Sometimes The Weeds Are Wanted - Gardening Guides to Growing Marijuana

I spent this past weekend hanging out with a few dear friends down in Columbus. It was one of those times that mothers tend to treasure most when their children are young, in that the mother’s children were not involved and were happily staying at their grandparent’s house. In other words, I had a very peaceful weekend.

My friends and I decided that it would be nice if we stopped off to get a nice cup of something hot and perused a few books and thus we found ourselves at the Borders closest to my friend’s house. I, of course, made a bee line to the nearest gardening section.

To my dismay, the gardening section was rather small. At first I chalked it up to the fact that it is still deep winter here and no one in Cleveland or Columbus is thinking too hard on gardening right now.

But as I got to the end of the gardening bookshelves, I found what I believe to be the reason behind the less than stellar selection. Apparently, the urban Columbus interests in gardening differ in scope from the average suburban Cleveland interest.

My first clue was the book entitled Hashish!. Having spent a few months in my early twenties in Europe, I knew exactly what that word meant and did a double take. No, they don’t really mean…

Well, if I had any doubts, the more blunt (no pun intended) “Grow Great Marijuana” sitting next to it confirmed any thoughts I may have had. And the next twenty books on that shelf and the next just kept reconfirming it.

So, granted, my friend lives just a block or so away from High Street and Columbus is the home to the largest university in the United States, but, well, to tell the truth, it never occurred to me that anyone would need a book on how to grow illicit drugs. I thought this sort of information was passed furtively on rather tattered sheets of paper or at the very most posted on websites that are hosted in Uzbekistan.

But, after seeing the books, it does occur to me that growing pot is just another form of gardening and, just like any other form of gardening out there, there are people who are looking for a little guidance and direction.

Marijuana seeds are probably just as tricky to germinate as tomato seeds. Dampening off has to be a problem too. And let’s face it, there is a monetary value attached to a bumper crop of high quality weed makes it all the more important to make sure you are growing the best you can. And all of this has to be done under the less than ideal conditions of keeping you actions hidden from local law enforcement. My tomatoes never had that issue.

Still, I think that in my relative “old age” I find that I get more enjoyment out of a well grown tomato plant than I ever did out of a well grown pot plant. Not that I ever smoked the stuff… Okay, okay, so I did a long time ago. But I swear, I never inhaled.