Here is the photo of some of my lupine that look very similar.
thank you amphlo for the picture; they look indeed similar. Are these edible ? do you have any recommendations for growing them ? I am conscious this thread is on wild pea of umbria, which I hoped my seeds were…
They’re great! I love them! They’re a superfood actually. I use them as a protein alternative to meat making « burger » and « tofu » « tempeh » with them. Use them in soup, as a side dish, to make hummus. Super versatile and delicious. Same as soy basically but better! Here zone 5b/6a I plant them directly in place in May. They make beautiful flowers too!
They’re really pretty and I wasn’t aware they were edible to humans. How did you start growing them?
They are many different varieties and some contains high levels of alkaloids that needs to be leeched before consumption. That’s easy enough though (I just soak them for a few days). This crop is popular in Europe and that’s how I knew about it (I’m French). I got into growing them because I was looking to both find crops that would be staples, grow on my specific land (I’m in a wetland so many things don’t grow) and would be growing without any input and outside of my cultivated area. I really enjoy them and they had beauty to the landscape which I consider a super bonus!
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I heard a number were edible but am very happy to get this nudge - - I saw a sweet lupine for sale on uprising a while back. I’d like to find a native one that’s already safe to eat without any special processing or breeding work. I usually do this kind of search by looking at first nations usage, but so far I’m talking to the internet rather than first nations elders or ethnobotanists. Hoping to change this at some point!
thank you Amplho to open this new topic, so that we don’t invade the other. I will post the results of my culture here, and this is the picture of my seeds that are probably lupine .
in what soil did you grow them in france ? I am in britanny (acidish soil) . Do you know about their need for a specific bacterai or fungus in the soil to get them to germinate?
Here’s a trial done on growing commercially available sweet lupins in the UK : Garden Organic | Growing edible lupins
The results weren’t super encouraging, but lupins could be an excellent landracing project.
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thank you Jane, interesting report. Gives me hope that I will get something. I have only two varieties for the moment, (the speckled one and a usual big white seed) so this is too short to call that a landrace but I will get to know the plant this year and if OK, I will start a landrance next year.
with this report I discovered that the bacteria (rhizobium bacteria) is necessary not for germination but for the formation of nitrogen-fixin nodules.
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quick update on my lupine seeds. They turn out to be lupine indeed (picture) . First I direct saw them and they sprouted just fine, but then were devastated (slugs, most probabely) . This is the second trial, in the greenhouse until they are big enough to resits attacks.
We also tried to eat some of it, and apart from a rather long preparation process, they taste very good. So the community agrees that I try to cultivate them for food and beauty.
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I know this is unrelated to the seeds, but we just came back from a trip to Maine and I just love the wild blue purple lupins that are growing in stands along the highways and edges of woods. Is that the same plants you are growing?
I have been trying to get seeds of those wild ones for a few years now, iwant them for my flower bed so bad, but June (when we make it up to Maine) seems to be just too early for finding ripe seeds.
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This year I thought I would try some Dieta sweet lupine. I had heard reports that it wasn’t very freeze-tolerant and was afraid it would die out but it is actually very tolerant of cold and surprisingly hardy. I hope it will grow large enough and mature quickly enough before the heat comes on strong. Here is a photo of the plant now. It’s about 4-5 in. tall and was planted in mid-November. After our hard freezes a week or two ago, the plants lost some green and became slightly yellow. I think they’ll be ok though.
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