In article ,
(fudge) wrote:

Got some fresh green Papavar giganteum pods with stalk, would it be
possible to keep them alive in a jug of water for them to carry out
their natural Opium forming routine or will they die a death on me.
Thanks
Fudge

Papaver somniferum is your opium poppy...
I doubt that you will get what you want from the pods that you have.
Wrong species. ;-)

Question: Isn't it illegal to cultivate P. somniferum anywhere in the
United States? So why do they sell the seeds at the seed stores?? :-o

K.

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Mmmmm! No there was no recipe. I think I'll grow some and see how they turn out.

From: (fudge)
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.gardens.edible
Date: 19 Jul 2004 14:39:40 -0700
Subject: Papavar giganteum

Thanks for the replies, I#m no nearer but, grocery store Poppy seeds
will not germinate, they are dried to death, and are sterile,
otherwise, if the sat on the shelf for too long and got damp they
would begin to germinate, Papavar Giganteum, and Sominferum both have
high yealds of Opium, which is the stuff Iam after, and as far as I'm
aware although they say on the seed packet all parts are poisenes, all
parts of the Opium Poppy are quite edible, althogh not tried grinding
up the Pod and Stalk to make Poppy tea, as as I've heard they will
give you a Jip stomack.
Cheers
Fudge

i totally disagree!!! not only with grocery store poppy seeds
germinate...they will germinate even after TWENTY YEARS!!!!!! i've tried it
and not just once. the first time was simply by mistake...i had about 10
lbs. of poppy seeds which i thought were too old to use in cooking(at that
point, they were about 15 yrs. old), so i threw about 5 lbs. of them out the
back door. 3 weeks later, every single one of them must have germinated cuz
i had hills and hills (i lived on a hill with a terraced garden) of white
poppies!! when i moved, the seeds came along with me with the rest of my
gardening paraphernalia. then i did it again this past spring, except this
time, all the poppies were a magenta-pink. and then it struck me!! EUREKA!
when i lived on a hill in sl,ut, the soil was very alkaline, and here, it is
VERY VERY acidic...white for alkali and pink for acid? who knows if that's
right or wrong (except mebbe a botanist).

i believe the reason it's ok to grow Papaver somniferum in the everyday
garden is cuz it takes about 2 acres of poppies to produce ONE TEASPOON of
opium!! because, like maple sap, it must be boiled and boiled and boiled
yet again, until it becomes a sticky, black gum-like substance.

that's my 2¢