My best guess is that it is completely misunderstood as to it's use.
Most people consider it a grain, and therefore want to try to grind it up into flour for making bread.
Given that this is a gluten free produce, not very easy to do.
The better uses of Quinoa would be more like a rice product...cooked in 3 parts water to 1 part quinoa, much the same way rice is.
You have some great points when it comes to nutrition.
Also, quinoa is coated in saponin, which is very bitter and helps protect it from birds.
As for growing, from what I understand, if you can grow amaranth, you can grow quinoa.
This seed really does deserve more attention than it gets, especially from preppers.

I grew it two times, first time the birds got it and it was gone (I grew in small amounts) second time, I got a so-so harvest, nothing great for the amount of time involved, and I had trouble using it..

If someone on the board has grown it successfully, with good results on amount back, not lost it to nature and can tell me how to harvest it in a way that it can be used successfully, I am all ears, till then, I have so many things I can grow that yield more, are tougher plants, and who's harvest, I can use successfully.

Harvesting quinoa is labour intensive. Once some thought,time and money have been put into developing better mechanical methods of harvesting it, you will see it take off in North America. I do work for a company that carries Fair Trade quinoa. Breakfast cereal, pastas, soup mix and regular white. Tasty stuff!

Harvesting quinoa is labour intensive. Once some thought,time and money have been put into developing better mechanical methods of harvesting it, you will see it take off in North America. I do work for a company that carries Fair Trade quinoa. Breakfast cereal, pastas, soup mix and regular white. Tasty stuff!

I think I've eaten your Quinoa breakfast cereal. (how many can be out there) I love it. Mixes good with Vector for added nutrition.

Read what farmgal had to say about growing it....I see why it hasn't taken off yet. hoping technology catches up and this becomes more viable..sounds like it isn't garden friendly though...so perhaps moot for prepping. after shtf...

Its worth noting that I did nothing to prevent cross breeding of these with a lot of pigweed in the gardens, as I like and know that crop, but I was not willing to cage it to prevent the crossbreeding on the seeds.

I'd like to second the motion regarding being disappointed that quinoa hasn't taken off. I've been hearing that a lot of rice is contaminated with arsenic, so I like it as a rice substitute. How about amaranth, is it as hard to grow and fussy to harvest?

My best guess is that it is completely misunderstood as to it's use.
Most people consider it a grain, and therefore want to try to grind it up into flour for making bread.
Given that this is a gluten free produce, not very easy to do.
The better uses of Quinoa would be more like a rice product...cooked in 3 parts water to 1 part quinoa, much the same way rice is.
You have some great points when it comes to nutrition.
Also, quinoa is coated in saponin, which is very bitter and helps protect it from birds.
As for growing, from what I understand, if you can grow amaranth, you can grow quinoa.
This seed really does deserve more attention than it gets, especially from preppers.

Has anyone tried making a risotto dish out of quinoa? I'm not sure, but it might dissolve and dilute the bitter flavour if you use a nice broth.

I ccok a lot of Quinoa, and I always tend to rinse it well before using. Never experienced a bitter flavour from it.

Ya I rinse mine too and have never experienced a bitter flavor.

My uncle grows it here in Alberta. He has never gotten a huge crop off it. He is still trying to work out the kinks with it.

it looks a lot like, and is closely related to, a plant called pigsweed/lamb's Quarters that grows prolifically here. So unless caged you will probably have cross pollination. ( though in my opinion Lamb's Quarters doesn't taste so bad either.)

I think Quinoa is still a good item to stock up on for medium term storage , up to 8 years
but keeping up with the rotation of this item better than some longer term storage items. I cook mine with enough water
and often put freeze dried bananas in when cooking ( and now that I have a dehydrator, dehydrated bananas )
or I add vegies to the pot. You could add any leftover bits of meat, onions or anything and make a nice
one pot meal in a pot.

Along with keeping longer term storage of rice and oats , quinoa is on my shelf.

If we look at a possible 7 year volcanic ash fallout, quinoa would be a good item to have stored.

I push amaranth and quinoa as "ornamental" statement plants in clusters of 5-10 for people who want to start food production and maintain viable seed stock but have to contend with HOAs and nosy neighbors.

There are downsides. They're both slow to start and take a long time, and they're large plants. Plus, the seeds mature at different times on each branch of the flower heads for a lot of small-scale varieties available, so you have to be really johnny on the spot as soon as birds show up, go shake heads over a bucket, and then go back every 3-5 days from then on and repeat the shaking for increased yields per plant. Because the flower heads are so large, it's harder to net them and potato bags don't work because the seeds are so small and high winds after dampness can turn fine mesh into a sail that rips the heads off.

There has been some success with mechanized harvest in Colorado, where some local source quinoa is grown, and some of their trial-and-error experience and cultivar preferences were available with much internet digging a couple years ago. I haven't researched it deeply since and no longer have the links.

The best bird deterrent is a small owl and a small eagle that hunt over the field, and a cat. Short of that, BB guns, those whirly pinwheels from the dollar store or made out of canning jar lids, and lines of tin cans suspended from lines over rows.

I twice tried to establish big yields of amaranth in dove country. Best dove seasons of my life. Phenomenal quail season the second year. As for harvest ... not so much, about 15 pounds from a consistent 20" grid quarter acre. But that was part of the period where I caught or grew most of my food and all of my meats, so it wasn't a big deal to me.

I actually saw better yields with 12plants in a box shape at 18" spread, six feet, 5 plants, six feet, 12 plants, six, on and on pattern of mounds lining a 120' ditch (and housing the world's largest black racer, my hand to God, almost as big around as a tennis ball and possibly responsible for 1/4 my gray hair and probably the lesser bird loss) with microclover holding the soil around it and mulch applied to the mounds and holes poked specifically for seeds.

Both yield best when planted for maturity dates that will coincide with first frosts. One of the big killers to yield, beside birds, is weed competition. Neither amaranth nor quinoa can stand much competition and that extends to even companions in some cases, or ground covers. Especially early on, they really need a chance to sprout and grow without fighting for nutrients. Both are also drought tolerant, but only once established. For the taller 5-7' varieties, that's a full 12" if not 18", not the 3-6" that counts for some plants.

Although they come from thin, poor soils on rain-slucied mountainsides, they really yield best with rich, loose, balanced soils, similar to the needs of sorghum, barley and wheat. It likes nitrogen, but doesn't care as much about phosphorous as other plants.

Amaranth tends to be better in temperate and warm, arid conditions, while historically quinoa does better in cooler climates. As interest in the two grains grow, additional breeding is taking place for height, color, and climate preferences.

Quinoa can be repeatedly rinsed to get rid of the saponins. For acorn and quinoa home growers, consider that the water entering the TANK of the toilet is the same stuff coming out of the shower. If it's been hit with some dish soap and scrubbing, then "rinsed" for a month or two, it makes a nice no-thought, no-waste water source for small amounts at a time.
Amaranth doesn't need the rinsing process and I like amaranth leaves better as a spinach alternative. That said, darker amaranth flowers make for a grittier seed than the yellow and coral heads.

I have no idea why amaranth isn't more available in stores than quinoa.

I do know that because most quinoa in the U.S. is hand-harvested in South America, it's a whole lot more expensive than rice and wheat. On the other hand, quinoa already has all the essential amino acids that normally you have to combine foods to get, and as noted elsewhere, it makes an awesome barley or rice alternative as a porridge (I really like it mixed 1 part to 2 parts oats and 2 parts buckwheat), side dish, or in soups, so maybe cost levels out. I also use it boiled as an add-in to granola-type bars and multigrain breads, similar to the way buckwheat would be used in conjunction with a gluten product.

For some interesting and mildly related reading, research the impact to Andes cultures and economics of foods now that so much of one of their staples is being exported because they can make more money for it overseas than in traditional local markets.
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I think I'll be buying my Quinoa , and stocking up

I've grown quinoa with great success in the UK (south of England). Plants were huge (over 6'), grew vigorously and produced thousands of seeds. Quinoa is quality protein and relatively easy to grow. It is an ideal preppers plant. There are seeds bred for homegrowing from the following supplier. They also supply info on saving your own seed.
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/grains.html