am going to grow some of it in a shady spot in the yard to see if that helps with the temperature issue and will grow some of it out in the full sun. Nothing like a full on experiment to get a scientist/gardener's blood pumping.
I suppose that you get no frost in the winter? We got down to 17° last year with a couple feet of snow. Still, the snow protected the stevia plants as 3 of them survived the harsh winter as well as the osteospermum, cannas and callas....I never can predict the weather these days...
We actually get both snow and frost. Snow is rare, but we had a week of hard freeze last year and get short freezes all throughout the winter. There's no predicting th weather here either. I am going to try some in the shade because it could be November before it is appreciably cold here...then again, it could be cold in early October too. No telling. :)
I'm predicting it will stay warm until Christmas!
How's that for optimism? ^_^
Atlantic Gulf winds, NC probably will stay warm til Christmas, tho in Charlotte you might lose the wish on that one, chuckle.
You can have warm until Christmas. I'd like it to cool down in September (pipe dream). I'm already sick of the hot weather here.
