Huauzontle

About Huauzontle

Huauzontle is a tall Mexican goosefoot, a cultivated relative of the weed lambsquarters, grown for its tender green flower clusters, which are cooked like broccoli. The leaves are eaten as greens and the seeds can be ground into a quinoa-like flour. In Mexico it is a traditional Holy Week (Lent) food, and the River Pima of Arizona grew it into the late 1800s.

Grown as a summer annual in every zone. USDA trials in Ames, Iowa grew healthy plants, but they did not ripen seed before fall frost; the flower clusters are picked green, well before seed ripens.

When to plant

Timing is counted from your average last spring frost (and first fall frost). Sow & Tell works out the actual dates for your ZIP code.

Sow seed 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep in rows 8-14 inches apart in slightly moist soil and firm it in (SIAP). No source gives a frost rating or U.S. sowing date, so sow after your last frost to be safe.

Soil

Deep, fertile, well-drained soil rich in organic matter and nitrogen; soil below pH 6.5 holds it back, and very alkaline soil can cause yellowing (SIAP, Mexico).

Work in plenty of compost for deep, fertile, well-drained soil rich in organic matter and nitrogen; aim for pH 6.5 or a bit higher, and follow a soil test.

Feeding

Avoid acid soil below pH 6.5, which holds it back, and very alkaline soil, which can turn it yellow.

Harvest

Cut the tender green flower clusters while they are still soft, picking the most developed ones over several passes, or cut the whole plant about 4 inches above the soil just below the clusters (SIAP; USDA GRIN).

Pick the most developed flower clusters over 5 or 6 passes, or cut the whole plant once about 4 inches above the soil.

Diseases and problems

Iron chlorosis (yellowing) in very alkaline soil

In the kitchen

Cook the green flower clusters like broccoli and the leaves like spinach; everything but the tough main stem is eaten, and the seeds can be ground into flour (USDA GRIN; SIAP; University of Arizona).

Keeping it: Cook the flower clusters soon after cutting, as you would broccoli.

Safety: It contains saponins that give a slightly bitter taste (SIAP). We found no NIH or MSKCC review of huauzontle.

Pets: Not listed by the ASPCA. The ASPCA does list a different plant, epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides), as toxic to dogs and cats; don't confuse the two.