As the flowers begin to bloom around us, May has also seen life return to almost "normalcy" for us all. Swami and Nikki have begun to venture out again, with wonderful visits to beautiful South Lake Tahoe and our friends at Tahoe Wellness Cooperative as well the Sundialed Dispensary tribe in our neighboring Mendocino town of Ukiah. It feels so great to be with budtenders and customers again!
Here at Ganja Ma Gardens, our farming crew has been super busy preparing for the new planting season. Most of the seeds we started on April 13th have now grown to up to 18" high. However, some hungry mice managed to get into some pots with tasty little starts and enjoyed a salad bar one night. So we did start some new seeds from the cultivar Mendo Pakalolo we all love so much to replace those.
Meanwhile, as soon as the original plants got to between 2 to 3 nodes high, we did the precise snipping of the tips of their leaves for Gender ID Testing and sent them in to
Leafworks. Check out
THIS NEAT VIDEO we made explaining the process.
Results are returning now. We'll save some of the boy plants for R&D breeding and we'll get the first girls into their home soil this weekend, where they will begin their journeys.
To prepare that soil, we've been busy adding organic ingredients to the
hugellet mounds, such as organic wheat straw and garden cuttings as mulch, amendments, and compost tea brews.
The main meadow has been mowed and high grasses weed whacked for fire prevention, and all those grasses also were added to the mulch. Other fire-conscious projects have included trimming vegetation and low branches, road work, fire trailer upkeep, and refilling our many fire extinguishers. We can't be too careful after this very dry winter!
A big decision this season was to move the cannabis plants in the Rose Garden to the Sri Yantra Garden. We discovered that the very large Oak Trees surrounding the Rose Garden were stretching out their roots to drink much of the amendment fortified water in the garden, leaving the cannabis plants thirsty for the good stuff. So instead, we have planted vegetables and decorative flowers, which have more shallow roots, in the Rose Garden this year. The crew then dug new holes in the Sri Yantra Garden for the new plants there. The irrigation system has been repositioned for the new season.
Yes, it's a very busy time of year! Yet there is still always time for enjoying the beauty of this land and nature with dips in the creek, wildflower walks, and soaking in the lush green surroundings before they turn to summer golden.
We never forget to say our thanks every day for living in such a paradise and having the privilege to grow the best medicine in the world!
Peace & Love to all
Swami & Nikki
