Incredible Edibles! – Great “Grains”

Republished from http://blogs.extension.org/mastergardener/2013/02/25/incredible-edibles-great-grains/

Incredible Edibles! – Great “Grains” 

Looking for something interesting and tasty to try in the vegetable garden or landscape this year?  Are you looking to add delicious fresh ingredients to your meals?  It’s time to take a look at some uncommon plants that can have a big impact in the garden and on your dinner plate.  There’s a whole world of fantastic fruits, glorious grains, verdant vegetables, and more that can bring excitement to the garden.

Think about experimenting this year and grow something new and unexpected.  This week, we’ll be taking a look at specialty “grains” that can find themselves a home right in your own home flower or vegetable garden.  These plants are used much like our cereal grains (corn, rice, oats, wheat, etc.), but are, in fact, broad leaved plants.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.)

We’ll talk about the first two together since they are closely related and have similar care characteristics.  Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) has been consumed as a staple in parts of South America for nearly 5,000 years and is just now becoming popular in the US.  Some reports indicate that the growing demand in developed countries is increasing the price of the staple in its native regions.

The seeds, when cooked, have a creamy consistency and nutty flavor and are often used in salads or cooked pasta/rice dishes.  It is also ground into a gluten-free flour.   It is popular because its tasty flavor pairs with its impressively high protein content.  It is a wonderful addition to the garden because the seeds come from impressively showy flower heads that make a striking addition to the flower garden.

Amaranth is another striking plant also used for its gluten-free seed.  In fact, amaranth and quinoa are related.  Due to recent changes, quinoa and its other relatives in the Chenopodiaceae family (spinach, beets and Swiss chard) have been absorbed into the Amaranthaceae family. Several of the species in the Amaranthus genus are edible.

The seeds are used cooked or as a flour, just like quinoa, but have an earthier flavor.  In addition to the edible seeds, the leaves of Amaranth are also edible and used much like spinach.  The “Hopi Red Dye” cultivar is commonly used as a dye for textiles and food.  Many varieties are sold as ornamentals in garden catalogs, such as the plant “Love-Lies-Bleeding”.  Most of these varieties are also edible.

I found some good growing and harvesting info on these annual plants at Salt Spring Seeds, so I would check them out for some detailed info, but here is some basic info:

• Quinoa is a cool season crop and prefers temps lower than 90°F.  It is cold hardy and easily grown in the northern US and southern Canada.  Germination is best when soil temps are around 60°F, so seeds may need to be stratified (refrigerated) in warmer areas.
• Amaranth is a warm season crop.  The best germination is when soil temps are 65°-75°F.
• Depending on fertility, both plants can range in height from 4ft to 8ft tall.
• Quinoa seeds have a coating of saponin, which has a bitter taste and toxic effect if consumed in large amounts (it also discourages birds foraging your crop).  It must be removed by a series of plain water washes.  (Saponin is a surfactant, so you’ll get sudsy water – it’s the same effect you get if you use soapnuts to wash your laundry)
• Seeds from both plants can be saved, but they can cross with their wild weedy cousins – pigweed and lamb’s quarter.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum escuelentum)

Buckwheat doubles as crop and cover.

No, we’re not talking Little Rascals here, but a tasty seed crop.  Despite its name, buckwheat is not even closely related to wheat.  It’s not even in the grass family.  It is in the Polygonaceae  family along with sorrel, smartweed, Japanese knotweed, and rhubarb.  The name is derived from “beech wheat”, which comes from the comparison of the triangular buckwheat seed shape with that of the beech nut. It has a few uses in the garden, so it is a nice utility plant.

It was first domesticated in southeast Asia around 6000 BC and made its way to Europe about 2000 years later.  It was also one of the earliest plants brought from Europe to the Americas.  From Japanese soba noodles, to savory French crepes called galettes and beyond, buckwheat is a popular food all the world round.  Here in West Virginia, it is celebrated with its own festival in September, where the major mode of consumption is the buckwheat cake – a buckwheat pancake commonly served with sausage and other breakfast “fixin’s”.

In the home garden, the lowly buckwheat serves best as a summer cover crop.  It is an excellent green manure and should be a part of any good crop rotation plan (you are rotating crops, right?).  Its rapid growth and habit make it a star at smothering out weeds.  It is commonly tilled in while it is in flower, which usually allows for a fall crop to be planted after it is done.

Bees and other beneficial insects absolutely love buckwheat, but be warned – if you or your neighbor are beekeepers, the buckwheat will change your honey color and flavor.  Buckwheat produces a very dark, strong flavored honey.  I think that the flavor is similar to sorghum syrup or molasses.  Most people hate it…..I happen to love it.

You can allow the buckwheat to mature and set seed for a harvest, but this most likely will result in reseeding (you have been warned).  Buckwheat is a moderate yielder at best, but you can harvest the seeds for your own culinary uses.  For some ideas on harvesting buckwheat, check out Mother Earth News.

Buckwheat is also gluten-free and high protein.  Unless you have your own mill to make flour, you are going to be using the seeds (groats) whole.  You can cook toasted groats into a porridge, which is commonly called kasha.  You could also use the cooked seeds in salads like tabouleh or blend them into smoothies for protein.  They are also part of the traditional filling for knishes.  Buckwheat sprouts are also common among the health-conscious, but I would urge caution of eating raw sprouts – self-harvested seeds haven’t been screened for pathogens like those sold as sprouting seeds.

Talk Back….

Have you grown any of these “grain” crops in your garden?  Are you going to try some this year?  Are there other “grain” crops you are considering?  Let us know.