Amaranth is pretty easy to grow. It is a domesticated version of pig weed so it will grow anywhere pigweed will grow. You are looking at grain amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus), but bear in mind there is also a vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor ).

https://www.uky.edu/Ag/CCD/introsheets/amaranth.pdf https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/V1-127.html http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scenea6a1.html

AS to whether the commercial vendors render the seed not viable I do not know. Those who vend dried beans and seeds send viable seeds. Just throw a few into a pot or a tiny plot and see what happens.

I think the OP is asking about sprouting rather than sowing. There's a simple way to find out if the seed is viable for that purpose. I just Googled 'sprouting Amaranth seeds'.

If a non-gardening vendor gives viable seeds one year, it doesn't mean they'll give them the next. My milk thistle seeds from nuts.com were viable for the first bag I got (but others must have been baked or something). Those from the first bag made good sprouts, but they were fibrous. Grown as plants, they were awesome, and tasted like lettuce (but I didn't keep growing them: the plants attracted weevils when they were older; I still have plenty of the seeds, though).

So Shule what are you going to do with the rest of the seeds?

Those ama.r seeds sprouted and the plants are crowded into a 24" by 12" area....surrounded by 2 by 2,s and hdwe, cloth covered....

I grew them for my " girls" but they range a big area

so they look like they werent even messed with. I had also put some black oil sunflower seeds there too. but some blankety blank good for nuttin bugs were on them. RAH... I prob used too strong of a a mixture of Organix I had in a sprayer trying to kill the insects.... too tiny to pick off..

But what is a funny is that I took one of the many "weeds" to county extention here.

Agent lady said it was PIGWEED... told me over the phone.....

funny cause I read that its a type of Amaranthus....so can we eat it? can my "Girls" eat it.... heck they might do so unbeknown to me. since they have 1/2 acre plus to roam... LOl going to let them out and run the rest of the place in a few minutes..

thanks all

The live milk thistle seeds? I'll probably eat them over a period of years, and I might grow some indoors for leaves (or outdoors, and remove the plants before the flowers come out and attract weevils). The seeds are supposed to be good for liver and bile flow. It's a really good laxative, in my experience. The live ones seem better than the non-live ones. I used to use milk thistle seeds a lot, but I like white mulberries better for laxative purposes (and other purposes that milk thistle doesn't meet).