This is the best time of year to harvest Quinoa and our first year to plant, minimally, the ancient, powerful grain. Quinoa and it’s leaves are a member of a collection of “Superfoods” much like Spinach and Kale just to name a couple.This means it is SUPER beneficial to human consumption. The amount of proteins, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc., are in great amounts making Quinoa a great nutritional choice for your body. More on this below in ‘Fun Facts.’
We grow our garden without chemicals of any kind or fertilizers, using companion gardening as a protective, encouraging way to grow our plants. We also do not remove the roots of ‘above’ ground edible plants in order to preserve their roots ecosystem they have in place. By doing so, the replanting of the same plants in those same areas creates a ‘known’ and intelligent system for the newly growing roots. It’s much like our elders pass their knowledge down to us, the old root system passes the same kind of knowledge down to the newly growing plants.
Let’s start at the beginning with some fun facts:
Humans eat the seeds and/or the leaves of the Quinoa plant.
Quinoa plants take 90-120 days to mature and be ready to harvest
Quinoa plants, is grown in dry climate can be about 4 feet tall, while in areas that get a plethora of moisture can grow to be 6-8 feet tall. Our plant is 6-8 feet tall when not bent over because it’s getting top heavy. We don’t want it to snap so harvesting will prevent that.
Quinoa is a complete protein.
Quinoa is GLUTEN FREE
Quinoa is home to a lot of little critters (baby garden spiders,) so you want to process it outside so that the ‘littles’ can move onto some place else. Make no mistake, I don’t love Spiders in the house but garden spiders are VERY beneficial so they get to live. We have an understanding that they don’t crawl on me or startle me and they can go about their business.
The history of Quinoa dates back about 5000 years, give or take, and has been a staple for many cultures. Let me be clear: Quinoa is NOT a ‘trending’ or ‘fad’ food. It is an important grain that I believe, should be in everyone’s cupboard. Not only is it a superfood, but its uses are vast. Run out of flour? Grind Quinoa up to create a VERY healthy flour for cooking, baking. Run out of shampoo or conditioner? Use quinoa as it has the needed amino acids. The uses are endless.
How many varieties of Quinoa, you might ask. 120+ varieties and can be grown all over the globe. The rainbow of colors are beautiful! Again, Quinoa is used from everything edible to shampoo and conditioners. AMAZING! We use it as is in soups or as a side dish, ground as a thickening agent, and ground to make pasta, bread or, well, so many other yummy ways!
I didn’t realize that the Quinoa Leaves are also edible! Apparently they are also nutritionally good for you so we are going to collect them, dry them and use them in soups, stews, breads, salads . . . well anything we use Kale or Spinach in. They are supposed to taste and smell similarly to the above listed. HOW COOL IS THAT?! The leaves are a superfood!
Look at those gorgeous Quinoa Leaves! Harvesting the ones that aren’t yellow or starting the process of finishing their cycle of life.
The taste of Quinoa is ‘Earthy.’ We cook ours in the Rice Cooker. Because the taste if earthy, when cooking the Quinoa with a meal, we usually cook using our homemade chicken or beef bone broth as a liquid. BE SURE TO RINSE YOUR QUINOA a couple of times before cooking, like you do your rice, as it removes the pericarp (shell.) You need to ‘crack’ the Quinoa shell in order to eat the grain. DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID, before learning to rinse this grain. It’s tastes. . . ew. . . wood. It won’t kill ya but chances are, you won’t like it. LOL (Yes, I’m assuming you have the same taste, which you don’t.)
As the Quinoa cooks in our rice cooker, we also throw in some chopped fresh garlic, sometimes sauteed onions, always other herbs, then on occasion, chopped bell peppers. Use your imagination when it come to flavors and who YOU love. Simply throw it all together to get a one and done side dish!
In the next blog, I’ll walk you through the process of the harvesting process from start to the preservation of your Quinoa. As with any harvest, this process with take a practice in patience. This grain calls for a good amount of time and not a lot of modern conveniences. I’m sure i will be exhausted but it will be totally worth it at the end! Stay tuned.
As always, leave your comments and questions below and I WILL answer them. You can also message me on Facebook if you prefer. I use no affiliates but can share with you information on where to get seeds, equipment that works for us, etc. if you should need that kind of info. I get zip-er-oni in return. Happy Harvesting!
Love, Light and Peace
Our leaning tower of Quinoa. Some of the leaves are starting to yellow and die away from the stalk. That is a sure sign that it’s time to harvest. You might notice the plants behind the Quinoa. That is ONE Jalapeño plant with two stocks. We cut it back after our last harvest to prepare it for fall and winter. It has decided to grow again. We will need to bring it in for the cold months so it can do it’s thing. We compost the cuttings, produce waste, seeds etc, right back into their own bins so the soil always stays same plant friendly.