Wild wisdom of weeds

Contents Foreword ix Preface xi

PART ONE: Back to Basics Introduction: Welcome to the Wild Thirteen Chapter 1: My Wild and Weedy Past Chapter 2: Symbiotic Relationships Chapter 3: Nature’s Permaculture Plants Chapter 4: Wild Intelligence

1 29 45 73 89

PART TWO: The Wild Thirteen Amaranth Chickweed Clover Dandelion Dock Grass Knotweed Lambsquarter Mallow Mustard Plantain Purslane Thistle

105 123 135 147 167 183 203 219 239 261 281 297 311

Closing Thoughts References Resource List Index

331 333 341 343

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AMARANTH May amaranth help create intimate community with our human and nonhuman relationships. “ Amaranth is high in protein, Eat them for muscles like Mr. Clean!�

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The Wild Wisdom of Weeds

Amaranth Family: Amaranthaceae Latin Name: Amaranthus retroflexus (Amaranthus means everlast-

ing, unfading flower and retroflexus means reflexed or bent) Related Useful Species: Amaranthus lividus, A. spinosus, A. viridis, A. caudatus, A. cruentus, A. powelli, and A. hypochondriacus Global Common Names: English (pigweed, wild beet amaranth, redroot, love-lies-bleeding, prince’s feather); Aztec (huautli); Spanish (amaranto, bledo, alegria); French (amarante); German (amarant); Italian (amaranto commune); Danish (papegaaienkruid); Portuguese (caruru); South American Andes (kiwicha); Hebrew (yarbuz mufshal); Chinese (fan zhi xian); Indonesia (bayam); Philippine (kalunay); Hindi (chaulai, katemath, rahgira, mamdana, keerai); Sanskrit (tanduliyah); Vietnam (rauden); Africa (mchicha [Swalhili], doodo [Uganda], terere [Meru]); Caribbean (bhaji); Jamaica (callaloo); Greece (vlita); Sri Lanka (koora thampala); Fiji (choraiya bhaji); Finnish (vihrea revonhanta); Norwegian (duskamarant); Swedish (svinamarant); Russian (shchiritsa); Polish (szartat szorstki); Japanese (ao geitou, aobyu); Thai (phak khom); Hopi (kono)

Description There are close to seventy species of amaranth worldwide, ranging in sizes, colors, and shapes—all with edible and medicinal properties.

Amaranthus retroflexus is one of the most common wild amaranth species found across the majority of the globe. It is an annual herbaceous plant able to reseed itself exceptionally well. Amaranth grows in a diversity of environments ranging from dry terrains of the desert to lush areas of the tropics. Although it will grow vigorously with copious water, it can still produce a seed crop even without precipitation for over a month. On Hopi land on the Second Mesa in Arizona where the rainfall averages around 9 inches a year, amaranth still thrives. In June the average rainfall is 0.23 inches when most of these plants are young shoots. As droughtlike conditions are becoming more prevalent in some areas, an increasing number of corn and wheat harvests are struggling; however, amaranth—both wild and cultivated varieties—continues to prosper.

When amaranth is young, its first two leaves have a reddish hue, which helps to identify them from other spring shoots. Often the top of the leaf is greener and the underside of the leaf has shades of red. Some varieties, 106

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Amaranth

Amaranth

Young amaranth plants

however, have leaves that are completely red with tones of purple even as they age. The leaves grow in an alternate pattern on the stem and are broad, ovate to lance-shaped, and with simple wavy margins. The leaves 107

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The Wild Wisdom of Weeds

Amaranth seed head • Photo courtesy of Kurt Blair

have prominent veins both running down the middle and branching out to the edges. The leaves become smaller as they travel up the flower stalk.

The whole plant can attain a height of between 2 and 5 feet, although some varieties grow even taller. In The Guinness Book of World Records one amaranth is recorded growing 27 feet, 10 inches. The stems stand tall and characteristically stout and erect, often tinted red with a red stripe continuing down to the branching taproot.

Amaranth flowers are very delicate and beautiful and referred to as inflorescences, which describes an arrangement of blossoms on the flowering stalk. The flowers are greenish white and tightly packed in clusters at the end of the stem. They are pollinated by the wind, which assures that a diversity of genetic material will be transferred through cross-pollination.

The spiked flower head maintains an erect shape throughout the season and becomes increasingly prickly with age due to the bracts encasing the 108

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