Alternitive enterprise, growing Poppies
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C
Cork
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My brain is only waking up this morning. Tell us more G?
I thought Afghanistan had the poppy trade all tied up!
gone
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It's illegal to grow opium poppies 
.
But the common red poppy is popular in wild flower mixes and in wild meadow mixes, so someone has to grow the seed.
Last year the pigeons and pheasants grazed out a 5 acre field of WOSR beside the school and poppies took over I decided to leave them for the tidy towns.
A man bought the poppies off me to harvest them and paid me good money for them.
Kerry bought out his total stock of poppy seed, so he wants me to grow them again, I'm ploughing back up the weed seed bank and letting nature take it's course.
.But the common red poppy is popular in wild flower mixes and in wild meadow mixes, so someone has to grow the seed.
Last year the pigeons and pheasants grazed out a 5 acre field of WOSR beside the school and poppies took over I decided to leave them for the tidy towns.
A man bought the poppies off me to harvest them and paid me good money for them.
Kerry bought out his total stock of poppy seed, so he wants me to grow them again, I'm ploughing back up the weed seed bank and letting nature take it's course.
C
Cork
Guest
It's illegal to grow opium poppies
But the common red poppy is popular in wild flower mixes and in wild meadow mixes, so someone has to grow the seed.
Last year the pigeons and pheasants grazed out a 5 acre field of WOSR beside the school and poppies took over I decided to leave them for the tidy towns.
A man bought the poppies off me to harvest them and paid me good money for them.
Kerry bought out his total stock of poppy seed, so he wants me to grow them again, I'm ploughing back up the weed seed bank and letting nature take it's course.
Happy days!!! Nice diversification!
gone
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Yes that's the field John.
I own 2 "Focking" ploughs
, but that one in the picture is on long term hire to a neighbour, he ploughs 200 acres a year with it and is usually finished with it by the 1st of October.The Karat is impressive, but like anything has it's faults, it's the first think I have used in the very very heavy and hard to manage Kilkenny soil that does a good job. It's faults, it very long and cumbersome and the lights are very vulnerable and it's on shite Alliance tyres which are making it a bit unsteady on the road.
Good points are the mixing, levelling and packing jobs it is doing and the weight transfer system is great.
Very little between it and the Horch, it has a better packer and the weight transfer and the horch is tidier shorter and might be easier to pull (not sure about the last but it should be in theory) but I could not get a proper demo of the Horch.
bruceythom
Well-Known Member
No, he ploughed that on Sunday afternoon with myself and [MENTION=3098]laoisfarmer[/MENTION] watching him with blood shod eyes!!
gone
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Damn, get away with nothing
, I started it Sunday afternoon but it opened the heavens and had to stop with only 1/2 an acre done. Finished last night.Was that you that was looking at the old weighing scales?
Ye should have dropped in and said hello.
bruceythom
Well-Known Member
No, we were just passing and spotted ya. We were a bit hungover to be making acquaintances, plus we were (most likely) in the middle of an argument with our driver. Nice tractor there lad!
gone
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If I'm very lucky it might pay for her next service ;)
But less cashflow issues and less grain to sell, has to be all good.
Plough, level, spray volunteer cereals and maybe a broad weed spray if I can find 1 that doesn't kill poppies.
gone
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I doubt I would be able to get that, but it is the same active as is in Lingo, along with Linuron, so I think that maybe the way to go.
thefarminglad
Well-Known Member
I doubt I would be able to get that, but it is the same active as is in Lingo, along with Linuron, so I think that maybe the way to go.
Was this part of label that got my attention
POPPIES – Commodore is compatible with asulam, Pelican® and Frontier Optima*.
Commodore is not compatible with ethofumesate and efficacy can be reduced in tank mixes using fluroxypyr.
Other herbicide combinations should be used with caution and in accordance to advice from contracting Company’s
If you are after some of the real poppies, there is one place in Ireland that they grow wild in county Wexford. A guy from the drug squad told me years ago while playing a game of poker.
bruceythom
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Is that the field beside Zerafas petrol station? I must say, it looks fierce well!
gone
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bruceythom
Well-Known Member
.....and a 99 to go with it!
Arthur
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Used be a field on the outskirts of Clonmel that always pushed up poppies, was zoned for development and now contains a shopping complex and a hotel, it's still known as the poppyfield.
massey 6480
Well-Known Member
That was on the left hand side when you went over the bridge going into clonmel from the cahir side . [MENTION=1843]gone[/MENTION] what's the poppies going to be used for or what will harvest them .
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisnalty-Holsteins/812804415461880
gone
Well-Known Member
I grow them for this company
http://www.wildflowers.ie/
They use them in their flower mixes, the last batch they got off me mostly ended up in front of Kerry's new R&D plant in Naas to provide colour for the official opening.
They harvest with a 4ft combine, I will try and get pics, I'm not sure if I put up pics last time?
Went to look, but archive doesn't go back that far and I've changed phones since.
thefarminglad
Well-Known Member
what time of the year are they harvested?
gone
Well-Known Member
I've a head like a sieve, from memory it was mid August. But when I'm not involved I don't bother taking any notice