Tag Archives: garden

Discovering Amaranth

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In a garden that I superintend, I get the question, “So what is that tall plant with the red top growing in the garden?” It’s amaranth! Here’s a picture….

Amaranth is such a versatile plant – it is used for food (greens and seeds/grain), as a dye plant, and even a food source for some butterflies and moths.

Amaranth has quite a history as a staple food source for people, dating back thousands of years. Although it is thought to have originated in the Americas, various amaranth species (of which there are 75!) are found on six continents, according to Wikipedia.

The leaves are cooked and eaten like spinach, while the seeds are treated like a grain. Most notably, in Mexico the seeds are toasted like popcorn and mixed with honey, molasses, or chocolate to make a treat.

Amaranth can be found in Africa, as well as in parts of Asia, where the greens are popular. In Greece, the purple amaranth leaves are boiled, then served with olive oil and lemon juice.

The red top seed-head is known as Hopi Red Dye. And I intend to test it out as a dye plant in the next few weeks – I’ll report on the results when I do.

Finally, a species of amaranth has a questionable reputation – it is known familiarly as pigweed, and is viewed as a noxious weed by farmers who strive to eradicate it from their fields. But, like all amaranths, pigweed is edible.

So look for amaranth and maybe try cooking some (young, tinder) leaves.

Meditation on Bees

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As the sun strikes the basil plant in bloom, it teems with life.  Stop and watch – honeybees, tiny native bees, butterflies, and an occasional bumble bee stop to sip the nectar of the tiny flowers.

Did you know that there are over 4000 species of native bee in North America, and over 800 in the Oklahoma/Texas blackland prairie?  They include leaf cutter bees, ground bees, mason bees, among so many others.  Honeybees (imported from Europe) are the only ones that produce honey.  The others are solitary and don’t live in hives – they may have colonies of several holes together, but they do not cooperate like the bees in a hive.  Each (female) bee finds nectar and pollen, puts them in a nest, lays her egg and seals it off, then repeats the process until her hole or nest is filled.  Then she dies.  Interestingly, the mason bee lays male eggs toward the last of her hole so that they emerge first and can wait around for the females to emerge to breed.  Most native bees do not sting.

A bit of trivia – mason bees can nest in small tubes about the size of a drinking straw.  You may have seen bee nests sold in nurseries – several hollow bamboo or other reeds bound together.  Because the nest is compact, commercial orchardists in California are now hiring mason bees for pollinating their crops (like almonds) because the beekeeper can put the nest in cool storage, and time the warming of it about 30 days before they want the bees to emerge.  Then, they place the nest in the middle of an orchard.  The honeybee can travel up to 2 miles, looking for nectar.  The mason bee only goes about ½ mile, so it pollinates the orchard more thoroughly and crop yields can increase by as much as 15%. 

When I visited Cozumel in early 2020, I was surprised to learn that they have a native bee that produces honey!  The bees build  their hives in logs, but the output is only as much as a liter of honey for a small log.  Therefore, the honey was very valuable and available only to the upper classes (to mix with cocoa powder and water for a rich chocolate drink!). 

Weeds Have Jobs – #5

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Our weed this time is a much maligned weed that is actually a good food that foragers look for!

Chenopodium albus (Lambs quarters)

The name, Chenopodium, refers to the shape of the leaves – “goose foot.”  Lambs quarters grows where there is very low calcium and phosphorus, very high potassium and magnesium, high sulfur and copper, low humus, good drainage of the soil.

Lambs quarters is another edible, and is in the amaranth family of plants; the seeds are gathered and used similar to quinoa (a relative).  It is wind-pollinated and so it does not have showy flowers to attract pollinators.  But it is a food source for various insects, caterpillars and wildlife. It can grow to be nearly 2 feet tall, and is often removed from vegetable beds because it is considered a “weed.”

Recognize it? Now you know it’s not a weed, but can be an indicator of soil needs and a source of food.

Weeds Have Jobs #4

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Stellaria media (common chickweed)

Chickweed grows where there is a need for calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and manganese in the soil.  It also indicates that the soil has high levels of magnesium and iron, and high sulfur and copper in the soil.  It indicates that there is low porosity (the soil is tight). 

Chickweed is another edible and is in the carnation family of plants.  It also has a history as a medicinal herb for a variety of ailments.  As the name implies, chickens like it.

The flowers are small, and star-like.  It is a plant that attracts trichogramma wasps, that prey on tomato hornworms – a great natural insect predator for the garden!

Stellaria media – common chickweed

Weeds Have Jobs #3

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Continuing our conversation about weeds I’m finding in my garden beds in Tulsa, Oklahoma…..

Lamium amplexicaule (henbit) is common and easy to identify.

This plant tells us the soil is low in calcium, has low porosity, low humus, and low bacteria. It can also indicate poor drainage and sandy soil (the two go together because sand doesn’t hold water very well!). Its job is to provide erosion control by its roots. It likes moist soil and often is in shady places.
Henbit is edible and was brought to the Americas for chickens to eat. But wild food foragers say you can eat all of the plant. It’s a member of the mint family, and has lovely purple flowers that bees love.

If you want to read more about weeds and their jobs, I love two great references: John Beeby’s Test Your Soil with Plants (Willits, CA: Ecology Action, 2013); and Jay McCaman’s Weeds and Why They Grow (Sand Lake, MI: Jay McCaman, 1994.

Weeds Have Jobs #2

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This week we’ll talk about spurges, also called sandmats. There are two types that seem to be prevalent in the gardens I’m tending in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The first, Euphorbia maculata, with purple spots on the leaves.

Spurge – Euphorbia maculata

The second is Euphorbia prostrata, that tends to have a spreading, spiderlike, form.

Euphorbia prostrata

The third type is the Euphorbia serpens, or creeping spurge.

Euphorbia serpens

So what is this about spurges? What are they all about and why do they grow where they are? In other words, what is their job?

Euphorbias are prostrate and spread.  They can have a taproot up to 2 feet.  They are not edible (and are toxic – the milky latex sap contains diterpene estersin, which can be irritating to the skin). 

Spurges tell us that the soil is clay, loam, and sand. Which can be good. But …

Generally spurges indicate low calcium, very low phosphorus, very high potassium and magnesium, high sulfur, high copper, and a hard layer in the soil (thus the long taproot to break up the soil).  They also grow where there is poor drainage, which is a symptom of a hard soil layer.

So when you see a lot of spurges in your garden or in your lawn, think about having the soil tested for mineral content, and dig down a bit to see if there is a hard layer just under the top soil.

Want to read more? My favorite references are John Beeby’s Test Your Soil with Plants (Willits, CA: Ecology Action, 2013); and Jay McCaman’s Weeds and Why They Grow (Sand Lake, MI: Jay McCaman, 1994.