Buy dried flowers, dried poppies & poppy seeds.

opium poppy seed

Winnowing the Poppy Seed

By The Texas Czech Storyteller (slightly modified)

These are the written remembrances of two of my sisters of the poppies and opium poppy seed grown by their grandfather:

Patricia Rektorik Sprinkle:

Every year my Grandpa, Louis (Alois) Rektorik, would plant several rows of opium poppy seed in the field by the road between our house and his. These bloomed beautiful waxy, dark-red colors, then formed seed pods about the size of walnuts. At first these were green, with the texture much like English pea pods, but thicker, and then they would dry out. Grandpa would pick them, gathering the heads into a big, long cotton picking sack. We would get to jump on the sack to break up the dried seed pods. Then, on a day when the wind was considered just right, the sack was emptied onto sheets spread on the lawn to be winnowed: First, the big pieces of stalks and pods were removed, then the corners of the sheet were gently lifted and the sheet flapped slightly, over and over again, until the wind blew all the chaff away and only the opium poppy seed was left. The opium poppy seed was then poured into glass jars to be stored away.

Grandpa saved the opium poppy seed for the next year's planting, I think. During the 1970's when the hippie culture made drug production a home-gardening activity, it was almost impossible to buy opium poppy seed for planting.. The green seed pods of the opium poppy is harvested and processed for the milky juice in them, which is then processed into the narcotic opium.

Elizabeth Rektorik Seibert:

My Grandfather, Louis (Alois) Rektorik, grew poppies for the opium poppy seed. In the springtime, they would bloom in purples and whites--tall, slender plants in the garden with his vegetables. As the season progressed, the blooms would fade and fall off leaving a opium poppy seed head which was about the size of a walnut. When the stalks were dry and brittle, the opium poppy seed was ready to pick. My sisters and I sometimes helped Grandpa snap off the heads and put them in a long cotton sack. We would break off the long stems and leave the heads on--the opium poppy seed was loose inside and made a wonderful rattling sound! Grandpa would shake the seeds out, discard the stems and empty heads, and store the opium poppy seed in glass jars.

Grandma, Jennie (Johanna) Mrazek Rektorik, would then grind the opium poppy seed with a very small grinder, smaller than a meat grinder. She would also add sugar and other spices. Oh, it smelled so good and we would get to clean out the bowl. Sometimes we would have opium poppy seed stuck between our teeth and we would make faces at each other showing our teeth!

"kdo chce s vlky býti, musí s vlkz výti!"

"If you run with the wolves, then you must howl with the wolves!"

Remember who your people are. Keep and tell their stories. Keep the fires of the culture alive!

Susan Rektorik Henley