But it isn't edible yet:
We bought a packet each of the red and green edible amaranth, but since we are shutting down the gardens in a couple of weeks in preparation for our return to the desert, I only planted a few seeds of the red, just to see what they would look like as we have never grown this before. The first few days the seedlings looked just like our purslane.
But now there is a clear difference:
Aside from a sweet potato slip, pictured to the left below, which pleasantly volunteered to grow all on its own, the other thing I'm growing in the home-made aeroponic planters I made out of ice cube bins from an old refrigerator are fenugreek sprouts.
Fenugreek seeds make a wonderful tea, and the leaves (aka Greek Hay!) are fast-growing and attractive. While the highly nutritious greens are not well-known as an edible in these parts, they are prized in Indian cooking, where they are called Methi and credited with purifying the blood, correcting blood sugar issues, helping with weight loss, reducing inflamation, and a host of other health benefits. The rich dark green leaves are chock full of vitamin B-complex and other nutrients.
Here is a lovely illustrated recipe for Aloo Methi, made with the colorful fenugreek leaves. In my photo below, you can see my home-made aeroponic planter. Nested inside a standard ice cube bin, the light blue cover is cut from a sturdy flexible kitchen cutting mat. The clear plastic tubing is from the pet store and is connected first to a check valve and then to a small external fish tank pump.
I used a standard office punch to make a hole in the mat, just the right size for the tubing to drop through. Bubbling inside the water is a small airstone, the kind used in a home acquarium. As you can tell from the "Snow Peas" label, the seedlings are secured in recycled AeroGarden plugs, but any kind of basket and "growing medium" will do. Don't you love the little water drops that show through the mat?
As noted, the plant on the left is a sweet potato slip and the fenugreek seedlings are on the right. We always have fenugreek sprouts on hand, so when I want to start new fenugreek plants, I just commandeer a few sprouts. Usually I grow them on a sunny window sill, but these are benefitting from the grow lights on our nearby AeroGardens.