One Yard Revolution: A Warm Weather Green that Really Wants to Grow

One of our favorite warm weather greens is vegetable amaranth, which is also known as Chinese spinach and calaloo. In the heat of the summer, along with Malabar spinach, vegetable amaranth keeps us in greens long after the spinach and lettuce have bolted and the kale and collards are past their prime.

Unlike other amaranth varieties, its leaves are tender and delicious. They make a great substitute for spinach and can be eaten raw or cooked. We eat vegetable amaranth in salads and as a substitute for spinach in cooked dishes like Saag Paneer. It is also a main ingredient in a Caribbean dish called callaloo, which we haven’t tried yet but sounds delicious.

red leaf vegetable amaranth seeds: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6111-red-leaf-vegetable-amaranth.aspx

OYR is all about growing a lot of food on a little land using sustainable organic methods, while keeping costs and labor at a minimum. Emphasis is placed on improving soil quality with compost, mulch, and compost tea. No store-bought fertilizers, soil amendments, pesticides, compost activators, etc. are used.