Bayam is grown for its leaves rather than seeds. Bayam grows well above 20 degree Celcius. New seedlings are very cute and red in colour. This is natural, not artificial or genetically modified which is very rare compare with the usual green for other vegetables.
Bayam seedlings. They grow very well in container and are very fast-growing, tough and easy-to-grow plant. For good colour leaves, try not to grow them on nutrient-rich compost. 
You don’t have to space out bayam so much about 7.5cm apart should be fine. You can harvest bayam as “cut and come again” plant. Make sure there are some leaves at the bottom of the stalk before you cut the top. Bayam leaves limp quickly after harvest. If you have so much bayam leaves you can freeze it by blanching for one minute, chill and drain the water, pack it straight away in the freezer. Can be kept up till 6 months.
Growth 10 days later…
Bayam starting to bolt. In very hot weather, bayam can tolerate partial shade.
Bayam flowers are very interesting. They look like red plumes. They look very pretty and ornamental in containers. These bayam plants were growing together under tomato plants very well in containers. Ignore the background please, it is my experimental sweet potatoes growing in container going crazy.
Can you see bayam seeds? If you have small space and you worry about the space that bayam will need to grow until it is time to harvest the seeds, don’t worry, one plant don’t take much space and it will provide you with at least one year worth of bayam seeds for your garden.
This is one plant that is very fun and easy to harvest the seeds. Just shake the flower and the mature seeds will drop out. It feels like holding a feather duster.
The popular quick way to use bayam is in soup or stir-fry.
How do you like your bayam?
If you like the colour red, join in RUBY TUEASDAY.
36 comments:
So interesting! Thanks Diana! I like eating amaranth grain...yum...and the leaves...but so do the chickens! :)
nice shots
like ur blog. I am ur 101th follower
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selalu masak bayam rebus begitu sahaja terutama bayam yang kaler merah.masa anak-anak masih kecik dulu mereka suka hirup kuah sup bayam merah sambil cakap"darah! darah!...makan darah haha.Itu 25 tahun yang lampau semasa anak anak masih kecik:).....
A very good-looking plant. Do you cook the leaves, or eat them raw? You can eat the seeds too, can't you? I imagine they would be nice used in/on bread, much like you might use poppy seeds.
An interesting post about the plants love the colors too .. visiting you back!
A very interesting plants. Thanks for sharing this. Thanks also for the Red Tuesday comment.
Have a great day.
This is my first time to see this kind of plant. Thanks for the visit.
I love this bayam too.. just fried with garlic.. that's it.. :D
If you hadn't said I wouldn't have imagined that you could eat it!
It sure is a striking red! I think my Dad would like this as he likes red in his garden.
Thanks for your visit.
I love those plants. Beautiful shots.
More Ruby Tuesday, come and see.
I love this plant. And it grow so easy and fast.
Lovely shots of bayam life cycle :)
Really interestng plant and great colour. The flowers remind me of the flowers on Amaranthus bedding plants.
I do not think I've ever eaten bayam. I will look for it now to try it. The flower the plant produces are very pretty!
I love how pretty and colorful they are!
I love your header and this post. I am so fascinated & love to learn about new foods and herbs!! Now I want to taste them and find our their nutritional value. I have researched a number of foods I did not know about and wrote about them. It is richly rewarding.
You are really good at saving seeds. I have bayam but the colours are a little different. My flowers are green, not red. The seeds are minute and I've never even thought of keeping them. They look big in your photos though. Usually I just shake and compost the flowers. Some day, there will be baby bayam again...somewhere.
Great shots. Think it's other name is amaranth - must try some this year. Thanks for your visit.
What a lovely post for RT! I love those plants. I think we have similar kind in the Philippines but not sure what we called it.
Hi Malay-Kadazan girl! It's me again. My Mama bought this hefty tome entitled Kitchen Garden Companion by Stephanie Alexander. It was on sale at our local Coles, you may get it at Barnes & Noble too, I guess. In there, she actually lists down edible weeds such as this amaranth (it's all over our backyard too) as well as the sayur meranti. The book is now in a box in a container at Sydney port. It's migrating with us. purrr....meow!
The colours are amazing! Love your first and second pics. And the flowers from this edible amaranth is as pretty as their ornamental varieties ;-D
I've never seen the seed before,I almost mistook them for 'biji sawi'!
CikManggis~ Masa kecik-kecik selalu pelik kenapa mak masak sayur ni jadi sup merah. Tapi masa kecik tak berapa sangat suka makan sayur ni.
Mark~ We cook the leaves, we don't eat it raw. I am not certain whether this variety we eat the seeds or not. But some other amaranth varieties are edible.
One~Bayam can be an invasive weed sometime.
Cat-in-Sydney~ I borrowed that book for a month from the public library but never had the chance to read it as it was a busy month at school and garden that time. I must borrow it again this winter. You sure don't have to sow any vegetables as there is a lot of edible at your backyard.
The flowers are beautiful. Loved the way you told the story from beginning to end. Very interesting post. I've never seen, nor heard of bayam before. Makes me wonder what I'm missing.
Great shots and interesting plant! I think I have already had those flowers in my garden a long time ago, but I'm not sure!
Thanks for visiting my place and taking the time to comment;o)
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Have a nice and happy week****
Red bayam seeling looks so brilliant!
The flowers really make them look like ornamental plant!
wow! so colorful...great shots! thanks for dropping by....:)
I always learn new things when I visit your blog. I have never heard of bayam. What an amazing color the little sprouts are. I would love to taste some in a stir fry.
I imagine a sped up video from your photos. The red seedlings is the best.
Your amaranth looks great, we are trying a new variety called Molten Fire that I am excited to try this year.
Hello, lovely to have found your blog, I'm living and gardening (and garden-bloggin) in Adelaide too! I think your blog is very interesting :)
One of these years I'm going to try amaranth. It seems like such an interesting crops. I've eaten the seed before, but never the leaves.
Your bayam grows really well. Have never tried growing bayam before. I'm inspired by you now!
is it that easy growing bayam? i failed in my third attempt germinating the seeds. dont know what wrong. and this weekend maybe i try my luck sowing bayam. huh..
Mat Jon~Saya tabur je benihnya. Too much organic matter/manure in the soil?
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