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Who knows what this is?

is it a quinoa plant?

Looks like a weed   ???very healthy though  ;D

I have a few bird feeders in my garden that i fill with a seed and nut mix. The blackbirds like to bash them so that the seeds fall on the floor. Some seeds have sprouted on the nearby beds. This looks a little like one of the common plants that have sprouted from this mixture - not sure if this helps.

Did you grow it or buy it?

It looks like Chenopodium album (also known as 'fat hen') but it could be one of the Orache family, which is an edible plant (as also is fat hen) and is of the same family.

it does look like fat hen. You could just turn it round by 90 ^oC and then read the label

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenopodium_album

If it is Fat hen, then the seeds are used to feed poultry - which ties in nicely with my feeling that they look like the product of bird feed debris....

well if it is the plant that Eristic has grown in the carefully labled pot i would still go with the Quinoa

thats what my plants look like, well in a few weeks lol

lbb

Well done Littlebabybird. Hopfully it is quinoa which makes me wonder if this latest superfood is nothing more than a bunch of weeds each and every one of us meticulously removes from our cultivations.

Quote from: Eristic on May 17, 2008, 22:06:16
Well done Littlebabybird. Hopfully it is quinoa which makes me wonder if this latest superfood is nothing more than a bunch of weeds each and every one of us meticulously removes from our cultivations.

which one have you got?
mine is rainbow from real seeds
gl
lbb

That is the same one that I am growing. As space is at a premium I'm only growing a few plants to check for merits, survivability, yield etc. If they do well and I like them, greater space will be allocated next year.

I'm keeping one quinoa plant and a fat hen in the polytunnel for comparison and just 8 outside. I may sow more later but I still have no idea where to put all my squashes.

i have 10 plants on the go, i was going to do less but i thought i might not get all the colours then

and yes we have kept a fat hen plant as well lol

would it be ok to compare notes later?

lbb

Comparing results is what it is all about but first we have to get some sunshine.

Looks a lot like 'fat hen's' relative chaenopodium bonus henricum, aka Good King Henry.

Its stems can be earthed up and used as asparagus, the leaves can be used as spinach.

The way it seeds down could account for the quinny stuff.

valmarg

'Quinoa' is a member of the Chenopodium family
Wonder if it will self seed like our English Chenopodium (Fat Hen)?

Quote from: jeanaustin on May 20, 2008, 06:51:33
'Quinoa' is a member of the Chenopodium family
Wonder if it will self seed like our English Chenopodium (Fat Hen)?

of course it wont self seed i want it to grow, only weeds grow
lbb

Update of progress:



Plants seem to withstand the ravishes of slugs and stand up to the wind fairly well. Only a couple at the exposed end of the row fell over. Just waiting now for heads to ripen.

Quote from: jeanaustin on May 20, 2008, 06:51:33
'Quinoa' is a member of the Chenopodium family
Wonder if it will self seed like our English Chenopodium (Fat Hen)?

of course it wont self seed i want it to grow, only weeds grow
lbb
[/quote]
Good king henry, of the same family VERY readily self seeds, so you never know your luck, maybe a family trait. ;D

valmarg

I had a line of Good King Henry, in our perennial bed but OH decided she wanted space for Dahlias... one has come up as a self set... trying to persuade her not to weed it out!  ::)

Saddad, if you manage to keep the plant, and let it go to seed you will be able to grow some more.

Dahlias, you can't eat dahlias. ;D

If you go up to Mickleover, along Long Lane to Rocester, then follow the Alton Towers trail through Denstone to Alton, can in a week or two let you have loads of seeds.  Failing that, pm me your address and I'll send you some. ;D

valmarg