Some people call it careless weed...
What's interesting is that Amaranth is native to the Americas. It was so important to the Aztecs as a foodstuff that they worshipped it, popping it and mixing it with honey, they shaped it into figurines that they worshipped, then broke apart and ate.
The Spaniards, on there arrival, couldn't tolerate that (possibly because the practice had just a bit too much in common with the eucharist) so they outlawed growing amaranth.
Though not fully effective, the ban nearly eliminated knowledge of amaranth as a foodstuff. Today, it is grown worldwide, especially where farm tech is limited, due to its ease of planting and harvesting. It's warm weather, the whole plant is edible, the young leaves are like spinach (known as Chinese spinach), the stem is brittle with texture and taste similar to celery, and the seed can be popped without oil, or boiled as a cereal.
This is my first planting, really an experiment to learn how to plant it, but the amount of green stuff it has produced is astounding.
It sprouts in 2-3 days, and by two weeks will produce greens, by 4 weeks it was 2' high, supposed to produce mature seed in 3 months. 850,000 seeds per pound, so very economical to plant from organic seed foodstuff.
So, there is more than one useful plant to come out of Mexico...
