Fresh back from a break, lets continue where a line was dropped earlier (see Par I). In June the lupine of farmer André Jurrius blossomed for weeks. A beautiful view, a big field of white or pink flowers (see picture 4 in the link). An idyllic site for a picnic… But the weather turned suddenly hot and the flowers neared the end of their blossoming. Just a bit too quick for the scheduled picnic in the middle of the field organised by the Vegetarische Slager (the vegetarian butcher). Guests enjoyed several courses with products made of lupine. They ate the landscape quite literally albeit with a time lag of a year. Last year’s harvest of André is being developed into edible products.

The Vegetarische Slager, an initiative of Jaap Korteweg, develops new meat substitutes from lupine, a plant from the legume family with high amounts of protein. With even higher ratio’s of protein and oil as soja, lupine can become the alternative in our moderate climate for imported (genetically modified) soja, the expansion of which is now destroying rainforest. However, the cultivation has to be improved and developed further before it can be a serious competitor of soja according to the LEI last year. That doesn’t prevent André from growing it. He is one of the two farmers who are currently cultivating lupine organically. Dreaming about next year’s picnic or who knows a Hemmens Land event with mobile cooking unit amidst a sea of flowers……