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 ;-) 

An Idiot Came to my Door Tonight Wearing a Gun

So around 8pm this evening, someone knocked on my front door. Now, we have five acres and our home sits down at the bottom of it..over 700 feet off the road. No one comes to my house without my knowing in advance, so I carefully went to the door to see who was there. My husband was in another building on the property, so he wasn't with me at the time.

A really big guy was at the door. I didn't know him.  I quickly locked the door and spoke to him through the window in the door. Although it was getting dark on the porch, I saw the gun in his holster. I screamed at him to get off my porch, that I was calling the police. He's screaming back saying that he knows my husband. I screamed back that I didn't know him and to leave. Finally he yelled back to have my husband come and see him and left. It turned out that he's the guy my next door neighbors arranged to plant and irrigate their pasture. So my husband went next door to chat with the moron. He wanted me to plug off the culvert so that my irrigation runoff didn't go onto that field. The problem is, it's not just my runoff and the neighbor agreed to the installation of that culvert so that he could irrigate an area in the lower part of his pasture that he doesn't have irrigation rights for. That culvert helped us keep the runoff from destroying our driveway, and it helped keep the area close to my neighbor's home green, reducing the chance of fire. There's only so much I can do to control that water. He probably should have spoken with us before agreeing to use their field. We would have gladly told him the issues with flood irrigation in our area. But he didn't do that and I don't know what the neighbor shared with him. But I will do whatever I can to not rot his seeds. I have trees along the driveway that I have to water, but maybe I can do that another way.

But then there's the gun.

I own guns. I have no problem with people having carry permits. I have no problem with people owning weapons. I have a problem with big men I don't know knocking on my door at night with a gun visible on their person. At least it was visible so that I knew it was there. But here's the thing. This was frightening. And he really didn't seem to understand why I was upset. But my husband convinced him to not come on our property again with a gun. So that's something I suppose. We'll see...

Truth be told, this isn't my problem. As far as I am concerned, my neighbors are responsible for this guy. It's through their arrangement that he's even here. And I won't be bullied by him or anyone else. You don't go to someone's house with a gun. You just don't. 

So there you have it.

A Gardening Update

I flood irrigate 4.6 acres of pasture. I do it because I'm better at it than my husband. He put in several new headgates for me to use so that I don't have to use tarps. I hate tarps. I much prefer to open and close little gates. Easier on my nails. This year, since I haven't done the irrigation in thirteen years, I'm going to just grow it and not cut it for hay. I need to re-seed the pasture anyway, so next year burning will be a bitch, but whatever. It's looking pretty good, except for one dry spot. The main area is around 3 acres and is beyond the cross fence in the picture.

The greenhouse is doing well. We put in a drip system which the plants seem to like better than a "me" system. I'm not consistent enough apparently so drippers it is! On the right is a hot pepper plant with interesting peppers on it. They haven't turned red yet, but they still look cool. My new pink blueberry bush hasn't produced any fruit, so maybe next year it will. I'm looking forward to that!



This is the platform my husband created in a willow tree outside the greenhouse. He did this because of the deer who think they own our property and believe they are entitled to everything growing there. The picture to the right is a shot of the pond from atop the platform. I have pepper plants growing up there as well on the railing he put in to keep me from taking a header off the thing. And yes, I'm totally capable of doing something like that. There are times when I need a keeper, and this was one of those times. I'm growing the beans in two big pots and they've been very prolific this year.

Below is a hyrdroponic lettuce raft in which I'm growing romaine lettuce. I really like rafts for growing all kinds of things, but lettuce does extremely well. This is the first time using one outside though. 

I also have a hydroponic tub inside the house with bok choy growing. Bok choy is awesome to grow hydroponically and has a much higher water content than what we buy in the produce department. There's really nothing like it. The tub has little sprayers inside and come on every so many minutes and spray the roots with nutrient solution. It's awesome!




To the right and left are pictures of some super soil we made. We used the recipe from TGA Genetics and it works well for anything you want to grow. I bought a turnable compost bin to make it as well as compost for next year.

And speaking of next year, we have plans to build a bigger greenhouse and to do something interesting with floating docks out on the pond. All in a effort to circumvent these guys:

Happy gardening!

Wow, Sanjay!

I have to confess, I've always liked Sanjay Gupta. I remember something about him assisting in brain surgery with the Devil Dogs in Kuwait or somewhere over there. He was there as a journalist I guess, but it didn't matter. And it was cool to see his focus change and go into doctor mode. Only the patient mattered at that point. That told me something about him. Someone was in need and he could help. And he did. I was surprised that he wrote the article he did about cannabis. It seemed too rote. Too much the party line. And then we discovered that he's been busy doing some research and put together a documentary on cannabis.

Wow. How huge is that!

After watching it, I can honestly say, it's pretty huge. Good for him. And he didn't shy away from the tough issues regarding children. Except they really aren't tough issues at all. Of course we don't want children smoking cannabis. But there's clearly nothing wrong with giving children ingested forms such as tincture or oil when they have conditions that improve no other way. Autism, seizures, cancer.. all are helped if not cured with cannabis. Why wouldn't we give this to our children. Some have little time. They can't wait until adulthood. I mean, we love them, don't we?

I tearfully watched Chaz Moore become instantly better after a hit off a pipe. He was able to speak clearly. I know first hand how cannabis can stop muscle spasms. I used to have incapacitating muscle spasms when my RA was so severe and one or two hits off of a pipe would immediately stop them. I understand that feeling when the pain goes away, and the ability to function normally returns. There's nothing like it. To have no hope. And then you do.

I loved the segment in Israel. Those folks have been at the forefront of cannabis research forever. Their government gets what ours refuses to see. Cannabis has medicinal value and to not research that is just stupid. The patient using the Volcano vaporizer got immediate relief from nausea from his chemo treatments. Can you imagine when they stop using chemo and begin using oil instead? It's coming. Primarily because none of us will shut up about it.

But the Holocaust survivor using cannabis for his PTSD as well as other ailments affected me the most. As an survivor of sexual assault I too use cannabis for my own PTSD. Traumatic events change people whether they're continual or sporadic or only one time. It doesn't matter. Cannabis helps me not dwell. It helps me not have abuse reactions. It helps me stay present in the moment, instead of somewhere else destructive. It helps me stay in control. It frees me to be creative and joyful.

We need the lies to stop and the truth to come out. It's emotional for those of us who have had our lives changed by cannabis. There's hope for healing with this amazing plant. Hope that just doesn't seem to exist in the same way with other treatments. Compounds in cannabis apparently kill cancer by either killing the tumor outright, or by destroying the blood supply to the tumor. Without that, the tumor evidently dies on its own. There are people who use cannabis oil to treat their cancer and survive. And they do so without the damaging effects of chemo or radiation. 

I am more healthy now than I have ever been in my life. That wouldn't have happened without cannabis. I still have RA, but it's finally under control. I'm blessed to live in a progressive state that legalized medical cannabis in 1998. I became a patient in 2010 at a time when I was so sick that I thought I wouldn't survive. I was in an excruciating flare that would last over a year. At times I was nearly incapacitated. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. So I contacted the THC Foundation and after they reviewed my medical records, they gave me an appointment. I saw the doctor and was approved for the card. I read everything I could find on treating RA with cannabis. We grew the plants; I made the medicine. I made tincture and capsules with cannabis infused coconut oil. And I got better..quickly. And you know, some days it's hard to remember just how sick I was. 

So thanks, Sanjay.. and keep researching. A weekly show with your findings would also be nice!

More Roadside Cavity Searches in Texas???

Mercy sakes. What the hell is going on in Texas? Why are cops doing cavity searches on women by the side of the road? I read yesterday, that a female cop who did this was reinstated on the force because the powers that be decided that in view of the fact that she's a trainee, it was the responsibility of her training officer to stop her from doing the cavity search.

SHE'S A WOMAN. SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER.

I don't care if she was a trainee. She needs to lose her job along with her idiot training officer. Does anyone take responsibility for their actions anymore? What difference does it make if she was a trainee? Don't we want our police officers to have the intelligence to think for themselves? If she can't figure this one out without someone else telling her what to do, then she shouldn't be trusted to protect and serve. Because this doesn't serve the public at all. This was a criminal act. Just like in the military. It's no different.

Let's recap a little.. Texas has a problem respecting women. Whether it's the legislature, the governor, or law enforcement, for whatever reason, women are being targeted by abusive behavior. A woman's right to be safe from harm is being systematically destroyed by this state. But they're not alone in this effort. It's almost as if some of these conservative controlled states are vying for the most abusive state award. Their behavior is reckless and destructive.

Do we really need to have 50 states in our union? Secession is looking pretty good at this point. 

And now the DEA's involved in spying..

Here we go again..only now it's the DEA who is spying on us. So much is making sense now. The deck has been stacked against us for so long now that they think nothing of trampling on our civil rights. We've been lied to and manipulated by pros. Huffington Post has a great article from Reuters on the antics of the DEA. Shiffman and Cooke explain in great detail what this special operations group within the DEA is doing to compromise our rights. What I found most remarkable was the idea that they are trained to create alternate reasons for what they do, effectively eliminating the accused's right to know just how they got arrested in the first place. The article suggested that this deception is not only directed at the accused and their attorneys but also to judges as well. Why do we even bother then with trials? Might as well just arrest whomever, lock them up and throw away the key.

Here's the link to the Reuters article on HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/05/dea-surveillance-cover-up_n_3706207.html

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!