is constantly changing , and everyone must change with it .
The landscape of the Marijuana Gold Rush draws many parallels with the previous rushes ; my head rush aside . Everybody is trying to get rich , but very few actually will . It turns out that gold isn ’ t that easy to find , and at the end of the day , only the big mining corporations made significant profits . Once the gold was located , they squeezed out all the little guys and kept all the gold for themselves . The miners could go to work in the gold mine , but they were no longer allowed to own it .
Honestly , I ’ m shocked that we are now allowed to grow our own marijuana for home consumption . I have seen corporate cannabis on the horizon for decades , and I didn ’ t think home cultivation would ever be allowed . Thank goodness for small favors ! Did you notice that I used the word goodness in the last sentence instead of saying God ? I wanted to keep religion out of it . Anyway , in case you haven ’ t picked it up yet , the Mountain Men are old hippies who have known how to grow cannabis for a really , really long time . When I talk about going to California for gold , it is a metaphor for growing marijuana . When I talk about false prophets and faulty maps , I am talking about those who give misleading or incorrect information about cannabis . When I talk about greedy corporations , I am talking about the greedy corporations .
Many of these false prophets I referred to are well-meaning , good people who think that they are being helpful . They think that they can tell you how to get how to get to California ( or grow marijuana ) because they have been there . The problem is that they only went there once with their grandparents on a family outing when they were eight . They may have been to California or grown a crop or two , but they really don ’ t know how to reliably get there repeatedly . In case you are not following all the metaphors , I ’ m saying that just because you have grown some marijuana doesn ’ t mean that you are an expert . If you don ’ t know what a “ metaphor ” is , buy a dictionary ( or look it up online ).
I don ’ t consider myself a marijuana expert because I believe marijuana is too complex for any individual to learn enough in a lifetime to be considered an expert . On the other hand , as a Mountain Man ( old hippy ), I know many different ways to get to California .
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If I give you advice in my articles , I am describing something I have already done . I will always try to provide enough information so you can try the project in your own home with minimum hassle or financial expense . I have already wasted the weed and the money , so you won ’ t have to . When you are a Mountain Man , you sometimes fall down and break your leg . You just have to bandage your wounds and keep going up the mountain . In other words , sometimes you mess things up , and you must throw away some moldy marijuana or some gummies that didn ’ t turn out correctly . I will try to help you avoid the mistakes I have made so you don ’ t make the same mistakes .
“ There ’ s Gold in Them Thar Plants .”
In the early days of the Gold Rush , San Francisco was a lawless town . There were no rules , and there was no law enforcement . This Gold Rush is the exact opposite . There are many laws , and they all conflict state by state . State law says one thing , and federal law says another . I can possess cannabis in one place , but if I cross an imaginary line and go to another place , I can go to jail for having a couple of joints in my pocket . It all gets really confusing , especially if you have been smoking marijuana .
When doing any kind of research , I always look for at least three reputable sources that contain the same information . This is especially important if you are looking at information you found online . For cannabis information , you can fairly reliably count on a site called Leafly , although sometimes it just gives the basics , and of course , you should always verify any information . Always verify everyone ’ s facts , including mine , and watch out for incomplete or incorrect home garden- ing and home edible instructions . Also , be on the lookout for information that sounds just plain silly — or leaning towards dangerous .
I get annoyed when I see an edible recipe online that leaves out some important facts but will actually allow the reader or person viewing the video to make their own gummies or butter . You ’ ll just have an inferior product and have wasted your valuable herb . Everyone is welcome to do their own thing , but please don ’ t waste good marijuana . We ’ ve waited too long for it to be legal and for us to enjoy our newfound freedoms . On top of that , it ’ s too damned expensive to waste .
I strongly advise against using your premium dispensary-bought flower for homemade edibles or tinctures . If you have a home garden , you ’ ll have plenty of trim coated with sugar and lots of small popcorn buds . If you don ’ t grow your own cannabis , buying it from a dispensary isn ’ t a very cost-effective way to make homemade edibles . If you have plenty of time and money and are looking for a new hobby , go for it . If money is tight — just go buy some gummies . That ’ s what I do when all I have on hand is my good homegrown buds . I don ’ t want to waste them . As always , look for other opinions and make your own choices after you have collected enough credible information .
Another thing that bugs me is when people give you instructions to do something totally crazy that does work , but there is no reason to do it . I ran across a recipe for homemade organic plant food that includes urinating into a milk jug to produce nitrogen . I found out that this is a real thing , proving that just because you can do something doesn ’ t mean you should . I don ’ t think you need to be a genius to figure out that it ’ s probably better just to go buy some plant food . If you want to pee on your pot plants , that ’ s up to you , but I better not catch you peeing on mine .
It reminds me of the Matt Damon movie , The Martian . Matt gets stranded on Mars and must survive by eating potatoes that he grows by using his own poop for fertilizer . He ’ s on Mars , and there are no stores to buy plant food . I suppose you could mix your poop in your soil down here on Earth , but I don ’ t want to eat your potatoes . I think I ’ ll just order a pizza , but thanks for offering .
The silliest thing I ’ ve seen online is an instructional video on how to smoke a joint . No , not roll one , but smoke one ! More than one person is out there offering this generous advice . I had to ask myself , “ Are there really people out there who don ’ t know how
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