Yep. I figure it's good until it isn't. Like if it starts to not work or stink or something.Damn! Is that just what the manufacturer says to get you to buy more every two years?
Nothing beats the power of the sun. And neem oil will beat the bugs. Shake shake spray!
Thanks BL! I have other stock, so maybe another pipe as well. Of course, the last one still hasn't been used...
Damn, smoking the live ones means the jars are really empty.
Thanks double H!
No
I can't think of anywhere in an average home where my cat couldn't get to and a bird feeder would be safe. Unless it's in a sealed box (wait a minute) my cat would get it. Is it at the top of a flag pole (you guys all have flag in your garden after all) which is stuck in the ground upside down?
You don't know my cat
Sometimes the link doesn’t land me where I’m up to... i missed a harvest and a bird feeder! Wat gives...? Tracking back 
great to see that the youngsters are pitching in, even trimming w dad! 
It looks fat and chunky!
I hang corn cobs from bungee chords from tall tree branches... watching the squirrels jump from a tall tree to the cobs of corn is hilarious! .. until they get used to it they get flung back up in air when the bungee snaps back lol you can tell which squirrels are used to it because they have no problem making the jump. Very interesting to watch, they make some heroic jumps for that corn haha... I also have bird feeders in the yard, we have cardinals, humming birds, woodpeckers, and the occasional blue jay.Cats may not levitate, but them freakin squirrels???? I’m fully convinced they are aliens or possessed. Maybe both. Stupid tree rats.
Hell i might art to do that wit my son LOL
The time is out of joint (oh curs'ed spite) at my house, so no pics today. Everything got watered except the Bedroom Cookies because it gets 2 gallons at a time. But I think it's time for the Skin Salve Update!
Let me start by telling you about the two different types of topicals I make.
The first is my pain oil. It's made from actual dried bud, as I want the oil to be at least 15mg THC/ml oil. That's the number I have found to be the minimum for pain relief. I make it with a 50/50 blend of grapeseed and pumpkin seed oils, and it's done in the MB machine since it's easy to fit the decarbed bud and oil in there as the machine grinds it for you as it goes. The resulting oil goes in a bottle in my nightstand, small roller bottles for pocket/purse/desk, and the rest goes in the fridge. I'm sure you've seen tutorials on that, but if not I can point you to a few.
The second is what I call my skin salve. It is not high in THC because it's made from the rest of the plant after drying. @SweetSue found information in Roger Pertwee’s Handbook of Cannabis that quoted historical documents where the hemp plant in oil is recommended for burns.
Before I even read that, I had made some a few years ago with the roots, and I found it excellent for hives, itching, bites, and abrasions. This time I decided to save every bit of the plants I was taking down, let them dry, and make a big batch in a crock pot.
As I harvested the plant I would cut the stems into about 1" pieces and leave them in a bucket to dry. I also rinsed the roots, let them dry, and cut them with a scissors into the bucket. I also dried the fans and put them in the bucket after they were dry (to keep them from molding).
I ended up with two boxes that looked like this:
That was way more than would fit in the 5qt crockpot, so I have loads left over for the next batch:
I had three 14oz bottles of organic unrefined coconut oil that I put in the microwave to liquefy, so I could pour it in the pot:
It did not come close to covering the material!
So I went back to the store and bought another 3 jars, liquefied them, and added that to the mix. That's 84 liquid ounces of coconut oil:
You can see that the plant material is not completely covered, but every bit is touching oil.
I put the crockpot on low cook, as I wanted it to be around 180º. It was never exact so sometimes I would turn it up and when it started to bubble I would turn it down again. Whenever I walked past I would take a slotted spoon and mix it up and push it back under the oil.
After 48 hours, the oil had been absorbed into all the material, so it now looked like this:
I continued the infusion process for 4 days to make sure that all the goodness from inside the stems and roots had a chance to get into the oil. Drying the stems eliminates all the water from the material but also makes it take longer to re-oildrate them.
At the end of the process, I used a straining spoon and removed most of the plant from the crock pot.
And put it in a metal pot:
I poured the crock pot oil into another pot and used a strainer to catch what the straining spoon did not. Then I scooped out the plant material and pressed it into the strainer to get out what I could.
I tossed out the leftover plant material and it was time to add the beeswax. I went with beeswax over soy wax because beeswax is supposed to have anti-inflammatory properties, which is a good thing to have in a skin salve!
Beeswax is harder to clean up, so I created a throw-away double boiler out of tin foil:
And I did all my mixing of oil and beeswax in large pyrex measuring cups because I find them easier to clean than metal pots.
Figuring out how many grams of beeswax to use per cup of oil took a long time, but here is my final recipe. I ended up with 25g beeswax/cup of oil, but I might go with 30g/cup for slightly stiffer product at room temperatures.
I had ordered what I thought were push-up dispensers from Amazon, but they turned out to be twist up like deodorant and much bigger than I thought. Still, they work fine:
I filled 12 of them and still had a jar and a half left over. I left them to cool on the counter over night and put them in the fridge in the morning. They're okay on the counter but don't leave them in a hot car or leaning on their side in warm weather. Even beeswax will melt as the temps rise. And for longer term storage, the fridge is best as coconut oil won't keep forever with all that organic material in it.
Oh, and it works. I got bitten by a mosquito last night right between my first and middle finger and it was driving me nuts. I rubbed this on and it didn't itch again until after my shower this morning!
I hope this helps.
Completely depends on how long you're going to grow it for. I grow in 7 gallons because I move them twice a day, so I need to be able to pick them up when they're wet. @BeezLuiz grows them in 25 gallon pots because they live in the same spot all summer. His are trees!
If it gets that hot then make sure you are using light colored cloth pots (Geopot is a sponsor and makes better ones than the ones I've gotten off Amazon), put some mulch on top (straw will work if it's insect-free), and stay on top of watering. Plants can take the heat but the roots need to stay cooler.
