Whitethorn Rose
Roll Up For Cannabis Equity – A Monthly Column
By Terrie Best
I met Wade years ago at a cannabis activist meeting and he stood out when he volunteered to host a seed exchange for patients who would like to grow for themselves. That generosity, very typical of Wade, eventually morphed into a really fun activist action at the first ever Cannabis Row at Earth Day in Balboa Park.
Earth Day is held every year around April 20th which of course begs for a cannabis presence. The legal market had begun to flex its PR and marketing muscle beyond the back pages of The Reader and Cannabis Row at Earth Day goes down in San Diego history as one of the first mainstream weed events. A win. After all, it was 2017!
San Diego activists chose to push the envelope that year and hand out cannabis seeds. It seems innocent now – little seeds for free- but we were actually apprehensive and we were warned not to do it. We did it anyway.
Wade supplied the seeds and people really loved it.
Seedless weed wasn’t always a thing and since seeds are now so scarce (unless you know guys like Wade), if I see one, I am always tempted to spout it. There’s so much potential locked in that little shell, it seems sad not to show it that kindness.
Before our neighbors to the south discovered how to cultivate Sinsemilla – translates as seedless cannabis – and in times past and cabins unattended – I ‘ve noticed that that bygone seedy weed left out on trays would wind up with all the little shells neatly cracked open and the inside eaten by whatever varmint discovered the tray. Proving everybody loves cannabis!
Yes, seeds are cool and there’s no bigger seed nerd than Wade. That’s why it was so tragic when he lost his entire seed library in a misguided sheriff visit. He called me for help and as I struggled with the dilemma of a search warrant and raid in these times, Wade got to work doing it for himself.
First he managed to get the court to give him the affidavit that supported the warrant, then he contacted his colleagues in seeds ( I really want to say seedy colleagues) and bless their ever loving little hearts, they were able to pledge to completely replace all Wade had lost, including the coveted White Thorn Rose (WTR) strain in the news lately. Because of the comradery, he wouldn’t even need to fight the law to get his stuff back.
Generosity has its perks. A while back, Wade had found a legacy WTR seed and asked the strain holder if he could sprout it. When he got permission, with a caveat to share what he grew with other propagators, he did. When he lost the precious mother plant to the sheriffs (they chopped it down – it was a tree), all of his friends came forward and offered their (WTR) clones (cuttings) he’d distributed to them for when he is ready to grow again.
In the meantime, Wade will continue his cannabis education even though legalization and over- regulation precluded him from any entrepreneurial endeavor, like it did 90% of legacy growers.
The Ganjier Program gave him a scholarship for their sommelier-type cannabis course. The instructors teach and certify professionals who will go on to help consumers distinguish quality products. Wade is being trained on the cannabis plant’s nuances and complexities and has been volunteering at the program as he earns his certificate. The WTR mother was his project at Ganjier and he is glad to have access to her clones.
Let’s grow more! Cannabis is a fascinating plant. As Arno Hazekamp wrote in Chemistry of Cannabis:
“If it were to be discovered today, growing in some remote spot of the world, it would be hailed as a wonder of nature; a new miracle plant with the potential to treat anything ranging from headaches to neurological disorders to cancer.”
Please put a seed in the ground and grow a miracle. Corporate cannabis shouldn’t be the only thing growing.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I get a lot of free seeds from growers up here, and have been given some from growers in NorCal, too, and in the Imperial Valley. Sometimes you never know what is going to grow or the strain, but that’s the fun of it I think!
We have a local strain (NE Washington State) that’s been names G-Force, and it’s an auto that fires into bud at about 4 months. Doesn’t get tall, more of a bushie sativa hybrid (thin leafed) that grows buds that look more like Christmas ornaments on a Charlie Brown tree though the center top ends up very compacted/dank. Big fat balls hanging off the ends! It’s hilarious to look at.
It’s a cross between God’s Gift and God’s Breath, which (as far as I know) are both local hybrids. Another local was Hogg but I haven’t any seeds for those left for this coming season.
My seed stock is starting to get old, and I’m losing strains like Mantanushka Thunderfu*k Alaskan Purple, Trainwreck, Gorilla Glue, and others that I’ve been given that I never had a name for. A bunch that came up from Imperial Valley a few years ago aren’t sprouting too well anymore, either, but I’ve got both Humboldt and Mendo county seed strains being brought up this Spring so I’m going to get to see just how well they do. The way the growing zones are changing, I’m hopeful that they will do well though it’s MUCH drier with higher temperatures in my mountain area. At least I have a lot of water here with a good well.
I only grow outdoor and move them inside at night during the flowering process since many of the seeds tend to be ‘finishing’ long before the days start growing shorter. Literally in mid-July which feels weird to see happen!
I also sew up my own pots so I can move them on a hand truck when I need to, and I have a local friend who loves making his own soil so I get some of that, too. Worm casings etc, it’s stinky but plants love what he does.
Here’s the latest grow zone map:
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213600629/-it-feels-like-im-not-crazy-gardeners-arent-surprised-as-usda-updates-key-map
I’m far more into growing from seed rather than clones which tend to morph I’ve noticed. I had one clone, an Alaskan Mantanuska, that just the lower branches grew seeds and those turned into a great source which I’ve been using up since 2014! But I do avoid clones for the most part because of that problem.
I grow every other year, and this Spring is that year. Wish me luck!
sealintheSelkirks
Wowza! Thanks so much for reading and adding a bunch of cool information. You have obviously put in a lot of passion toward growing. Congratulations and best of luck this Spring! Keep in touch. I enjoy your comments.
Funny how precious seeds are now. My friend brought some weed his dad grew back from Colorado a few years ago that accidentally had seeds. He explained it as being a good thing and a bad thing.
Definitely a good thing. It was fun to grow from seed, sad to kill the males, and exciting to see these three Jack and the Beanstalk-esque plants take off. I have never had a season like that from clones. Beware the OB caterpillars!
Back in the late 70s and early 80s I grew Colombian Gold and Oaxacan Gold from seed. I know that I am biased, but the best that we had back then was better than the current legal stuff sold today. Those Columbian seeds always were beautifully speckled and then there were the giant beachball Afghani seeds , and even the Thai Sticks had a few seeds. I feel lucky that I got to experience all those FABULOUS landrace strains.
Thanks for reading and commenting! I love all stories of legacy weed and the way folks experienced collecting and growing seeds. I remember fat seeds! You sound well informed. There are so many with so much knowledge.
We learned early on that one couldn’t smoke seeds, but you could eat them! Many had a little tasty crunch to them.
JMS – Columbian was so good! Its unique taste and flavor – I can actually remember the last Columbian joint I smoked — mid-70s in San Fransisco. Then all the lands that grew weed in Columbia were turned into poppy ranches.
Traces of cannabis found in pre-modern human bones for the first time
A 17th-century hospital crypt in Milan, Italy, has yielded the first archaeological evidence of cannabis’s psychoactive components in human bones
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2404056-traces-of-cannabis-found-in-pre-modern-human-bones-for-the-first-time/
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Of course the Mongol Priestess found undisturbed in a crypt by a National Geographic team years ago with a ‘medicine bag’ around her neck full of thousands of years old desiccated buds says there are more bones out there somewhere with far older trace amounts…
sealintheSelkirks
Terri, your descriptions in this article are entirely wrong. Allow me to correct your story. The Cannabis Village at the Earth Day festival was Dion Markgraaff’s long-time dream that we finally achieved in 2017. He wanted to do a “seed share” and I agreed to do it. When Wade heard about it, he offered some of his seeds, which I gladly accepted. There were several other grower friends who gave many more of the seeds. I prepared 2000 packs of 10 seeds, labeled accurately with the strain name and name of the breeder. On Earth Day I alone handed out 1500 packs of seeds, to around 800 grateful attendees. To this day, I hear about growers in San Diego who have grown those seeds.
Sorry Rich,
I believe you, but Wade and I also passed out seeds. I did speak with Dion that day but I’ not sure we spoke about seeds. As you both were on the SDASA board with me, I’m surprised we didn’t coordinate, but it appears we didn’t. I will chalk it up to trying to fly under the radar. I felt our exchange would be frowned upon by the Earth Day people. Congrats on your seed exchange!