Atriplex hortensis
Origin: Colorado
Improvement status: Cultivated material
Seeds per packet: ~150
Germination tested 12/2022: 77%
Life cycle: Annual
Orach is a salad green related to Lamb's Quarters, from the Amaranthaceae family and Chenopodioideae subfamily. It can be used as a spinach or sorrel substitute, and is great in salads or cooked.
Orach is a freely self-seeding annual. This red-leafed variety comes from EFN collaborator Andy Hahn in Colorado. It provides a striking visage in any garden, and is therefore valuable as both an ornamental and a food crop.
GROWING TIPS: Direct seed after danger of last frost. Plants grow upright, they can get 4 feet tall or more, and they can be grown relatively close to each other (3-6 inches between plants is good). If all goes well they may need just one weeding or maybe none at all, as they can pop out of the soil, out compete weeds, create a canopy, and dominate an area.
