My ph appears too low at the moment, ....

[moose eater]

The SLH will be ready for her final finish trim in a couple days (removing the limited stems I leave intact for the initial drying, like tomatoes on the vine at the store; slowing down the drying process by just a little bit by doing it that way, as well as adding any energy left in the sap in the stems), and that should give me time to get down to Chitina and back, hopefully bringing home more fish.

Doc wants imaging of my liver and gall bladder, as well as a visit to a urologist... Seems the indicators for bad news are rising like the moon, showing things that might've better waited for real day light..

Reminds me of the old Frank Zappa tune; "The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down..." (Zappa, 'Cosmic Debris"; saw him do that live when they recorded side B of 'Roxy and Elsewhere' at the McComb Field House in Edinboro, Pennsylvania in 1972 <?>).

On my return from dip-netting, I'll be cutting the California Indica, then the Ghost Train Haze #1... if all's on track. Work, followed by more work. The gerbil wheel of life.. Makes a feller want to lay down a bit more...

Don't know when my family member with the phone camera can be back out while I'm around, differences in schedules and all, but I'll try to post pics of the process, or at least limited view of the samples, as the projects proceed.

Doc seems quite cool, likely an aging hippie type, enlightened, wise to the world, warm of heart, and has a volunteer history working a medical gig over-seas in harsh environs that leads me to like them that much more, straight out of the gate.

Rare to find such persons with similar beliefs in life, who take their convictions well beyond ideas or thoughts, and put their own skin on the line. But I guess leaving the homestead on occasion helps in meeting such folks.. ;^>)

 

[moose eater]

Currently trimming the California Indica.

I hate trimming. I've rarely enjoyed it, with the exceptions of the first test buds of any go..

I used to coax myself through it, working toward that first puff of fresh scissor hash. But with a decent supply of sieved hash on-hand, and despite the 'scissor hash' being a bit different in characteristic, the scissor hash no longer sufficiently motivates me.

I compounded the issue this time around, when, about 5-6 weeks ago or so, when I typically would've mercilessly pruned all the lower branches/bud sites from the plants, leaving only the primary canopy, and 8 inches to 10 inches beneath the canopy, in a densely packed box, I instead surrendered to what was low energy at that time, thus fucking myself for the future.... like, right about now.... when I have to contend with the little appendages in the lower regions, pretending to be cannabis flowers, and doing a poor job of it...

I could place all of the midget wanna-be buds into a drying tray of their own, and make some oil or butter later on, but that takes energy, too. And I've got over a half-pound of potent canna butter in the freezers still.

On the more comical side of things, earlier on, ~ a week and a half ago, when we were trimming the SLH, during a moment of exasperation and melt-down from the trimming process, a new term was uttered by me while in that state of delirium; "ugly under-fuckers."

For what ever reason, and with both of us a bit giddy from the whole process, we had laughed hysterically.. Ugly under-fuckers, indeed.

Nice colas up top, and a sea of ugly under-fuckers below.. And I KNOW better than to let this happen!!. Just a product of being tired too much of the time.

 

[moose eater]

May or may not be dedicated to processing a moose this week-end, or taking my wife up toward Chicken & Eagle, on the Taylor Hwy. Otherwise, I ought to be done with the trimming in under a week.

The list of stuff to get done in the Fall seems to grow each year. And my energy shrinks accordingly.

 

[moose eater]

California Indica in the trays, and remaining to be felled, both.


She's 21 years old as of a few months ago, clone, to clone, to clone.

Easy to clone, resilient, etc. And more productive than any others here.

But she demands good air movement, and I'm told by another that when spider mites are about, they prefer her. Haven't had to contend with either issues here too much.

Pics can be viewed in larger format at this link:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=81149

 

[moose eater]

A day of testing today. It's a harsh job, but someone has to do it.

 

[moose eater]

Ghost Train Haze #1 trimming is underway. Her reaction to ^N, etc., has her sometimes-continuous colas instead expressing themselves as disconnected balls, instead of big floppy spears. Fox-tailing from the N is relatively rampant; same effect that led to continued creation of pistils with the CI, after she was more or less ripe.

None the less, GTH#1 is resinous, sticky like fresh Katema Gold hash, and a very nice pungency.

My initial (guess)estimation is a loss of 25-35% of capacity in finished aggregate production weight, as a result of her less than total contentment with the last test mix.

Scissor hash from the California Indica is dry, and the testing of her finished flowers, though still curing, says that despite her reaction to the last test mix (less disgruntlement from her re. the mix, but still not entirely happy), her potency is above average for her, and she was deemed a 9 to 9.5 on a 10 scale by a tester the other evening. Subjective, I know, and as with all harvests, and with all people.. first impressions require a follow-up for greater certainty in perception.

That said, the CI has a very notable 'up' effect early on, and the stone is long-lasting.

Of the three, and only having had test buds to work with re. CI and GTH#1 (as opposed to finished, still-curing, but further along buds from SLH), I would say at this time that the only one of the 3 that suffered any notable change to the stereotypical characteristics of their 'high' is the SLH, which is quite potent, but has a more sedate effect a half-hour or so into the high. But that may have been context/setting, energy levels, etc., so the SLH merits some testing in the early morning on a day after a half-assed rest.

At any rate, being more than a bit OCD, I can now move on to other projects involving soilless mix progression, adaptation and amendments, to work toward a final mix regimen, as well as cuttings from my existing moms that have out-grown their cupboards, as well as seeds being planted for the various Bodhi strains I haven't tried, and the Satori seeds I received this year..

Meanwhile, it's Sunday, we've abandoned the football games to trim, and I'm headed out to light the propane smoker for a pork shoulder butt roast that's been in a dry rub, brining in its own juices since yesterday, and then, in a couple hours, I'll toss on the 3 racks of sectioned pork baby back ribs that have also been in a dry rub brine since yesterday, but which require less time for low-temp smoking. (The propane smoker is 1 of 3 smokers here, each one with a specific characteristic and set of purposes, but the one that works best for a 250 degree f. wood smoke).

Meanwhile, my younger son, my shining star of our 3 children, is replacing the fuel lines, filters, etc., on the boat, so we can put the bulwarks back in place to support the cover for the winter, and have a running motor in the early summer next year.

That, and tilling the left-over/recycled soilless mixes into the spud field before the ground freezes hard.. all to be done today or tomorrow. We were 25 degrees f. on my porch this morning, so the tiller's remaining window of usefulness is growing to a close for this year... Best to hurry.

Then, caribou may still be open up the Taylor Hwy this next week-end, as well as the possibility of the Nelchina caribou herd maybe still being open then, down south, so the prospect of an otherwise abandoned meat-gathering season, still shows some potential.

Then firewood to drop, in thinning the spruce that are too tightly grouped in the lower property, and killing the bulk of any balsam poplar/river aspen; a tree species that I loathe, and view as The Borg.

And the house is a scattered 'warehouse' in my wife's appraisal (she's right, but I view it as all having a purpose), so with the prospect of company coming later today, I probably need to tidy up, if I'm still breathing and moving by then.

Happy Fall!!! Or just a really busy Fall, maybe.

Sonny Black

'Heart & Soul'-'Blues Walkin' by My Side'

(*Blues so soulful, as one commenter said, it makes everything feel (OK).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2BIYX0pxY8&spfreload=5

 

[moose eater]

All things being Yin & Yang, the good news is there's more aggregate weight to the GTH#1 than I suspected earlier. The bad news is that the trimming continues, as a result of there being somewhat greater volume than anticipated.

And now that I've fondled her for a couple days or so, her resin isn't quite as ticky-tacky as the more fresh Katema Gold hash I'd had a couple decades ago. More like a creamy paste or latex consistency/texture.

But another doobie from her test bud that was harvested a while ago, proved to be as potent as initially perceived. She's a contender, and with a very pleasant, but thorough high.

Finished tonight, I hope...

 

[moose eater]

Finished this last throw's trimming late last night at about 10:45 P.M. Now the finish trim (cutting buds from smaller stems) remains, with the increased oil content slowing the drying process a fair bit; a god thing, in my estimation..

Lack of plants in the main boxes has reduced my shop's RH to about 35-40% and will continue dwindling a wee bit as we get into colder weather, unless I place a rheostat on my main exhaust fan, which will then, on the other hand, pull less heat through the shop from the basement.

Another 'all things are Yin & Yang' issue.

Remaining is to get back on track with mixing (perhaps) 6 batches of the adjusted, more recent mix recipe, letting it sit for 4 or 5 weeks, then sending it in for another water extraction test, and Mehlich III acid extraction test, and see if I'm inching my way closer to soilless mix Nirvana. Like rock climbing by brail, with some amount of fore-knowledge of the topography, but......

The finish trimming and soilless mixes, as well as taking clones from my existing mothers, in order to perpetuate their presence.

My Goji OG #2 and #8 are in a heat to determine which may die, as I am at near capacity for reasonable-size mothers, and the contenders for 'banishment by execution' are my Widow Bomb #3 and the 2 referenced Gogi OG plants. CI, SLH, GTH#1, and 1 of the 2 Gojis are -going- to remain, making room for at least 2 more moms in the absence of the 2 I decide to discard.

Like puppies from a too big a litter, I hate getting rid of any of them. Nostalgia can get in the way of pragmatism, sometimes. But I'm very interested to see what materializes from the Satori, White Lotus, Field trip, and More Cowbell, as well as a couple others, including seeds gifted to me from a breeding venture in remote bush Alaska, that incorporated Strawberry Sour Diesel, Super Lemon Haze, Goji OG, and THC Bomb (with the THC Bomb being an Indica variety that I have little interest in, and grew -very- briefly.... once).

Anyway, I'm off to assess a power-line right-of-way, determine which trees pose the greater threat to a neighbor's electricity, inform said trees of their nearing executions, and then prepare the truck to take my wife on a rare trip into rural/bush Alaska.

Fall, like the last metaphorical miles in the life-span of humans, has the capacity to become a very busy time immediately before going into elongated slumber.

Sun's out.

 

[Bud Green]

looked at your pics... I think your pH is just fine!

..

 

[moose eater]

Thanks Bud.

I've (at least for now) settled on 24 TBSP (1-1/2 cups) of low magnesium garden lime, with 3 TBSP dolomite, as well as a couple other amendments that may affect ph a little bit. It seems to have worked out well at those rates. Perhaps a bit lower than I wanted, but acceptable. (6.0 - 6.1 versus 6.4 - 6.7 preferred)

As stated earlier, I've come to suspect that perhaps I received a bad batch of the LaMotte's 2221 reagent, as never before have I seen a delayed reading on ph, once mixed and tested, such as the variances I've observed with this batch of reagent for the last year-and-a-half, and I've been using this reagent/kit for almost 20 years.

So, whether they've changed their construct of the reagent, or this batch in particular is off, I'll try ordering a replacement batch (it's technically only got a 2-year shelf-life anyway), and see if that makes any difference. But I have to incorporate the help of a friend in another State, as otherwise I'll have to pay an outrageous hazmat freight charge, simply for having alcohol as a base component.

 

[moose eater]

A person near to me, who knows I ask for analyses of my smoke in order to hear honest, critical, objective reviews, and not to buff my ego or have smoke blown up my ass, (in part because too many years of imbibing has left me sometimes not trusting my experience of weed in general), circulated some of my Super Lemon Haze (from this crop) among a group of his friends (typo initially read as 'fiends,' and probably wan't too far afield from truth).

In all but one instance, it was the only weed being smoked. I wasn't present for any of this; I'm inherently asocial.

Remarks reportedly ranged from "Out of this world." to "Exceptional." to "Excellent." Presumably, they weren't just being kind in order to express their thankfulness for his generosity.

I was pleased, then wondered why, when I do let some go, I only ask what I do.... WAY below market?

I wonder if Robin Hood ever worried about buying his heating oil after giving away the King's loot?

None the less, when it is finally cured, it'll be sealed well in air-tight bags, double-sealed, then frozen in the larger freezers until needed. Where I've discovered over the time of doing this specific process, that even at -15 degrees f., it actually continues to cure or degrade, depending, albeit at much slower rates/speed.

The things you learn while watching the clock ticking, water boiling, or paint drying.

Edit: Some of the thanks for getting closer to being back to better resin/oil content, and better general plant health, is owed to growingcrazy, jidoka, Slownickel, LED05, rico swasi, h.gh (who reduced my heightened fear of salt and sulfur content, due to their transient natures/soluble status), and others. Thanks for helping overcome the hurdles, both natural, as well as those created by losing my way over the years, in technicality and such.

Re. the individual who offered to help custom-tune an RO/DI system to minimize waste-water run-off, thus getting me back to much softer water, with a ~50:50 mix of well water and treated water, thanks. I haven't forgotten about your offer, and the funds are getting closer to being available, though there's medical adventures afoot, as well as needing to buy 2 RO/DI systems when I spring for them, as the kitchen needs a new system as well.

 

[moose eater]

It was determined over the last couple evenings, via input from 2 presumably objective persons, that this go-round of GTH#1, despite being a fair bit less appealing to the eye than she has been in happier times, is quite potent, initially hitting with a 'BAM!!!', which includes the all-encompassing 'fuzzy blanket' effect (a sensation that had me loving good quality Nepalese black hash for many years), then it levels off, but maintains presence, for a notably long time; like 4-5 hours of even-keel.

She was rated as 9.5-10/10 and 9/10 respectively.

She remains a keeper, despite her tendency to become an octopus, requiring more stakes, earlier on, than any other strain currently present in my stable.

The things we tolerate in or quid pro quo view of the world.