Garden of Eve

This is, by far, the worst crap, er, crop I’ve ever grown.  Frickin' spider mites come back every three days. I've hit them will sulfur, and organic sprays that won't hurt the delicate THC crystals growing within. But still the yellow specks remain and all I want to do is take a firehose to the plants and wash them away. But there’s carpet under that visqueen, and wallpaper behind that sheetrocked wall. I have no firehose. It’s obvious to any grower that I didn’t provide enough nutrients during vegetative growth. The girls are tall and skinny, gangly in appearance. They bent and fall over – like druken soriety sisters.t. Part of me is angry with myself for letting this happen, “I should have raised them better.” But just like anything, including children, if you take your eyes of them for a minute, all hell beaks loose. Whatever you pay attention to, gets the most focus. Lately I’ve been too distracted working with industry people trying to find their way under

Yep, still a little moist. Hell! Run it another hour! I'm going upstairs to smoke a bowl.

I wasn't sure how the TrimPal machine would really work after I saw it at Vendor Fair , but Debbie offered to do a free demo at the home of a local grower.  Upon close inspection buds, she said the buds may not be dry enough after four days of hanging upside down. That morning there was a major rain storm, which made everything damp and moist - ahhh Seattle!!

I started 2013 with a basement full of weed and an empty bank account. I don’t know of any Seattle growers that actually got rich from growing pot this year. I think a lot of us unemployed corporate types who were laid off saw the opportunity to work for ourselves until the state could figure out what to do with the future of medical and voter approved recreational pot. A year later, the future of  medical marijuana in Washington State is still tenuous.  I have personally witnessed healing in people who use cannabis as medicine and I think it’s a crime that providers have been thrown in jail for helping others. Cannabis IS medicine and we have a God-given right to have access to it. Dispensary “donations” were my main source of income in 2013. I make half of what I used to back in my VC-funded days, but I don’t care. Money is not it. Helping people, and loving what you do on a daily basis where it’s at, man. The meaning of life is to be of service to others. Working

My editor handed me a book to review, but not a printed version, rather a thumb drive in a padded envelope. I was told that this USB unit has an expiration date, encouraging visions of a smoking time bomb after I insert it into my aging laptop. Speaking of smoke, ‘Cannabis for Capitalists’ really is more of a users’ guide for growing mass quantities of marijuana - excuse me, for growing CANNABIS. Considering this was written Kerrie Badertscher, a certified professional horticulturist, and her husband Kurt Badertscher, both of Otoké Horticulture, I should probably use proper terminology. Once you get past the text formatting issues of the PDF, there is an overwhelming amount of scientific information for horticultural growers. Cannabis for Capitalists explains how to properly interpret fertilizer labels, for example, and have dedicated a full chapter to Microbial Soil Biopesticides. They cover new industry worker safety standards, staff and garden checklists, photos and refer