Amaranth

We headed up to the allotment before the weather caught up with us - it was very pleasant there for a while, unseasonably warm and not windy (yet). Mr H removed the courgette plants, even though they were still just about feebly producing courgettes, and planted the garlic. I sowed some Aquadulce broad beans. Hurray!

In a neglected corner of a very weedy bed I found this amaranth - I'd sowed seeds from the Heritage Seed Library but only two small plants came up so I'd forgotten about them. James, my allotment neighbour in Oxford about a hundred years ago, used to grow a certain amount of it although the majority of his vast plot was given over to dwarf French beans. I wanted to ask how he used the amaranth, but always felt rather intimidated by him ( his day job was as fierce security guard in the Cowley Road Tesco).

According to the Wikipedia info the green leaves are eaten in many parts of the world but I was interested that the seeds are also eaten, particularly in central and south America. Gluten free, as well. Who'd have thought it, eh?