Thursday, September 9, 2010

The story of Amaranth tricolor in our garden

Amaranthus tricolor
or bayam.

young amaranth tricolor 

It all started 2 years ago. Kakdah bought a bunch of tricolor amaranth or simply bayam merah or bayam batik.She picked the leaves for her usual fried menu. I saved the stems as she was about to throw them into the bin. I experimented getting  cuttings of the tricolor amaranth to grow. A few grew.... but they flowered quickly because they were behaving like the original plant which was almost matured. Then our little garden witnessed the most prolific example of reseeding or resowing again and again.

In the kind of weather that we have, and the limited time and space that I have, amaranth has been behaving well in pots and keep producing excellent and healthy veggie.

Amaranthus tricolor is simply the most prolific vegetable that will never leave our garden.

We will soon be heading home, for Raya Holidays. The blog will rest for a week, 
in time to capture changes that may occur 
due the current  active rain spell .

Selamat Hari Raya or Eid ul-Fitr  

bangchik's garden
with amaranth tricolor

21 comments:

  1. I am terribly curious. Do you harvest the leaves or the grain? I am scouring the internet for recipes. This look like a very interesting veg - more nutritious than spinach and a vigorous reseeder. The whole plant is edible? My, my - I may have to try!

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  2. Carol..
    We harvest the whole plant, before flowering. Nice leaves for fried menu or soup. The stem probably is tough to chew as the plant gets older. But at tender age, the whole plant is simply edible...... ~bangchik

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  3. I didnt know that bayam can be grown that way, will keep the stems next time n try to grow them.


    Selamat Hari Raya Bangchik, Kak Dah n family, maaf zahir dan batin.Enjoy your holidays!

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  4. Puteri Chandan,
    Thanks for the visit, huh.., you will be surprised at how many plants that can grow through stems or cuttings. Jangan ingat bunga raya dan ros saja boleh.. haha. We will be heading home to Sitiawan tomorrow for raya. Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin to you and your recently enlarged family too... ~bangchik

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  5. Hi Bangchik, you are very resourceful growing from slips and cuttings. I am not familiar with the plant or what it is used for but one thing is certain, you will have plenty in stock!Enjoy the holidays with your family

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  6. Those look like very healthy seedlings. I've heard that Amaranth re-seeds like crazy. I tried to grow it last year because I love the color and wanted to see if I could make a dye with it. Must try again for sure.

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  7. looks really healthy and happy - and wonderful that it will do so well in pots.

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  8. This a nice vege for soup. Yum yum.
    Similarly, my ornamental A. flying colours has very prolific foliage and really thrive very well in our hot weather. However, I find that the plant will wilt when too much water/prolonged rain and have a short lifespan.

    Selamat hari raya Bangchik, Kakdah and family :-D

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  9. Hi Bangchik,

    I love these. I cut off the top of the plant and put them in my instant noodle all the time. New shoots will grow from the stem again so I need not replant. Talking about propagation via stem, I recently planted tomato in this manner. Will blog about it if successful.

    Selamat Hari Raya, Bangchik, Kakdah and the rest of your beautiful family!

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  10. That sounds like a good and economical way to start plants.
    Have a nice break. Thanks for stopping by.
    Rosey

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  11. Looking good there.
    Must try your layout next time...

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  12. They look delicious. Have to try planting them in my garden.

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  13. Bangchik, Kakdah and family,

    Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri!
    Wishing you lots of wonderful moments, and a safe and smooth journey back to kampung.

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  14. Selamat Hari Raya to you, Kad Dah and family. Enjoy, eat and be merry!

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  15. Bangchik, I do admire you for your experimentation ... and usually with such good results! Well done! Pam

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  16. At last we can feel the end of hot summer this week!
    That can allow us to start preparation of autumn-winter vegetables.

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  17. Selamat Hari Raya, Bang Chik & Kak Dah.

    You are very adventurous to experiment growing amaranth from stem cutting. It planted ideas for me to try stem cutting from various vegies that I cook. Do you think kangkung can be grown like this too, Bang Chik? I tried growing kangkung from seeds, but they are straggly and don't seem to flourish.

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  18. Peggy.. so many plants in fact can be grown from cuttings.

    JGH .. you can make colouring i think.

    Wendy.. I grow in pots for convenience and to get away from grasshoppers who had chosen our lawn and vegetable bed as their residence.

    Stephanie.. you are right about wilting. They will wilt more when the soil gets too dry.

    One.. I would be glad to know the progress of your tomato cuttings . That's one real experiment!!

    Aaron.. delicious and soft.

    Rosey.. It would a lot easier to grow them from seeds. It is nice too to explore with cuttings.

    KL Vegetable Garden .. good luck to your next attempt with tricolor amaranth

    ~bangchik

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  19. Helen Lewis.. they are delicious, very tasty and soft. Shouldn't be any problem for tummy to digest.

    Autumn Belle .. Selamat Hari Raya to you too.., now I am back.

    kitchen flavours.. huh, there were a lot of ketupat and rendang!

    Pam's English Garden.. little experiments are needed to keep the enthusiasm going.

    rainnie.. thanks, and you get any duit raya?.. haha.

    takaeko .. Glad to hear that the heat is going away. Good luck to autumn crop.

    JC.. you can certainly try cuttings to see kangkung growing well. I have done it before.

    cheers, have a great day with your garden.
    ~bangchik

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  20. Tomatoes grow very easily from cuttings; they should root in about 2 weeks. I often multiply the plants I buy this way, and the cuttings catch up in spring to the parent plant. Tomatoes will also seed themselves; I have 3 plants this year growing from some fruit that fell off last year.

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