Growing: You can simply plant organic quinoa seeds from the supermarket. The seeds can planted straight into the ground or in containers. Early June is a great time of year to start the seeds across North America and Europe. Seeds planted directly into the ground will grow to about 5-6 feet tall, seeds planted in containers will grow to about 2 feet tall. In both circumstances the plants will grow a mass of millet-like seeds on the top of the plant and green spade shaped leaves which can also be used as a salad green. The plants should be watered and fertilized for best results, but they are generally very hardy and low-maintenance. Harvesting: In the fall, when the plants start to turn brown you can trim the stalks and collect the seeds. The seeds naturally have a bitter coating which deter birds, but also compromise the taste of the harvest. The bitter coating can be washed away. We've found that the best way to harvest the seeds is to soak the stalks in water with a drop of dish soap for a few minutes to remove the coating and any insects (as shown above in picture 3 and 4). Hang the stalks upside down and let them dry out. Then simple pull the mass of seed of the stalk with your thumb and forefinger. After removing the mass of seeds simply grind the seeds lightly with your finger or a mortar and pestle. The small white seeds will separate from their casings and if soak the ground up seed heads in water the edible quinoa seeds will sink and the pulp will float, making it easy to separate and dry the seeds. In a 3' by 6" wide and 6" deep container I was able to grow about one cup of quinoa. It added to a wonderful meal for two in late September. It's easy, cheap, productive, and doesn't take up much space. Why not try growing some in a container or in your garden this year?

I have a zillion Waltham Broccoli seeds. Would love to try the ore de valle quinoa. LMK if you want to trade. Cheryl

Amaranth can get really tall, like 8 feet or so, almost as big as many sunflowers, and more bulk. The yield can be impressive, up to a lb of seed from the biggest kinds. And yes, it can be weedy in its reseeding habits. Quinoa is more diminuative, about 3 feet tall in my garden, yielding probably an ounce per healthy plant. I'll save you the trouble with garbanzos/chickpeas. Yield is VERY low, almost everyone, including myself, who's tried it at home says its not worth it, except to see the plant grow (it's actually very pretty, quite at home in the flower garden as an accent). Corn has all of the usual pest problems, but it varies from place to place. I was going to buy a grain mill, but I just bought a Black and Decker coffee mill with adjustable grind on sale last year at Target, $15, and it's been great. It grinds everything from hard, hard flint corn to wheat, rice, you name it. At the finest setting, it produces flour comparable to commercial flour, coarse setting gives cornmeal texture. Hard corn needs to go through twice to make fine flour. It has a 2 cup capacity, and takes between 20 seconds to 2 minutes to grind that much, depending upon how hard the item being ground is. I use it probably on average twice a week, and its been going for about 14 months now with no trouble. Every once in a while, something, usually corn, gets stuck in the mill, and I have to take the thing apart to clear the jam (it unscrews, easy to do).

We grew several varieties of edible amaranth last year and really enjoyed them. True, they didn't taste much different than a mild green, but we absolutely loved having that much green stuff available in the garden at any time for either a quick fresh salad or a stir fry. Our plants maintained a nice 2-foot height and stayed nice and leafy throughout the season. We didn't have as good of luck with the red-leafed variety as we did with the green ones. I have my seeds in the garden as we speak and I'm looking forward to this year's batch! I ordered the seeds from evergreenseeds.com If you're looking for nutritional punch in your greens, give okinawa spinach a try if you can find a plant. It is very hearty and is told to have cholesterol-reducing properties even. Jane