Two Letters Re: Amaranth–A Weed You Can Eat

James,
I just wanted to let you know that this plant ([considered] a weed) is usually killed off as a pest, yet is more nutritious then wheat. It grows all over the place and if it was planted on purpose it might help a lot for people looking to survive.

Deane’s site is packed full of plants worth looking in to for food! (A good source of info while the power is up! YouTube really does have everything!)’ – Fitzy in Pennsylvania

 

James Wesley;

In response to the person setting up a Michigan retreat, I saw mention of Amaranth as one of his grains set aside. Amaranth will grow quite handily as a “weed” in North America, has one of the highest protein contents of any grain (not gluten either, for those that are gluten sensitive) and extremely high content of lysine. It grows rapidly and can have grain heads over 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) with over half a million seeds therein.

I can think of few choices better suited to unsupervised growing [at an unattended retreat] than Amaranth. – Dave R.