Hempfest 2013 - Friday

Friday..
It's pretty cool that this is the first Hempfest where cannabis is legal. For everyone. I had this guy stop me who was selling a cannabis spray. He sounded like a used car salesman. I smiled, and told him I make my own. Lots of cannabis fairies in attendance. Seriously, and they're not all women. It's hilarious. Everyone is having such a good time. And it seems like there's more food vendors this year and everything smells so great! We had dinner at Anthony's and had great garlic roasted prawns. My green beans from the bean platform were better, but Anthony's were good. I'm just partial to mine. Plus they're growing up on a platform up in a tree. So there's that. (see prior blog posts for the bean tree)

Jerry (middle) meeting SubCool
and MizJill

We bought member tickets this year so we don't have to stand in line. I hate standing in line. Especially when it's hot. But then there is the requisite Ben and Jerry's booth. And yes, we were there. Very yummy. We listened to several bands and every one of them was great! Lots of reggae (I LOVE reggae) and there was a techno deal down at the end of the park which was really infectious. Everyone was really enjoying the music. Tomorrow we'll hang out at the Hemposium and listen to speakers. Jorge Cervantes will be there to participate in a growing panel discussion. Jerry met SubCool and MizJill today..I stayed with the blanket and food, but managed to take pictures anyway. We grow TGA Genetics strains and Jerry wanted to let SubCool know how much we appreciate all the research and work TGA does to help patients, me in particular. So it was a real treat for Jerry to meet them. If he gets to meet Jorge, his visit will be complete. Jorge wrote the medical grower's bible we all use and I really hope we meet him. I'll just have to be assertive. That shouldn't be a problem ;-) 

I'll post more tomorrow.. but just know, I'm feeling a little disappointed at not getting ANY Doritos from the Seattle PD ;-) 

Another State Legalizes Medicinal Cannabis

Well folks, Illinois just became the 20th state to legalize medicinal cannabis. August 11th, Sanjay Gupta will air a documentary on cannabis on CNN that he's been working on for a while now. We have an important ally. Imagine that! A brain surgeon who investigated and came to the conclusion that cannabis has such a potential for healing. And he's talking about it! To everyone! The floodgates are open and truth is spilling out everywhere. The government will not be able to deny any longer what so many of us have known for a long time. Cannabis heals.

And no, it's not the time for Big Pharma to synthesize cannabis out of existence. It's the whole plant that we need - not some unreasonable facsimile of. And we don't need any arbitrary nano amount for DUID. You can't use the same standard you use for alcohol. It's different, particularly when you ingest instead of inhale. Your body processes cannabis differently when ingested and typically doesn't have the "high" that goes along with bong hits, for example. I juice raw cannabis and can attest to the fact that there is no high associated with its consumption. 

We can't just legalize cannabis - either for recreation or medicine - and still use the dishonest approach we've always used when making laws and rules. If there was ever a time to get this right, this is that time. We have to take a different approach. At least someone finally stepped in in Colorado and prevented the porn magazine law from affecting cannabis magazines. See, this is what I'm talking about. People need to calm down and stop trying to circumvent a sane approach to legalization. We don't need controlling. If it's legal in a particular state, then it's legal. Various cities should not have the ability to control whether or not they follow that law. The Feds need to stop raiding dispensaries. If those dispensaries are violating their state law, then local police are more than capable of investigating and dealing with that. If they need help, I'm certain they have the ability to ask. Also, don't tax the businesses out of existence. And the IRS needs to view dispensaries as businesses..not as drug traffickers. That also goes for the landlords of these places. Stop harassing and threatening building owners for renting space to dispensaries. They're not in violation of their state law. And whatever else happens, we cannot allow recreational legalization to harm patient access to their medicine. One doesn't have to impact the other.

Uruguay is poised to legalize cannabis. Former President Fox of Mexico is on board with legalization. Justin Trudeau in Canada is pro-legalization. When are we going to pull our heads out of our asses and stand with truth? Industrial hemp is starting to be legal here. It never should have been prohibited in the first place. Sure would make farmers happy to actually grow something that could make such a positive contribution to society. Vested interest drove prohibition. Truth did not. Are we tired yet of vested interest controlling our lives? I'm pretty sure I am. But we must stay vigilant. And we must keep sharing the truth!

Harvest time again..

Harvest time again. This time I grew two Timewrecks and one Cheesequake. Gotta love the names. Apparently everyone who is growing Timewreck really likes it. They both got bigger than the Cheese did - spikier colas. The Cheesequake was squattier.

Working with the plants now, stripping leaves before we cut the plants down and hang them, I can really see the wisdom of keeping the lower part of the plant cleaned up and free of small leaves and branches that will never see the light of day. All they end up being is a pain in the ass to deal with when trimming the bud. It's good for tincture and salves, but still, it's annoying. 

The Cheese is more pungent than the Timewrecks. I like the smell of the Timewrecks better. I like delicate smells and the Cheese is gamey.

The plants began their lives under T5's during the cloning process. From there, I moved them under LED lighting for veg. Cannabis loves LED lighting for veg. At some point, sometimes they get so big that I have to put them under a bigger T5. When they were ready for flower, they went out to the tent and under two 600w HPS lights. I love tents for growing. They have cool openings for fans and ducting and the frame inside provides a place to hang everything from. They create an enclosed, controlled environment that the plants love.

I'll make oil from most of the harvest. Eventually, although I'll still make and use tincture, oil will be my primary medicine. Thank God for the wonderful Rick Simpson who came up with the recipe, because he continues to be my inspiration in my journey toward health. The girls are below..

Timewreck

Cheesequake

Timewreck

LED lighting

For the record, I like LED lighting. It's great for the vegetative state of any plant, and cannabis just loves it. Flowering is with HID lighting, but as prices come down and LED lighting focuses a little more on that spectrum, I'll be able to use it for flowering as well. I can now, but the buds are smaller. I use far less electricity with LEDs and that's always a plus. And the plants look awesome:

Best of all..they're a lovely magenta. ;-)

Sunshine Systems is where I buy my LED lighting. They're extremely nice and helpful there and they have great pricing. I know some people use more traditional methods, but LEDs are great and shouldn't be discounted as a viable way to grow.  See above ;-)

The three plants are Vortex, JillyBean/Flav cross, and the Triple. The Triple was a cross between Flav and possibly White Widow. I'm not actually sure. It was growing in the compost pile and we've cloned off of it ever since. It has nice tight buds, lots of resin and is great for RSO. We call it the Triple because when it began it had three start leaves instead of two. Thanks especially to TGA Genetics for their awesome seeds!