{"id":2171,"date":"2019-10-09T05:38:29","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T05:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=2171"},"modified":"2019-10-09T05:47:56","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T05:47:56","slug":"pigweeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/09\/pigweeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigweeds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Amaranthus <\/em>species <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amaranthaceae<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are very common garden weeds in this country, but in South America, they were widely cultivated as an important grain crop, as well as a potherb. I discuss the use of the cultivated species elsewhere, but they are such important edible weeds, that I wanted to include them here too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amaranth seed has a better amino acid balance than almost any other common vegetable protein and even contains the lysine and methionine often lacking in plant proteins. It is also rich in vitamins and the minerals calcium, phosphorus and iron. The leaves are rich in protein, vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. The plant has made a comeback as a crop in recent years and amaranth cereals and cookies are appearing in health food stores and the seeds can be found in garden catalogs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caution: The leaves contain oxalic acid, so\nshould be eaten in moderation. One must also be careful about gathering the\nplant where chemical fertilizers are used, as they may accumulate nitrates and\nbecome toxic. Fortunately when used as a potherb most of these toxins are\nleached out, so they are unlikely to be consumed in dangerous quantities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seed gathering: Gather the seed by bending the ripe heads into a bag and\nrubbing out the dry seeds. For larger quantities collect the whole heads and\nleave them on a sheet to dry out. When they are completely dry beat or walk on\nthem to thresh out the shiny black seed, winnow out the chaff and it’s ready to\nuse. Native American women used to do all this in one operation, the whole\nspike was stripped off into the hand and the chaff was blown away to leave\nclean seed. If birds were a problem they would tie the ripening flower spikes\ntogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seed use: Unlike many wild seeds those of\nPigweed need no preparation except cleaning. However toasting improves its\nflavor and causes it to pop like popcorn. This can be done in a hot pan in the\nsame way as for popcorn (if it won’t pop try sprinkling a little water onto the\nseed). If you have a large quantity of seed, spread it a half inch deep in a\npan and roast it at 350-degree oven for a half-hour, stirring occasionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popped seed can be added whole to baked goods, ground to\nflour for baking and gruel, The whole raw seed can be sprouted like alfalfa until about one quarter inch long and used in\nsalads and sandwiches. It can also be boiled like millet in salt water. Some\npeople soak it in water overnight before cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greens: The tender young spring\nleaves and growing tips are good until the flower appear and may be used in\nsalads, or boiled for 5 \u2011 10 minutes as a potherb. Older leaves may be added to\nsoup, or boiled as a potherb for 20 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probably the best\nway to cook Pigweed greens is to saut\u00e9 some onion and garlic in a pan and then\nadd the washed greens. The water sticking to the leaves will be enough to cook\nthem. If you plan to serve these to guests you might want to call them\nsomething other than Pigweed, maybe Chinese Spinach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaves are a useful addition to\ngreen drinks (see Comfrey \u2011 Symphytum).<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medicine: The mildly astringent leaves have\nbeen used as a poultice for wounds, insect bites and stings. These\nwind-pollinated plants often cause hay fever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal food: Wild Pigweeds are an important\nfood source for many wild birds and have been planted or encouraged to help\nfeed domestic fowl. The foliage is a valuable feed for livestock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crop uses: Some Amaranthus<\/em> species are\nbecoming important crop plants once again. They originated in the tropics and\nuse C4 photosynthesis, which makes them more efficient in the high heat and light\nintensities found there. Consequently they can produce a lot of food in a\nlimited area. Individual seed heads from cultivated plants may weigh up to five\npounds each and the plants may yield up to two pounds of seed per square yard.\nNot many North American tribes cultivated Amaranths, but they did encourage\nthem to grow nearby by scattering seed in suitable places.  If you have the space this is still a good\nway to grow them. Some cultivated varieties have white seed instead of black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of species are cultivated as\nwarm weather substitutes for spinach. Look for the seeds under the names\nTampala, Chinese Spinach or Hinn Choy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivation: Sow the seed directly in rich\nsoil, after frost danger is past and the soil is warm. Once established they grow\nlike weeds and produce ripe seed heads in 3 \u2011 4 months. They self-sow readily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horticultural uses: These species are a mixed\nlot, with crop plants, ornamentals and weeds all represented. The ornamental\nspecies (Love\u2011Lies\u2011Bleeding, Joseph\u2019s’ Coat) also produce edible leaves and\nseed. Amaranths are said to be good companions for Carrot, Radish, Pepper,\nEggplant, Potato, Corn, Cucumber, Tomato and Onion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some\nspecies are serious agricultural weeds. They produce an abundance of long-lived\n(up to forty years) seed and can out-compete almost all crop plants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best\nspecies include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\ndiacanthus. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\nhybridus<\/em> \u2011 Green Pigweed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\npalmeri<\/em>. \u2011 Palmers Pigweed <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\npowelli<\/em> \u2011 Powells Pigweed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\nretroflexus<\/em> \u2011 Red Root Pigweed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\nspinosus<\/em> \u2011 Thorny Pigweed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\ncruentus<\/em> \u2011 Purple Amaranth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\nhypochondriacus<\/em> \u2011 Princes Feather <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These last two\nspecies are sometimes cultivated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amaranthus species Amaranthaceae These are very common garden weeds in this country, but in South America, they were widely cultivated as an important grain crop, as well as a potherb. … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-useful-weeds","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Pigweed.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2171"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2174,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2171\/revisions\/2174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}