The do tend to stand out this time of year. The purple, pink, white and whatever other colours you see of lupin. They tend top appear pretty much anywhere and everywhere. In patches both large and small.
The do add a nice pop of colour to the side of most of our roads in the province. But where did they come from?
They short answer, they were here. Lupins grow pretty much everywhere in some form or another. They are a member of the legume family, so are from the same family as beans and peas. There are about two hundred different species of lupins. Some of the original varieties from around this area are mostly blue, but we have certainly added many other colours to the mix. In fact, many of them were known as bluebonnets. Yes, the famous bluebonnets of Texas are a type of lupin.
There were a number of different colours I noticed just on my way in this morning. There was purple, pink and a few white. But few were actually blue. Which does make me wonder how much our ditch flowers have been crossed with cultivated varieties.
I’ve always head they were toxic, so I’ve never tried eating the things, but apparently it can be done. Although first you have to soak the toxin out of them. In parts of Europe, they are eaten pickled or even turned into a type of hummus. So you don’t eat them fresh. You eat the dry seeds. But first you have to soak the bad stuff out of them.
While they may be edible, with some work, I don’t think I’m about to start adding them to my menu. Although in some ways it can depend on what type you’re trying to eat. There are European varieties that have had the toxins bred out of them that can be eaten more readily. I even noticed one article that indicated maybe using them for fish food for aquaculture.
There was even an article from a few years back that seemed to be calling them a new superfood. Like quinoa or kale. But I don’t think that really caught on.
So there’s a lot more to them than just a few bright spots in the ditches as we drive along the highway.
But that’s what they seem to be best at. They’ve been popping up in various places along our highways for years. I’m happy just to admire them from a distance.
