Happy Full Moon – February 5, 2023
I’ve been thinking a lot about amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) because I am packing up a multitude of seeds for friends, harvested from last year’s garden. The tiny amaranth seeds are hard to separate from the reddish bits of petals that still cling to them. And to some extent it doesn’t matter because it is easiest to just scatter them on the soil (dried petals and all).
Edible and Easy to Grow
Amaranth can make a beautiful and edible addition to your garden. Seeds of amaranth are cooked like grains, and the leaves are edible raw or steamed. The plants are drought tolerant once established and need little care other than weeding. Amaranth does not like standing in wet soil and so has been pretty happy here in the Denver hot dry summers.
Beauty and Grace
If you are only familiar with amaranth as a healthy high-protein seed, you might be surprised by how beautiful the plants are. The ornamental varieties have large flower plumes of oranges and reds. Plumes may be erect (like “Red Spike”) or cascading down (like “Foxtail”). Gracefulness is a common attribute of the garden varieties.
I usually plant the Hopi Red Dye seeds which can grow 6 to 7 feet tall. Once in bloom, the feathery wands bend and sway in the wind for weeks. I am never able to gather all of the seeds – there are thousands. So in the fall, the unharvested seeds float gently to the ground like tiny magical rain showers. The plants seem to embody grace.
Cosmic Blessings
Amaranth also resonates with another meaning of the word grace. That is grace as a kind of cosmic gift or blessing. Grace does not involve effort. It shows up for free, with no work on our part.
To the Aztecs, amaranth was a sacred gift from the gods. It grew abundantly in their hot dry climate and was packed with protein. Amaranth provided the sustenance that enabled them to live and flourish in a harsh environment for thousands of years. The Aztecs appreciated and revered this plant and it was woven into their spirituality.
A Daily Practice
We can take a cue from that practice by paying attention to what sustains and nurtures us in our world. Cultivating an awareness of the things that are feely given can realign our perception of even difficult times. Friendship, beauty, love from my animal companions, and breath are some of the many things I know are freely given in my life. We can find grace in many small moments when we are alert. I think of grace when I look at a perfect dandelion seed head and when I look up at the stars at night.
It is not complicated, but finding grace in our lives requires a commitment to notice. Tuning into the things that sustain and nurture us (with no effort on our part) can be a daily practice of acknowledging grace.
Lunar Blog Post Series
This post is part of my lunar blog series. Each full moon I write about one of the plants featured in my book, Growing Mindful. Each new moon I write about a topic related to gardens, mindfulness, and spirituality. For more details and a list of past lunar blog posts, click here.
