Meet Istanbul Poppy, the star of spring harvests. Bright orange flowers emerging from little elf caps.

Ladangs Herbs Enterprise Ltd. Şti harvests Istanbul Poppy when the flowers are in full bloom. That means waiting out spring rains, then heading out in the first days of summer heat.  We start in the morning, before the temperatures climb too high.

Mack and Amanda Lee start in on a row of Istanbul Poppy.

We go row by row, picking the whole plant, roots and all. And all by hand.

Mack bends to pull out from the roots.

Gathered together, the Istanbul Poppies quickly amount to more than a handful.

Amanda Lee and Brittany team up to gather up poppies.

Once gathered, we take the Istanbul Poppy over to the barn.

Clara and Carmen give each plant a thoughtful rinse.

Rinsing is a team sport. And after countless harvests, Mark's gotten pretty good at it.