GlacierHi
Can anyone tell me why a farmer would be growing a field of white poppies?
It was a lovely sight but what would the harvest be?
Annie


--
Ann Heanes
Finance Office
University of Reading
(0118 3787161)
*))) (((*

Ann Heanes wrote:
GlacierHi
Can anyone tell me why a farmer would be growing a field of white
poppies? It was a lovely sight but what would the harvest be?
Annie

Well, at Reading U you're in the best possible place in the country
to get the answer! It sounds like an opium poppy: I doubt if it's
grown for pharmaceuticals in this country, so my guess is that it's
being grown for the seed, for food, oil, or the garden trade.
Poppy-seed oil is used in painting and cosmetics. The actual seed of
British-grown poppies doesn't, I understand, contain much morphine:
that needs a warmer climate.

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
Ann Heanes wrote:

GlacierHi
Can anyone tell me why a farmer would be growing a field of white
poppies? It was a lovely sight but what would the harvest be?
Annie


Well, at Reading U you're in the best possible place in the country
to get the answer! It sounds like an opium poppy: I doubt if it's
grown for pharmaceuticals in this country, so my guess is that it's
being grown for the seed, for food, oil, or the garden trade.
Poppy-seed oil is used in painting and cosmetics. The actual seed of
British-grown poppies doesn't, I understand, contain much morphine:
that needs a warmer climate.

I saw a news story last year where an English couple who'd retired to
Spain innocently grew a nice display of their favourite opium poppies in
their garden. Presumably the climate there *is* suitable for morphine
production because they got into some serious bother with the local
police - I dunno whether they were prosecuted in the end.

Glen Able wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:
[...]
Poppy-seed oil is used in painting and cosmetics. The actual seed
of
British-grown poppies doesn't, I understand, contain much
morphine:
that needs a warmer climate.

I saw a news story last year where an English couple who'd retired
to
Spain innocently grew a nice display of their favourite opium
poppies
in their garden. Presumably the climate there *is* suitable for
morphine production because they got into some serious bother with
the local police - I dunno whether they were prosecuted in the end.

Yes, Spain is warm enough: I find there are cases referred to on the
Web. The seeds aren't the regular source of opium and its
derivatives, of course: I think the rule here is, as somebody's
mentioned already, that you're only in trouble if they find you've
scratched the immature seed-pods. I once knew somebody who said he'd
tried it in Britain, and that he had experienced a drug effect. Not a
good idea, though at that crude level maybe no worse than booze.

--
Mike.

The message
from Glen Able contains these words:

Mike Lyle wrote:
Ann Heanes wrote:

GlacierHi
Can anyone tell me why a farmer would be growing a field of white
poppies? It was a lovely sight but what would the harvest be?
Annie


Well, at Reading U you're in the best possible place in the country
to get the answer! It sounds like an opium poppy:

Aren't the flowers of opium poppy a dirty-pink colour? Or am I dazed
and confused ? :~}

Janet

Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from Glen Able contains these words:

Mike Lyle wrote:
Ann Heanes wrote:

GlacierHi
Can anyone tell me why a farmer would be growing a field of
white
poppies? It was a lovely sight but what would the harvest be?
Annie


Well, at Reading U you're in the best possible place in the
country
to get the answer! It sounds like an opium poppy:

Aren't the flowers of opium poppy a dirty-pink colour? Or am I
dazed and confused ? :~}

That's strong stuff you've got, Janet! Replying on nothing but beer,
I'll say opium poppy flowers vary a lot, even in the species: you do
get white ones. The uniform colour of those the OP saw is what
suggested a cultivar to me.

--
Mike.

On 24/6/05 21:04, in article , "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from Glen Able contains these words:

Mike Lyle wrote:
Ann Heanes wrote:

GlacierHi
Can anyone tell me why a farmer would be growing a field of
white
poppies? It was a lovely sight but what would the harvest be?
Annie


Well, at Reading U you're in the best possible place in the
country
to get the answer! It sounds like an opium poppy:

Aren't the flowers of opium poppy a dirty-pink colour? Or am I
dazed and confused ? :~}

That's strong stuff you've got, Janet! Replying on nothing but beer,
I'll say opium poppy flowers vary a lot, even in the species: you do
get white ones. The uniform colour of those the OP saw is what
suggested a cultivar to me.

Coming back to this rather late - my step daughter drove up to Stonehenge
last night and said there was a huge field of white poppies, stretching as
far as the eye could see. None of us know why such a vast quantity of white
poppies is being grown but in that number, it must be as a crop, surely?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Sacha wrote:
On 24/6/05 21:04, in article , "Mike Lyle"
wrote:



Coming back to this rather late - my step daughter drove up to Stonehenge
last night and said there was a huge field of white poppies, stretching as
far as the eye could see. None of us know why such a vast quantity of white
poppies is being grown but in that number, it must be as a crop, surely?
--
Maybe a knackered chef has been touting the glories of poppy seed cake
and an enterprising farmer has seen a gap in the market?

--
Jo
Alicante

The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

Coming back to this rather late - my step daughter drove up to Stonehenge
last night and said there was a huge field of white poppies, stretching as
far as the eye could see. None of us know why such a vast quantity of white
poppies is being grown but in that number, it must be as a crop, surely?

Possibly for oil?

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On 12/7/05 14:37, in article ,
"Martin" wrote:

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:15:18 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

Coming back to this rather late - my step daughter drove up to Stonehenge
last night and said there was a huge field of white poppies, stretching as
far as the eye could see. None of us know why such a vast quantity of white
poppies is being grown but in that number, it must be as a crop, surely?

Possibly for oil?

for decorative purposes when dried.

But why white. White is unusual. Only seedheads are used for decoration,
so the colour is unimportant.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

On 12/7/05 14:15, in article ,
"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote:

The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

Coming back to this rather late - my step daughter drove up to Stonehenge
last night and said there was a huge field of white poppies, stretching as
far as the eye could see. None of us know why such a vast quantity of white
poppies is being grown but in that number, it must be as a crop, surely?

Possibly for oil?

And again - why white? And what is poppy oil used for?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

The message k
from Sacha contains these words:
On 12/7/05 14:15, in article ,
"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote:
The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

Coming back to this rather late - my step daughter drove up to Stonehenge
last night and said there was a huge field of white poppies,
stretching as
far as the eye could see. None of us know why such a vast quantity
of white
poppies is being grown but in that number, it must be as a crop, surely?

Possibly for oil?

And again - why white?

Pass. Lack of strong flavour, mayhap?

And what is poppy oil used for?

Cooking: but cooking what, I dunno.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article , Jaques
d'Alltrades writes
The message k
from Sacha contains these words:
On 12/7/05 14:15, in article ,
"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote:
The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

Coming back to this rather late - my step daughter drove up to Stonehenge
last night and said there was a huge field of white poppies,
stretching as
far as the eye could see. None of us know why such a vast quantity
of white
poppies is being grown but in that number, it must be as a crop, surely?

Possibly for oil?

And again - why white?

Pass. Lack of strong flavour, mayhap?

And what is poppy oil used for?

Cooking: but cooking what, I dunno.

Papaver somniferum can have flowers from white through to purple. A
google search suggests that the white flowered form is quite frequently
grown, and 'white poppy' seems to be a common name for the opium poppy.

Uses - is it still used in the manufacture of codeine?
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On 12/7/05 22:17, in article , "Kay"
wrote:

In article , Jaques
d'Alltrades writes
The message k
from Sacha contains these words:
On 12/7/05 14:15, in article ,
"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote:
The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

Coming back to this rather late - my step daughter drove up to Stonehenge
last night and said there was a huge field of white poppies,
stretching as
far as the eye could see. None of us know why such a vast quantity
of white
poppies is being grown but in that number, it must be as a crop, surely?

Possibly for oil?

And again - why white?

Pass. Lack of strong flavour, mayhap?

And what is poppy oil used for?

Cooking: but cooking what, I dunno.

Papaver somniferum can have flowers from white through to purple. A
google search suggests that the white flowered form is quite frequently
grown, and 'white poppy' seems to be a common name for the opium poppy.

Uses - is it still used in the manufacture of codeine?

Thanks Kay and Rusty for the answers.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Kay
writes
Papaver somniferum can have flowers from white through to purple. A
google search suggests that the white flowered form is quite frequently
grown, and 'white poppy' seems to be a common name for the opium poppy.

Uses - is it still used in the manufacture of codeine?

Unlikely in this country I'd have thought (both for the lack of sun and
any legal issues - I'd have thought that any legal, organised production
would have some sort of protection).

Maybe it is possible to extract the active ingredients by just
harvesting and processing - rather than slitting and bleeding sap? That
said, the picture of worthy labourers going round slitting poppy heads
and collecting opium is rather attractive. I suspect that near
Stonehenge there might be a large itinerant labour force willing to
volunteer Possibly also open up a Pick Your Own Drugs operation.

And it makes me wonder. Are such things synthesised for use in legal
opiate drugs (eg., heroin, opium tinctures, morphine and codeine) -
apart from the obvious opiate like substitutes - or do companies buy the
raw ingredients from the Afghani poppy fields?

--
regards andyw