Sunday 22 December 2013

POPPY PHOTOGRAPH USED FOR BOOK COVER

This was the first time one my images was used on a front cover of a book, and it shares it with the names of  some giants of the ethnobotanical world.




Monday 15 July 2013

INTRODUCTION

                               KYKEON PLANTS

Hello folks my name is Farmer Dodds, I grow rare and interesting herbs and ethnobotanicals as a hobby, and over time I have started to amass an interesting collection of stuff, manly Papaver somniferum and cold hardy members of the Solanaceae family, along with other rare hardy ethnobotanicals, my stock has grown large enough over the years to allow me to share some with you.

Papaver somniferum [Opium poppy] (ex. Arghandab Valley north of Kandahar)


I am always on the lookout for something new and exciting, and if interested enough, I would be happy to do a trade.

Please feel free to Google my name, as I have photographs and blogs all over the place.

Love

  Farmer  


     
 'Photograph of me at Glastonbury a few years ago'


Here is the Definition of the word Kykeon if anyone is interested:

Kykeon

Claviceps purpurea 'Ergot' growing on cultivated Hordeum vulgare ‘Barley’

Definition
                by Joshua J. Mark

Kykeon (from the Greek “to mix, stir”) was a beverage of water and barley (sometimes flavored with mint or thyme) popular among the working, 'lower’ class of ancient Greece. In Homer’s Illiad it is described as a mixture of water, barley, herbs and ground goat cheese (Book XI) and the drink is also mentioned in the Odyssey Book X when the sorceress Circe uses it, mixed with honey, to make her potion. Kykeon is most famous for its use in the Rites of Demeter at the city of Eleusis where it was used by initiates to experience the mystery of death and rebirth in the ritual which has come to be known as The Eleusinian Mysteries. This mixture, however, differed significantly from the common drink in that it had psychoactive properties, most likely caused by the fungus Ergot on the barley gathered around Eleusis, which allowed participants in the Mysteries to reach a fuller understanding of their purpose in life and to shed their fear of death(as testimonials from ancient writers who participated in the Mysteries attest). In the time of the Roman Empire Kykeon was still a popular drink made from water, wine, honey and barley with various herbs added to individual taste.

Mentha aquatica 'Water Mint'

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE COPYRIGHTED TO ME FARMER DODDS, PLEASE ASK FOR PERMISSION BEFORE USING THEM, I HAVE AN EVER GROWING PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE, SO IF YOU NEED A IMAGE RELATED TO THIS SUBJECT, JUST ASK I MAY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU OUT.

I HAVE ANOTHER BLOG THAT IS DEDICATED TO BLOTTER ART, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CHECK IN OUT:

http://vintage-blotter-acid.blogspot.co.uk/ 


Jerry Garcia Art LSD blotter [1998]

MY FLICKER PAGE: