We had various types of amaranth. We did not plant the initial plants. It was done through seed dispersal by wind, birds, cattle and poultry through their dung. Where we put the initial wet dung and turned it into humus, became a bed of amaranth after the humus was taken to the garden.
Birds came around picking worms and eating seeds and dropped some of the seeds on the ground. Cattle ate grass from outside the farm mixed with amaranth plants and seeds got carried to the dung area with leftover grass and dung. Poultry ate plants given to them and dropped seeds on the floor that got mixed with their droppings and it was swept and dumped at the dung area.
Different types of amaranth thus grew with too much force in the dung area due to too much humus. There were small, medium and big leafed. There were red and green leafed. There were thorny and smooth stemmed. And that was the source of our initial seeds. When mature, we harvested the seeds and kept them ready for the planting season.
Amaranth was a seasonal vegetable in our farm, as it did not appreciate irrigation. We scattered the seeds in rows at the area intended for it during the long rainy season. And with addition of a little humus to the ground before planting, the seedlings sprung up quickly, healthy and ready to go.
In just two weeks, we could eat the first harvest of leaves that were rich in iron. And this continued, as the plants grew taller to about four feet. Approaching the end of the rainy season, the top parts of the plants showed signs of producing tussles of seeds instead of continuing to produce leaves for eating.
As the tussles showed maturity and the seeds started to fall, we harvested the tussles and dried them carefully so as not to lose seeds ready to be kept for planting in subsequent seasons. The stems were uprooted and given to the cows that adored them. The stems were juicy and flexible.
The leaves were usually too much for home consumption only and we sold some to our customers.
We did not irrigate it because it did better during wet weather only.