Growing poppies for seeds

Soubrette

My husband bless him, loves the showy flowers but does nothing in our very small garden except mow the grass and offer advice. I've been trying to grow pot veg with the future addition of fruit bushes. Ideally I want everything in our garden to be earning its keep.

However I thought we could grow poppies as I make my own bread and being a veggie am always looking to increase my nuts and seeds intake (pathetically low). OH also likes poppy seed bread so I thought we could combine his love of flowers with my practicality.

I have investigated on the internet and unfortunately the opium poppy or Papaver somniflorum is the one with edible seeds. It is not illegal to grow this flower in the UK (but obviously you are not allowed to process it in any way). However here my investigations grind to a halt

I've looked on ebay and there seems to be a few varieties of somniflorum but on the rare occasion the edibility of the seeds are mentioned, it says that the raw seeds may give mild tummy problems. I looked on T&M but can't find any somniflorum at all.

Any idea where I could buy the seeds? Ideally I would like to grow the poppies for both white and black seeds.

Sou

bertiebots

http://www.sarahraven.com/learn/articles/edible-flowers-and-seeds

This has some info on poppy seeds, as well as edible flowers . Tells you what to do with them etc:D

Soubrette

bertiebots wrote: »

http://www.sarahraven.com/learn/articles/edible-flowers-and-seeds

This has some info on poppy seeds, as well as edible flowers . Tells you what to do with them etc:D

Thanks bertie - that link gave me some clues which send to me to a seed seller

I've now bought some lovely white seeded and black seeded poppies - hopefully I'll get them soon and get them started (a wee bit late for this year but we might as well try )

Sou

serena

It's Papaver somniferum you need - and they are stocked by most seedsmen, but they just don't call them either by their Latin name or opium poppy!

Thompson and Morgan have a large selection, and if you click on the name of the poppy, the information about edible seeds appears like here. Paeony flowered seems to be a common description. They are the ones with the glaucous foliage, absolutely beautiful.

I buy quite a lot of seeds from Chiltern Seeds. No pictures, but the best selection you'll find I think.