Wanted: Strawberry spinach/beetberry (Chenopodium capitatum)

[mad rabbit woman]

Hi folks
Brand new here.
I'm looking for some Strawberry spinach/beetberry (Chenopodium capitatum) seeds/plants (I'm in Deniliquin NSW). Any help would be much appreciated.

Would love to talk to anyone who has actually grown this.

Vicki

[ho-hum]

Madwoman,

Plenty of folk have had a look at the thread and, no doubt as I have, they have probably looked on the net.

Whilst I can find the plant listed in australia as a possible or a potential I cannot find anything on it being actually grown here.

floot

[ho-hum]

Madwoman,

Plenty of folk have had a look at the thread and, no doubt as I have, they have probably looked on the net.

Whilst I can find the plant listed in australia as a possible or a potential I cannot find anything on it being actually grown here.

floot

[ho-hum]

There ya go... $4.50 on ebay!!

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/10-Beetberry-...QQcmdZViewItem

This plant seems to have an identity crisis with its latin appendages which is not that uncommon.


floot

[mad rabbit woman]

Thanks for the replies folks.
I managed to get some seeds off ebay (after about four attempts) - worked out to about $1.20 per seed though :shock:
Those suckers had better grow.

I'm going to try and get some more seeds - if I'm successful I might be willing to do some swaps if someone out there would like to have a go at growing them too.

Cheers
madrabbitwoman

[Richard on Maui]

We tried them in Huelo Maui. Got some seedlings to come up, but none of them survived to maturity. I think they were lost to slugs, but don't really remember.
Then the other day, a friend who is going to America for a few months came by with a potted plant that he called "Kampachu", his spelling of an Incan name (he said that the language sounds really guttural so his version is very anglicised or whatever) - he wanted us to adopt his plant as he knew it wouldn't survive on its own while he was away. He had collected the seed in Peru from some native farmers there. He described it as growing to about a metre tall and having little jelly bean sized and shaped berries all over it, delicious.
I was wondering if this wasn't the beet berry we had tried to grow. The Kampatchu has similar stems and leaves to the more familiar chenopods. Anyone know?

[mad rabbit woman]

Don't know about the "kampachu". The strawberry spinach is from Germany as far as I know. Maybe it could be Chenopodium berlandieri - I think it is from the right area. Don't know much about it though.

On a very happy note - I have managed to find some seeds in the phoenix seeds catalogue ($2.50 for a packet - can't believe I paid $1.20 per seed on ebay )

I have put in an order so hopefully I will soon be flush with beetberry/strawberry spinach seeds.

Anyone want to try growing some too?

[sancha]

I got my seeds last season from Phoenix. I was taken in by the supposedly "delightfully nutty flavour of the leaves and the sweet tasty strawberry-like fruit". Whilst I can't comment on the fruit (frost got the plants before they had a chance to fruit) I reckon the leaves are like most other chenopodium species - tough, chewy and slightly bitter. But don't let me dissuade you....

[shawnmbaker]

http://www.seedsavers.org/ is a gift from heaven that has lots of wonderful plants

[Cheese]

Anyone want to try growing some too?

Hi Madrabbitwoman,
How did it grow? Did you manage to get the plant growing?

I'd love to try growing some too. Is there anywhere locally I can get some or do you have an off-cut I could try growing? =) I tried ordering some from NZ but they wouldn't post it to Australia.