BC Quinoa!

Quinoa is delicious! It is also from Peru, which is much closer to the equator than Vancouver, but I heard that Dan Jason of www.saltspringseeds.com was growing it, I decided to try it. I got excited, growing veg is expected of the city gardener, but growing grain!?! The self sufficient possibilities were endless...

The seed was very small, a grain really, I sowed it at the end of April, following the directions on the seed pack like a good girl. It sprouted really quickly, and soon needed to be thinned.

And then before I knew it, the plants were averaging 6 feet tall, with some of them reaching 8 feet tall! Crazy, and the seed heads were getting huge. The colours were amazing, really vibrant pinks, yellows and reds. But I was getting nervous, they looked top heavy to me, and very far from ripe.

Sure enough, we got hit with a rainy fall, and the plants started toppling over, but that wasn't everything...

  

 The Quinoa started sprouting while still on the plant. Boo!

In conclusion, I decided to try again, they grew like crazy on no extra watering, and they were beautiful. But I am not giving them a bed to themselves next year, instead I will work them in with the flower beds,  I think they will fit in more there, and be better supported by other tall items there, like Giant Sunflower.

It should be noted that I saved my quinoa seed only to grow it again, apparently if you are planning to eat it, you need to devise a means of washing it free of the saponine covering the seed, something I did not have the luxury to worry about sadly.