Surly Texas Curmudgeon

[Smokyjoe]

Hello fellow fans of the forbidden flower, especially to my fellow veterans. I'm an older guy stuck in Texas, and I've been following a few 420 communities lately, because I'm interested in growing. I can't actually grow until Texas pulls its head out of its prohibitionist ass, or I move somewhere more civilized, but I can still learn. I can still dream. I can still prepare for the day when I can grow cannabis in freedom, the same way I grow tomatoes.

My main interests here are cultivation education, wistful perusal of strain reviews, and of course, salivating over bud porn.

"Onward through the fog!"

 

[arteekay]

Hey smokyjoe, firstly, thank you for your service. As a Canadian, we depend on America to keep us safe as well, well that and we're just too nice to stay mad at for long.

There's so much to learn, you can read for weeks and still learn new stuff.

 

[Smokyjoe]

Heya, artee. Canada's one of my favorite countries and high on my list of places I wanna visit. And there's nothing wrong with being nice. The world could use a lot more of that. Start spreading those Canadian genetics around!

Definitely lots to learn from reading. There are some seriously good growers on this site. Cya around the forums!

 

[Rifleman]

Welcome to Smokyjoe. There are a lot of us old vets here. If I can help you in any way please just ask.

 

[OlderGrower]

Welcome SmokyJoe to the 420 community.

I am sorry to hear that Texas is so far behind the curve, though hopefully they will get caught up quickly. I live in Oregon and while MMJ has been legal here for some time, recreational just became legal last summer. Two of my neighbors were MMJ growers and my brother was as well so I really did not feel compelled to grow myself until it became legal for recreational. I partook for many years when I was younger but once I got married and started having children the risk of being whisked off to prison just seemed like to big of a risk. Now that I am legal, I must say I thoroughly enjoy growing. Granted when I was younger I was only concerned with the high, and now it is more for the pain relief, but what ever the reason, being able to do it legally has been a Godsend. I hope you will have the same opportunities as I have and will be able to grow legally soon yourself. We are all fighting for not only your rights to be able to but everyones rights in every part of the world.

Glad you have decided to join in the community

 

[ShiggityFlip]

Welcome to the forum, we have no shortage of curmudgeons here so you will fit right in. There are so many styles of growing that you will likely take the whole time finding just what you want to use as a method by the time Texas figures out the laws lol. In the meantime you can practice the techniques and grow the best tomatoes you have ever tasted.

 

[Smokyjoe]

Lucas McCain, huh? It's sad that I'm old enough to get the reference. It's even sadder that I had to look it up, just to check my aging memories.

I don't usually talk about being a vet. I don't have any service-related issues myself. But I know there are a lot of our brothers and sisters who really benefit from cannabis and could benefit a lot more if it was legal. This has become a real sore spot for me in the fight for legalization here in Texas. I can almost see the prohibitionists saying 'no' to recreational weed, but saying 'no' to a vet who needs the stuff for medical reasons? That verges on evil.

If you're interested, here's a video I put together of last year's Cannabis Crusade in Austin. There was a big veteran presence this year, and I hope that makes an impression on some of our legislators.

 

[Smokyjoe]

Thanks for the welcome, Shiggity! I actually picked my first tomato of the year a few days ago. We haven't had a freeze this winter, and last year's plants are still putting out some fruit.

I'm pretty well set on what my growing techniques would be, since I'm a K.I.S.S. kinda guy. Soil and mostly organic fits my style, and I already have a little experience in gardening that way. More advanced stuff like hydro looks interesting, but that would definitely be farther down the road. It seems like some people get great results that way, but it also seems to take a lot of work and experience to make it pay off.

It's dirty fingernails for me!

 

[ShiggityFlip]

Thanks for the welcome, Shiggity! I actually picked my first tomato of the year a few days ago. We haven't had a freeze this winter, and last year's plants are still putting out some fruit.

I'm pretty well set on what my growing techniques would be, since I'm a K.I.S.S. kinda guy. Soil and mostly organic fits my style, and I already have a little experience in gardening that way. More advanced stuff like hydro looks interesting, but that would definitely be farther down the road. It seems like some people get great results that way, but it also seems to take a lot of work and experience to make it pay off.

It's dirty fingernails for me!

If you like organics and soil take a look at Docbud's high brix growing. I have just started my grow in this all organic soil and it has been great so far. Lots of people are having some amazing success.
In The Lab With Doc Bud

 

[Castor27]

welcome SmokyJoe, look forward to seeing you arround I'm new as well and just started on here a few days ago! I've been using this site for info for quite some time doing reserch as you have! good thing is I live in alaska and we just approved recreational use this past year! everyone up here if fairly conservative so it was nice seeing it get approved! I think alaskans are a diferant breed of conservative tho. we love our guns we love our freedom that you vets have Givin us and we love our buds!. I believe it has to do with the lack of sun. it can drive even the tightest conservative to wanna smoke to ease the depression from lack of vitamin D! so it's kinda like the best of both worlds. as long as you can stand the lack of sun and the cold!

 

[Smokyjoe]

Heya, OlderGrower! We're looking at slow progress in Texas since the legislature meets every two years. 2017 is our next chance to get some legalization going. It was encouraging to see a lot of legalization bills last year, even though only one, a very weak CBD bill actually passed. Nonetheless, it was good to see the legislature at least talking about it.

Possession of small quantities is not as dangerous here as it used to be. According to High Times' summary, cultivation doesn't carry any special penalties, but you can real easily grow enough to cross the felony threshold where mandatory minimums kick in.

In the meantime, I keep my NORML membership active, attend some meetings and rallies, and preach legalization every chance I get. We'll drag Texas into the modern world eventually. Like you said, this is bigger than one person's rights. It's about liberty for everyone.

Strange that liberty is still such an unpopular concept in so many places...

 

[ShiggityFlip]

Heya, OlderGrower! We're looking at slow progress in Texas since the legislature meets every two years. 2017 is our next chance to get some legalization going. It was encouraging to see a lot of legalization bills last year, even though only one, a very weak CBD bill actually passed. Nonetheless, it was good to see the legislature at least talking about it.

Possession of small quantities is not as dangerous here as it used to be. According to High Times' summary, cultivation doesn't carry any special penalties, but you can real easily grow enough to cross the felony threshold where mandatory minimums kick in.

In the meantime, I keep my NORML membership active, attend some meetings and rallies, and preach legalization every chance I get. We'll drag Texas into the modern world eventually. Like you said, this is bigger than one person's rights. It's about liberty for everyone.

Strange that liberty is still such an unpopular concept in so many places...

That is always the weird disparity to me. I am neither republican not democrat, it seems like the fems are free with ideals and restrictive with government. The repubs are restrictive with ideals and free with government. But we need the libertarians to come to the front. Americans need to embody the core values of freedom and have limited government and limited controls on people's lives. But I must stop here. I think the forum has guidelines against political discussion. I will just say that this country has the unique opportunity to embody freedom and we should always strive to do so with our laws and actions!

 

[Smokyjoe]

Hey, AKGrow! Alaska, huh? I prefer cold weather to hot, and I've considered moving to Alaska, but I hear there are a couple of problems:
1. Short growing season.
2. 20-foot tall, man-eating kodiak bears. Ack!

I can take care of the local pests with a .30-30. Up there I think I'd need a lot more firepower, like a bazooka.

A little more seriously, it's interesting that you mentioned how there's a different breed of conservative up there. Sounds like a more libertarian strain than we see in Texas. On the plus side, some of the younger conservatives down here, and some of the smarter old ones, are beginning to realize that marijuana prohibition doesn't really fit into any reasonable interpretation oif conservative philosophy. In other words, they're beginning to realize that "Reefer Madness" was a comedy, not a documentary. Still an awful lot of old-school thinking going on though.

Cya around the forums!

 

[Smokyjoe]

Excellent points, but you're right. Not the place to get too deep into general politics. That can get ugly real quick in an online discussion.

Still haven't looked into Docbud's high brix growing. I'm trying to catch up on a few grow journals and such. So much information around here, and it's already sunrise, so I need to head out and get working.

 

[Castor27]

Hey, AKGrow! Alaska, huh? I prefer cold weather to hot, and I've considered moving to Alaska, but I hear there are a couple of problems:
1. Short growing season.
2. 20-foot tall, man-eating kodiak bears. Ack!

I can take care of the local pests with a .30-30. Up there I think I'd need a lot more firepower, like a bazooka.

A little more seriously, it's interesting that you mentioned how there's a different breed of conservative up there. Sounds like a more libertarian strain than we see in Texas. On the plus side, some of the younger conservatives down here, and some of the smarter old ones, are beginning to realize that marijuana prohibition doesn't really fit into any reasonable interpretation oif conservative philosophy. In other words, they're beginning to realize that "Reefer Madness" was a comedy, not a documentary. Still an awful lot of old-school thinking going on though.

Cya around the forums!

SmokyJoe,
Alaska is a great place! and don't wory bout the bears they don't really mess with you too much.. the thing you have to watch up here is the moose. they are extremely unpredictable. I meant no harm with my comments! I was just trying to explain alaska and how even tho it seemed there was no way we would go recreational. we still did! just trying to give SmokyJoe some Hope. and if he ever got to the point where Texas was not the place for him that alaska would welcome him!

and yes SmokyJoe I am personally a libertarian and there is defanetly a strong libertarian presence up here.

once again no harm guys I respect everyone's oppinion for the simple fact that it's their oppinion. dosnt mean I have to agree with it but it's their oppinion and I respect that! I do not talk down to anyone and I hope no one took offense to my comments. I was un aware of the political talk rule so this is the last time I will ever mention anything of the sort!

 

[Smokyjoe]

No harm or offense at all, AK! This is why I love the internet, getting to hear from people all over and hear what they think. But I appreciated Shiggity's reminder. I don't think there's anything wrong with talking the politics of legalization (because who would disagree with that around here?) but keeping things focused is probably a good idea.

So it's all good! CHat with you soon...

 

[nivek]

Hey smokyjoe, firstly, thank you for your service. As a Canadian, we depend on America to keep us safe as well, well that and we're just too nice to stay mad at for long.

There's so much to learn, you can read for weeks and still learn new stuff.

Heya smok,, welcome to the library,,cheers to you,,

I just had to chime in on arts comment,, as a Canadian as well, I just have to say,, no, we do not depend on America to keep us safe, my goodness, what a comment,, from the forties or similar,, sorry art,, got me hackles up there,, best to you smok,, cheers

 

[arteekay]

Heya smok,, welcome to the library,,cheers to you,,

I just had to chime in on arts comment,, as a Canadian as well, I just have to say,, no, we do not depend on America to keep us safe, my goodness, what a comment,, from the forties or similar,, sorry art,, got me hackles up there,, best to you smok,, cheers

We absolutely depend on America, as much now as in the forties. It's not our overwhelming military force that protects us in any real way, it's our diplomatic partnerships and treaties. As a population we cling to the Canadian/US border in far greater concentrations than in the rest of this expansive country.

We may just have to agree to disagree on it.

 

[Smokyjoe]

...as a Canadian as well, I just have to say,, no, we do not depend on America to keep us safe, my goodness, what a comment...

I think it comes down to the nuances of the word "depend". Dependence can get unhealthy, but you can have mutually beneficial dependencies too, more like the dependencies you find in a healthy ecosystem. It's called an alliance when it's between nations, and I like to think of Canada and the USA as healthy allies.

Of course, it can be confusing. I had a minor auto accident a few years back with a guy whose insurance company was in, iirc, Winnipeg. When I was giving his info to my insurance company, the person kept asking what state it was in. I kept explaining that Canada has provinces, not states, and that Winnipeg was in Manitoba. She said okay, what state is that in?

After going round and round with no progress, I finally moved Winnipeg to Wyoming.

 

[Smokyjoe]

It's not our overwhelming military force that protects us in any real way, it's our diplomatic partnerships and treaties.

There have been some more direct joint Canadian-American military operations too, like the DEW Line. That was a case where the USA depended heavily on Canada for our own security.

It's interesting to look at American relations with Canada, which are fairly friendly and helpful, and our relationship with Mexico, which has been badly strained in large part by our war on drugs. There's a lesson in there somewhere...