How to grow amaranth in your home garden.

A beautiful ornamental plant, amaranth grows roughly 1.5m tall and blooms into large bouquets of colourful red, purple, yellow, and golden flowers. It is an extremely low-maintenance plant that grows well in temperatures between 18-24°C but can withstand high heat and even drought-like conditions.

How to grow amaranth:

You can begin planting amaranth seed anytime between mid-May to mid-June. Seedlings can be started indoors, or the seeds can be directly planted into the garden anytime after the last frost!

  • Amaranth grows best in well-drained, loose soils with a lot of organic matter, but does well in average garden soil too.
  • After the last frost, plant your seeds and space them about 7-10" apart. They don’t mind a little crowding and look pretty good in groups! Cover the seeds lightly with soil.
  • Water 1-2 times per week during dry conditions.
  • Plants grown in average garden soil will grow about 1.5m high, but the plants can reach 2.5m tall in the right soil.
  • The seeds will be ready to harvest about 100-140 days after planting. 

Amaranth

Interested in growing amaranth?

We are selling a limited number of bags of garden-ready amaranth seeds sourced from Oaxaca, Mexico. These seeds grow into tall, beautiful plants with red and purple flowers.

Order your amaranth seeds online here and use the discount code "SpringtimeGarden20" to get 20% off these seeds or our Cacao Mulch!

What to do with amaranth:

As well as being eaten in Mexico, amaranth is also a popular edible green in many other countries and regions including China, Southeast Asia, India, Jamaica, and West Africa. The beautiful green and purple leaves of this plant are edible and highly nutritious. The leaves can be used like spinach and can be sauteed, steamed, added to soups, and much more. The dried amaranth seeds can be popped like popcorn, ground into flour, cooked into breakfast porridge, used to thicken soups and stews, and more! 

For such a tiny seed, amaranth packs a powerful punch! It is a good source of complete protein (it contains all nine essential amino acids). Amaranth is also a good source of essential nutrients and minerals, including magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese. It is also high in fibre, iron, selenium and vitamin B6.

Need mulch? We’ve got you(r garden) covered!

Try our cacao shell mulch, available online for in-store pick-up! Made from our organic cacao shells, this mulch provides a nutrient-rich cover perfect for your gardening and farming needs. Bonus, it smells like chocolate!

Order our mulch by clicking here.

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