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Painted Pistols Cannabis Co.

By Veronica Castillo

Painted Pistols Cannabis Co.

Providing an avenue for the community of Chickasha to experience clean, organic medicinal cannabis.

 

In a city about 35 miles away from Oklahoma City, exists a cannabis cultivation company owned and operated by life-long Chickasha residents- Painted Pistols Cannabis Co. Painted Pistols is located in a stand-alone building in downtown Chickasha on HWY 81, with a large parking lot that can accommodate large motor vehicles, trailers, and RVs.

 

“We are less than 3 miles from the turnpike exit. In the past, it was used for an automotive shop and before that, we believe it was a radiator shop.”

5 WAYS HEMP-CBD CAN BRING BALANCE TO THE HOME DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC by Veronica Castillo

About Painted Pistols

 

Based in Oklahoma, with pistols attached to the name may raise some eyebrows, but no need because the name stems from a connection; a message in a song:

 

“Painted Pistols was inspired by a line in Trampled, a song by Turtles- ‘the calm and the crying wind’. While listening, I was praying and contemplating what we should name the shop. The first line in the song was exactly what I needed to hear. All the hairs stood up on my arm and it confirmed to me that was the name we were supposed to use.”

 

The owner of Painted Pistols Cannabis Co. always knew cannabis would be a part of life. With years in the cannabis industry and talks of Oklahoma going legal for medicinal consumption, the owner says:

 

“When talk of legalizing medical cannabis in our state started happening, I knew I’d be involved somehow, I just didn’t know what that looked like but when the opportunity with the building presented itself, I decided to jump on it.”

 

As many have reported, and though it varies from state to state, getting into the legal cannabis industry isn’t an easy task. When asked about the hardest part of the journey into cannabis entrepreneurship, the response was:

 

“The rules and regulations changing so much; medical cannabis had only been legal less than a year when we opened.”

 

Painted Pistols: Team and Mission

 

Painted Pistols has a team that makes its operation possible. Aside from the owner, the team consists of a dispensary manager, a sales associate/ graphic designer/ Budtender (one person handles these roles), and an inventory and bookkeeping specialist (one person handles these roles). The owner is at the dispensary every day with the exception of a getaway with his fiancé (which we all need!):

 

“We snuck away early last year for a 2-day weekend trip but I have been in the store every other day since we’ve opened. I take pride in being an owner / operator of the store.”

 

The Painted Pistols Cannabis Co. mission is one that can be appreciated:

 

“We are here to provide education and clean meds to patients. When a patient choses cannabis over prescription pills, they are looking for a safer alternative. If that “safer alternative” is pumped full of chemicals, is that really safer?”

 

About the Painted Pistol Dispensary and Strains

For those that haven’t visited Painted Pistols Cannabis Co. dispensary, here is what the owner describes as the vibe in the dispensary:

“We know that cannabis can be intimidating to new patients. We want them to feel comfortable when they walk into our store and answer any and all questions they have about cannabis and consumption. It is our favorite part of the day when we get to consult with a new patient, find out what their need for cannabis is, and help find a product that works best for their body.”

As for brands that Oklahoma cannabis patients can find at Painted Pistols Cannabis Co., the owner states:

“Frosty Organics, Resonant Cult, Hermetic Flower Co, King Cannabis, and No Time.  We have a huge supply of edibles from companies like Smokiez, Bison Extracts, and RR brothers. Others include: Divine collection, Leaf Logic, Ice Melts, and Vedana Solventless Hash Rosin.”

In Closing

When asked why a cannabis dispensary in Chickasha,Oklahoma– the answer received was centered in love:

“Chickasha is my hometown. I was born and raised here. I wanted to share my passion with those I grew up with and introduce them to clean cannabis. A good friend was moving back to this area to start a grow and we knew it would be a great opportunity to showcase his organic, living soil grown cannabis.”

Cannabis is centered in love, healing, and appreciation. The owner closed with something so beautiful that as I type this, I am getting chills. Because of that, it’s only right that I allow him to close the piece. When asked: “what should patients know about Painted Pistols that hasn’t been asked?”

The owner of Painted Pistols stated:

“I know this seems clique but our patients have become our family. Not only because they know they can trust us, but because of the bonds we’ve formed. It threw me off the first time a patient told me he loved me as he was leaving. Now, it’s kind of become the norm.”

The Cast Of The POD Variety – Ep 7

Episode 7

Herbage Magazine Presents “the cast of the pod variety”

A weekly obscure podcast covering a variety of cannabis related content within the community. We speak with others that are living with this plant, industry leaders, Herbage happenings, music, film, and more.

Show contributors: James Bridges Anna Ervin

Earth Day: The Good I Can Do

by Tab Moura

When I think of Earth Day, I think of— well— the earth. The whole world. All at once. And wow… where do we even begin, right?

Weed Like to Talk About Dandelions, by Tab Moura

We can talk about common topics if you really wanna, like climate, and climate, and viruses, but I feel like sometimes we miss the forest for the trees when it comes to the planet. With all of its enormous planetness, we risk forgetting our neighborhoods and homes. This year I’m looking at the ways I can personally be more earth-conscious. 

 

Metal Straws – this has been so helpful for my husband and I. We prefer to use glass or metal for our drinkware. Due to our kids’ special needs, we prefer plastic straws for them, but we still buy reusable. 

Bees wrap – this one is growing on me. The wax paper is thick, but with use, it seems to continue to cling better.

Berkey – we were in a really tricky place when COVID began last year. Our tap water is not safe, so we exclusively used bottled water. When water was sold out, we had to get creative. Our Berkey truly saved the day.

Reusable grocery bags – this is just common sense at this point, besides being good for the environment, I am a big fan of how strong they are. 

Reusable water bottles – I love my reusable water bottles, there are so many kinds. Because we have 5 people under our roof, I’ve been able to get a few kinds while we each figure out what style we prefer for functionality. 

Recycling – we have found that whether we have a recycling box or not, we prefer to recycle. You can look around to find your areas’ recycling drop-off locations, or contact the city and request your own recycling bin. Recycling facilities are designed to reduce the effect of our waste on our environment, it’s estimated that the average American produces an annual amount of 2,072 lbs of trash… for obvious mathematical reasons, recycling helps us avoid a Wall-E situation.

Gardening and compost – one of the things we can do to improve the vitality of our Victory Gardens (or even the little tomato plant on your back porch) is to put food scraps from leftover produce in the soil. I’m not gonna get real technical, there are some great resources for learning more about composting. I hope you take a look!

Green medicine – we have had a cannabis industry in OK long enough for us all to acknowledge that those plastic containers begin to pile up pretty quickly. Ideas I’ve seen include: growing at home, bring used plastic containers to the dispo, or even bring a glass container to the disposal. 

Buy used clothing/ donate used clothing – I missed shopping used clothing stores last year! These stores are seriously so fun to explore. I like that they have clothing from multiple decades all in one place, and this also helps to reduce waste. 

 

What are you doing differently this Earth Day? Have recent events changed your perspective on what you can do to help reduce your own carbon footprint?

Canna Get an Education?

by Tab Moura

I was that girl… let me just apologize to all of my readers who medicated long before I did. I really did not get it, and in some ways, I probably still don’t. I’m a Ravenclaw… my teenage experience was somewhere between ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul.’ It was pure. You don’t wanna know how many people are shocked to know I grew up to become a cannabis writer and educator. Let’s just say, even I am surprised. 

Tornado Alley, by Tab Moura

As a kid I was told something like this… “Marijuana (mary-ju-wana) is bad, and it turns people’s brains into mush.” Oh, I had questions. Is it the smoke that melts people’s brains, or maybe it’s the death glares they receive? What is this crazy plant and how is it EVERYWHERE? 

DARE really made it seem like turning down drugs would be a daily occurrence, and as far as I knew, anyone was capable of offering them to me. I kid you not, I even checked my grandmother’s room. I thought that people waiting for buses were secretly drug dealers. I remember telling a friend that I didn’t know how she could handle being in public school, you know, with all the drugs. I can’t even write this without laughing so hard I’m snorting. 

I was that girl. I had it all wrong and I believed it. Why would I question what everyone told me? Why would someone say “weed is dangerous” if they weren’t sure? 

If we rewind the clock, even 115 years ago, we would find cannabis used regularly. No one batted an eye. It was never about whether or not it has medicinal benefits. It was also never about whether or not we could prove its benefits scientifically. Cannabis was replaced with other sleep aids, it was replaced by other pain medications and other muscle relaxers. It was replaced— meaning someone understood how it worked and wanted to use other things in its place.

I choose to write about this plant, because I know there are other “that Girl’s” out there. I choose to write about it from my perspective because I am “not-your-typical” cannabis user… and statistically speaking, there will be more and more “noobs” as states continue to legalize this medicine. We’re new here, we have questions… but that doesn’t mean we have to have doubts.

If you’re in Oklahoma, you are probably familiar with some of our cannabis education resources, but I’ll share a few to get you started in case you aren’t. 

ECS Therapy Center – founded by Dr. Regina Nelson

Hundreds of individuals have completed these programs, including myself. Level one is a perfect fit for anyone looking for General need-to-know cannabis knowledge. Levels two and three are in-depth overviews of things like dosing for pediatric patients, geriatric patients, chronic pain, and treatment methods for major conditions like cancer and addiction. This program also offers the opportunity to become certified as a trainer yourself. You can find local Cannacian trainers through ECS Therapy Center. 

Oaksterdam University – located in Oakland, California

So many options, I don’t even know where to begin. If you are looking for an education that sets you apart in the cannabis industry, no matter your niche, this is a great place to begin. From cannabis horticulture to extraction, even business management. They’ve thought of everything, but don’t take my word for it. Check them out to see their live and self-paced courses.

Master Regulators – created by Chip Paul (Gnu Pharma)

This course was created by Chip Paul, a dedicated cannabis scientist and advocate in Oklahoma. This course covers the history of cannabis, the basics of the endocannabinoid system, and some information around common diseases. With additional courses in the works, this program could be just the level up that you’re looking for.

The Cast Of The POD Variety – Ep 5

Episode 5

Herbage Magazine Presents “the cast of the pod variety”

A weekly obscure podcast covering a variety of cannabis related content within the community. We speak with others that are living with this plant, industry leaders, Herbage happenings, music, film, and more.

Show contributors: James Bridges Anna Ervin

herbagemag.com

 

Trust the Process

by Anna Ervin

So often I find myself frustrated in the beginning phases of writing a story. I’ll throw my hands up and curse the laptop because the words on my screen aren’t painting the picture that I want them to. You can blame my Aries sun sign for this, patience has never been one of my strengths. In the past, I’ve picked up so many projects only to put them back down because I didn’t get it right the first time around.

But for the first time in my life, I have a job that makes me want to do whatever it takes, however many times it takes, to excel. Because of this, I have learned that when I push through the frustration and put in the real work (the inner work), the end result is so much more rewarding.

So, what does that inner work look like?

To start, it looks like facing your negative emotions head-on, asking yourself, “why do I feel this way and what can I do to work through those feelings?” But that’s a lot easier said than done, right? Changing your habits and the way you react to emotions doesn’t happen overnight. It requires intention, focus, and patience.

So, if a fiery, fast-paced Aries like me can learn to slow down and trust herself, I’m positive that you can too. I’ll leave you with few tips that have continuously helped me better understand my fears, angers, and frustrations, and ultimately work past them:

  • Take a step back. If you’re stuck in a negative headspace and you can’t get out, don’t force it. Take a break, read a chapter in your favorite book, eat a meal, or do something nice for yourself. Sometimes we just need to take a little space from whatever is causing us to feel distressed, in order to gain a little perspective and clarity.

 

  • Breathe. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Visualize your breath traveling down into your belly, doing a little somersault, then climbing back up your spine and out through your mouth. This is something I learned through yoga, but it helps me so much on a day-to-day basis. We hold all of this tension in our bodies, and sometimes that’s where a lot of our emotions stem from. Breathe into and through those areas to allow that energy to flow a little more freely.

 

  • Smoke a bowl. Find a strain that uplifts your mood and calms your heart. I respond to a lot of strains differently than most, but Purple Punch seems to really do it for me. Find that strain for you, and have it handy for those moments when you’re feeling the weight of everything.

 

  • Trust the process. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your problems aren’t going to go away overnight. Trust that whatever you are feeling or going through right now is playing an important role in your journey. It doesn’t always make sense right away, but I promise that someday you’ll be able to look back and see a much bigger picture.

My Road To 40

by Tab Moura

I read once that 40 years old is when most women truly reach a point in their lives where they don’t care as much what other people think. It’s when they begin living more authentically and surround themselves with friendships that are more energizing.

In 2021 I will be turning 32, and I’ve decided that it’s never too early to stop giving a crap. This year I’ve begun to make some changes.

Plant Medicine for Spring, by Tab Moura
Enjoy BEING More

We’ve seen the world melt around us, 2020 helped me to acknowledge that the world really will get over if I cannot, or will not, sacrifice my sanity to make things happen. My memories of my children are just as important as my children’s memories of me… for all of our sakes, I will defend our special days from perfectionism and comparison, so we can all relax a little. 

Eat Well

So this is a double edge sword. I believe it’s equally important that we eat nutritiously, and also that every woman deserves at least one treat that is never shared. I’m an early bloomer, so I’ve already been rehearsing this one. Right now it’s organic mint chip ice cream. However, I’m not actually 40 yet, so I have time to try a few more treats before I’ll ultimately do whatever I wanna do anyway. 

Do it
Stoner, by Tab Moura

By this point in your life, I’m sure there has been at least one big thing that you “just aren’t brave enough to try.” Or maybe it’s financial and you just don’t see how you can justify the expense… I’m here to tell you, it’s time to do it. If it’s a matter of bravery, then it’s time to smoke a bowl and ask your bestie to help you follow through. If it’s truly just about money, it’s time to make a budget. Write it down. Look those numbers in the eye, then call your bestie to brainstorm how to raise the money. I know it can wait… it always can— but this is the season we start living authentically, remember? 

Hawt Stuff

If you don’t own a sexy outfit, now is the time. I don’t care if you never go anywhere. I don’t care if you’re single. I don’t care if your sexy outfit isn’t a dress… it’s a right of passage. If you don’t own an outfit that makes you feel attractive, don’t feel pressure to spend money on it. This is about authenticity after all. Perhaps the real goal is to reach a point where only your own voice is what determines your self-image— and that it’s important to surround yourself with loving people who appreciate your beauty.

I’m looking forward to adding to this list as I continue my journey to 40. Maybe you’d like to share some of the rights of passage you have come across as you’ve reached these milestones. You can find me on Insta @tabmoura feel free to tag me and tell me what wisdom you’ve gained while growing and shedding expectations. 

Lotus Letters

What Did You Call Me?!

Looking up from the letter with furrowed brows, you sit with it in your hands trying to understand why the contents feel so familiar. As if you’d written it yourself knowing you’d be exactly where you are now. In a chair, talking to a cat….

You must have looked hilarious trying to make heads or tails of it, to have conjured such a musical laugh from Howligree: “Relax Starseed, you act as if you are supposed to have a hempcrete understanding of everything right this very instant!”

Your expression delves further into exclamation and she just grins. For you couldn’t possibly know everything in this now moment, it would be too much in too short of a timeframe! After all, you’re partially human, you’d combust!!

“Here, let’s try this,” she murmurs handing you another letter. 

Dearest Daring Divine,

I see you haven’t up and abandon our correspondence, good. I have loads to tell you!

What’s this though? You seem a bit rattled…Ah, 

You’ve met Howligree haven’t you…Mmhm, curious being isn’t she. Well, I suppose I should explain some things before we dive further into other topics. Let’s see now… Oh! Of course! You are probably wondering what the bloody hell a ‘Star Seed’ is. 

In short, you are. Haha, but that’s not enough, is it? No, I suppose not. Alright, alright. 

A star seed is typically referred to as a human being with an origin outside of Earth.  A being who incarnated on this planet to experience life as a human, with tangible senses. 

For some, it’s as simple as that! It’s exciting to be human! It’s akin to taking a vacation to the space between worlds of density and lightness. We get to bask in aromas and flavorings. We get to feel the cool ground beneath our feet as we run and listen to the winds many songs. As if all of that wasn’t enough…we have the honor of making love into corporeality. 

It sounds like a dream! And that’s the rub, to most of us that’s precisely what it feels like. You see Earth has a sort of checkpoint if you will, a veil. When we pass through it on our way in, we tend to forget our cosmic roots. All of our knowledge. Countless ‘lifetimes’ and experiences.  

But why?  Well, for most star seeds this isn’t spring break. It’s a mission, a test…one in which no cheat sheets are permitted. Coming here means you must make yourself remember. For each step you take in remembering who you are, you radiate the frequency of recollection to you, your fellow star siblings, and furthermore to those who originate here on mother Gaia. Whom which I might add know nothing but this world and its difficulties. Can you imagine the uprising once they realize they aren’t just human?  But rather, HUMAN. See what happens when you switch the word you emphasize? A fair amount of beings have experienced harrowing trials as a constant. You and I both know negativity tends to make a more prominent impact than positivity here in this version of reality.

Look, what I’m so eloquently trying to say is this: Existing means to operate by way of frequency. And frequencies act like dominoes. 

For Star Seeds to come from an energy of such unconditional love and sovereignty to a world whose inhabitants primarily believe they are helpless and restrained in bondage…you do the math. There’s no stopping a chain reaction. 

Just by being here, just by reading this, you have opened a door for you and countless others. Nothing is expected of you, you need not brandish a sword nor scream your perspectives from rooftops if you don’t wish to. 

You only need to know that you are the embodiment of love and truth. Both will set you and this world free. 

Thank you from the deepest wells of my heart. This is no easy feat. In fact, I dare say this is the most difficult dimension I’ve ever visited…but here you are anyway. Amazing.

Until we read again

Fondest and proudest regards,  the YOUniverse

the cast of the pod variety EP 004

Episode 004

James Bridges and Anna Ervin with Herbage Magazine talk about what’s happening in the cannabis culture, art, business, musicians, comedians, and more…. herbagemag.com

On this episode we visit with Daniel Lewis to talk Cross Roads 2 Cannabis, Cowboy Cup, and more…

We get a small glimpse of a lengthy conversation to come later with Cory Hancock of Hancock Cartoons. Check us out weekly.

For guest details, sponsorships, event news, and more: james@herbagemag.com _______________ #herbagemagazine  

 

 

Finding the Words

by Tab Moura

I usually realize I’m feeling this way when the clock reads 12am and I’m still staring at the cursor. Just waiting for the right glimmer of an idea to hit me. It’s not very complicated really, writing isn’t the problem… it’s the symptom.

Cannabis – Crossing the Barrier, by Tab Moura

I’ve shared about my insomnia before. While so much of my issue is managed with exercise and cannabis, there is this other side that’s truly just psychological, and honestly is probably a little neurotic… I can’t sleep, because I have more to say. 

When I’m in writing mode, I toss around ideas in my mind first. I mostly imagine pictures, or songs, or funny things I heard that day, and I debate what feelings those things give me… is it happiness? Nah, that word tastes a little too vanilla. Maybe it’s joy? Mmm, too pure. Nostalgia. That’s the word. Inside jokes. Grandma’s secret recipe. Favorite hiking spots. Flipping through a yearbook. Nostalgia. Finding the right word can feel so satisfying.

How does one choose between words that so many people use interchangeably? Writers deal with this all of the time, people write blogs on writing blogs. It’s a universal struggle; From deep wells of synonyms— to nada. There is no in-between. While we love writing so much that we cannot sleep, we can also be so disconnected from our work that we cannot put our words into sentences for months.

I don’t know which struggle I’ll have on any given day, but I guess that’s just how it goes when you write. Maybe you like to write, but writer’s block feels so hard to get past. Find your process. Start simple. Describe a feeling, as accurately as possible, or paint a picture in your mind and try to describe it. Write the cheesiest love poem you can think of… but don’t stop staring at that cursor. What if writer’s block isn’t real, it just sometimes takes a few hours, or months, to find the right words— and that’s part of what makes you a writer.

Cannabis: Crossing the Barrier

by Tab Moura

Imagine being in a large facility, you know that it contains a wealth of knowledge, riches, and untold technological advancements… but you don’t have electricity in all of the rooms. So, you know what’s there, you just cannot analyze it. This is my experience with Epilepsy. My seizures affect my ability to smoothly access various parts of my brain. 

Dab Love, by Tab Moura

It’s difficult to talk about this with people who have known me the longest because there was no single moment where we noticed my seizures begin. But what we do know is that my personality, speech, and memory are affected when my seizures are close together. My EEG indicated that I have partial seizures in my right frontal and right temporal lobes, as well as secondary generalized seizures, where there’s a kind of ripple effect through my entire brain. 

The brain is such a delicate organ, and as much as I have researched it, and have met with a handful of neurologists, I can confidently say that our day-to-day choices directly affect our brains more than we realize. 

The brain and its cerebral spinal fluid are encased in three protective layers, made up of connective tissue. Unique to the brain, it has a beautiful system for nutrient delivery and toxin removal… You may know of this as the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

The word “barrier” makes it sound tougher than it really is… the truth is, more things get past that barrier than we like to admit. Fat-soluble vitamins pass easily into the brain, but so do many medications, caffeine, sugars, several chemicals, and virtually anything that can be nanotized.

Ready to Regulate, by Tab Moura

Cannabis is fat-soluble, it passes easily into the brain and is received by the endocannabinoid system as God created it to. So not only does it pass through like so many other things, it has a welcoming committee that’s happy to see it. Cannabis is a vital food nutrient, and unlike other fat-soluble ingredients that can cross the BBB, there isn’t a toxic dose of cannabis. 

I’ve had a handful of people ask me, “are you not worried about the long-term effects of cannabis on development, or aging?” My honest answer? ”I’m pretty excited about them actually.” 

I lost the second and third languages that I worked for years to learn; they slipped away from me. I lost childhood memories. I lost my mental health. I lost my ability to create art and write poetry… and you wanna know what is helping me retrieve those parts of my brain again? Cannabis. 

If you want my advice, I recommend being a lot more concerned with the ingredients that cross the BBB, but aren’t beneficial… don’t take my word for it, do the research. You won’t regret it.

Dab Love

by Tab Moura

I have yet to find something that touches my nerve pain quite like dabs do, I think I’m in love. Have y’all dabbed recently? Oh my gosh, I am coming back from a dab sabbatical and it’s as reliable as ever.

Ready to Regulate, by Tab Moura

My first dab is a fuzzy memory. I was with my best friend/business partner and our cannabis mentor, Dr. Nelson, and that’s pretty much all I remember. My first experience inhaling flower is also a blurry experience; and edibles, and oils, and topicals… it’s pretty much all a blur. And to be honest, I did it wrong. (I don’t even want to talk about how I messed up with the lotion…) The point is, medicating with cannabis is very hands-on, and there is no substitution for practice. Learning your comfort level, learning your tolerance level, learning the methods that will best support your complaints… it’s a lot.

I didn’t originally want to try Concentrates. My brain fog was already so bad, I needed every fragment of a brain cell I could muster. My body was suffering, if I was honest with myself, I didn’t want to function… functioning hurts. But I needed to lay better groundwork to be able to manage my pain, brain fog *and* my children. Smoking flower wasn’t affordable at that pain level. Edibles didn’t help with my acute pain. I could go on… I’ve tried so many methods.

What I need to do *with* my time is valuable, so medicating properly for my lifestyle is really the only way to truly help my body heal. If I had stopped at that first experience, I would have missed out on a lot of valuable experience learning how to medicate my body properly. Today I rely on dabs, exclusively, for my pain management. If I believed all of the pre-judgments, like “concentrates are too connnceeentrrratted, how could that be “medicinal?” Or my favorite, “Obviously they were just invented to help people get high faster.”

I get it. They are concentrated. They do flood your endocannabinoid system rather quickly— but these things make the delivery method quite medicinal. Some medical conditions have intense nerve pain, which can require an acute approach, like dabs, to manage. Some people have metabolism problems that prevent them from breaking down edible forms of cannabis. I could go on.

Whatever your reason is, even just to unwind, the plant is going to reach deep into your endocannabinoid system and support your body… because that’s just how cannabis works. But never underestimate the value of investing in better groundwork. Would a strategic cannabis plan help you save money? Would it help you reduce your uncomfortable experiences? Would it help you better manage your health? Are you ready to feel consistent relief? Herbage has a few cannabis educators and wellness mentors that we partner with, I highly recommend checking them out.

Spaghetti Papania Bolognese

by Micah McKamie

Meals with cannabis as an ingredient don’t need to be complex. I’m here to introduce you to my medicated spaghetti and meat sauce that isn’t Impastable to make!!

Papania is the street name for cannabis in Italy, so I stuck to true Italian tradition and gave it a literal descriptive name. Pasta, Cannabis, Meat Sauce, Boom!!! This dinner is ideal for a date night or to make a large batch and freeze for later. Either way, you will get the high regards you deserve!! I threw in a medicated Italian bread recipe, because who can have pasta without bread?! You’ll be high and you will want the bread.

This bolognese sauce takes time to make but it really is easy! Once the prep work is done, the recipe simmers until thickened.

1.) Cook veggies and meat: brown the chopped veggies and meat. Drain drain off fat.

2.) Add Wine/Milk: Add the wine and let it simmer away. Next, add the milk and allow the mixture to simmer down.

3.) Simmer: Add remaining ingredients, including ground flower and simmer until thick.

 

Click here for the full recipe!

Ready to Regulate

by Tab Moura

I spend a lot of time modifying the world around my children, to better meet their needs. Between the autism, epilepsy, and anxiety, our problems rarely sort themselves out on their own. We have to be intentional, or we risk going past the point of regulation- and I don’t just mean the kids. I’m writing to you today, from underneath a pile of blankets, as my children fight over Minecraft in the other room. I surrender. Have all the screens you want. Mommy needs to regulate.

Women of War, by Tab Moura

This is day 10 of no hot water in our house, and I’m tired. I’m tired of planning so many indoor activities. I’m tired of planning meals with random pantry items. I’m tired of explaining why it’s not ok to use all 12 plates in one day. I’m tired, and I want my solutions now. Now.

“Now” is a symptom of dysregulation. I am not regulated. I’m feeling all of my inconveniences at once and my head is spinning. I’m not in the moment, I’m not medicated and I’m not managing my stress well. I’m just here, trying to hide my ugly. How do I change this?

 

-Vent… like I did above.

Venting is the first thing I do. If you don’t like that word, consider this ‘taking inventory’ of your situation. I like to write down what’s not going well, and I may even throw in some whiney-words for good measure. Let. It. Out. I hate this part, but I’m not doing myself or others any favors by holding it in. If you’re feeling pressure to hold it all together, try to give yourself a little grace to release your feelings somewhere private. Don’t squish them. For some of you this will feel validating, for others it’s just fancy whining, but don’t write this off yet.

-Medicate.

Just do it. Pipes frozen? Medicate. Virtual assignments not going well? Medicate. Grocery delivery cancels your delivery again? Medicate. Your kid just peed in the bathwater that you spent 30 minutes boiling— medicate. For the record, I’ve found that stepping out of the stress to do something for myself always helps, even if it doesn’t contain THC… but THC certainly helps.

So you took inventory of your drama, you did a dab, and now you’re staring at the wall. Now what? It’s time to externally process.

-Manage.

Whether your people can get on board or not, it’s time to declare your intentions, 1. What are you releasing? 2. What are you making room for? 3. Who might need your help to coregulate once you are more regulated?

What will you do after the drama settles? Watch Die Hard? Paint your nails? Play Rocket League? Do you need to write it down? Do you need to tell a friend to hold you accountable? It sounds odd to say it, but people experiencing burnout actually struggle to make time for fun… even if the time is available to them. So look at your drama inventory and tell me which excuse is big enough to prevent you from doing ONE fun thing today? Which negative moment will you let take even more time from your life? Are you ready to regulate?

Lotus Letters

Getting Played by Lady Luck? Take Your Power Back!

by Kathy Long-Barker

Wake up Starseed…The matrix is breaking.

“It seems to me you have all the information. Why ask me?” Inquired the cat cheerily, before taking a slow gratifying sip of tea. The scent of bergamot whirled through the dimly lit space as she awaited a response… after a few moments, her brows pulled together in an expression of understanding.

“You don’t remember do you?” She asked in a near whisper of awe. The candles flickered with that implication.

The ominous air dissipated as quickly as it had come, and before any sense could be made of where she procured them, she hands you a stack of weathered-looking letters with your name on the top left corner.

“It’s Time to revisit your inner knowing,” she suggests warmly.

Dearest daring divine,

My Earthly excursions have continued to be nothing short of exceedingly intriguing. I thought I might share some of my acquired knowledge to pass the times, as currently, they are so strange.

Let’s talk about ‘LUCK’ Versus ‘ Serendipity’. In my experience, I’ve found that one is a limiting belief based in the realm of chance, polarity, and codependency whilst the other is an empowering belief based on divine trust and sovereignty.

Women of War, by Tab Moura

Here in the month of March it’s nigh impossible to avoid themes of “luck”. Shades of emerald, shamrocks, charms, and even an entire Irish citizen are celebrated to call in good fortune. Yet in the very same month, an ominous shadow is cast over the land in the occurrence known as “ The Ides of March.” The dreaded middle of the month when throughout history, terrible incidents, or rather BAD LUCK, have previously and still are expected to ensue.

Holy hash, that doesn’t sound pleasant…I mean, damn. Putting it simply, in order to possibly be lucky we need to depend on things like rabbits’ feet and unopened umbrellas; that may or may not render aid? We could still be UNLUCKY!? Furthermore not only in March, but any time we dip our toes into this tricky realm?! If you ask me it seems like a cheap ploy to make us believe we have control in this projection of reality. If your peace and prosperity require things outside of yourself, you are not in control. You’re giving away your power by means of attachment. Example: “I am in need of this rabbit foot to be abundant”

Look at this whole ass mess of a sentence. Let’s fix it.

“I am abundant” See? When you don’t depend on the thing, you’re left with yourself in alignment. I assure you, you’re more than enough to get the job done.

Remember. Where your focus goes, that is what you are actively engaging in within YOUR reality (that’s why it’s called the youniverse). So, if you believe that the only way you’re going to receive good fortune or ward off bad fortune is by patting your shirt pockets five times, spinning one counterclockwise rotation on the spot, and spitting on the ground… well honestly I’d just giggle.

Moving on, I’ll tell you I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy the consciousness of serendipity instead of our previously mentioned mechanism. Serendipity isn’t dependent on anything. the only way you can negate it is by being inauthentic! Yeesh, who would want to do that anyway?

Unlike ‘luck’ you can’t search for serendipity, you can’t win it over or get in its favor. It shows up on its own terms when we least expect it, when a flow state is occurring within us. A perfect alignment with our highest timeline and good.

Incidentally, what a better time to observe this phenomenon than now? For, this month brings ZERO planets in retrograde. Now of course that is divine design in the grand scheme of things. However, to the freshly waking Starseed who is relearning the cosmos, it’s a perfect example.

Now hang on! I’m not saying let’s set the clover fields ablaze and bulldoze the rabbit foot factory! (kidding about the rabbit foot factory. I see any of you chopping bunny toes, expect continual fork on plate scraping in your vicinity, loudly, for-ev-er)

I’m no stranger to enjoying festivities of a concept akin to luck for fun. Or engaging in a tangible ritual as a means of stepping into the frequency of abundance. After all, we are tangible beings. It’s nice to be able to use our senses when manifesting. It’s just important to be aware that it’s not necessary. All you need to live your best life is you.

Ever-evolving love to you, The Youniverse

Canna Get A Victory Garden?

by Tab Moura

This year has taken me out of my comfort zone in so many ways, and I’m not altogether bummed about it. We didn’t know last March that we would experience grocery shortages across the country. We didn’t know that we would spend the next 12 months thinking about our families’ health and wellness more than ever before. But we did… and many of us aren’t looking back!

Many of you experimented with gardening over the last year. Research suggests that we basically sold out of all seeds last year… and that’s good news! The world is a better place when people have seeds in

Asthma and Cannabis, by Tab Moura

their hands… and it’s always been that way! In the United States, we can look to our own family histories to see how our parents, grandparents, and their parents used at-home gardens to produce significant amounts of food during WWI, and as much as 40% of the nations produce during WWII. A time where no one could escape the effects of the war, the people just wanted to help however they could. Gardening proved to have a bigger impact than they could have imagined… their Victory Gardens have inspired generations of home gardens and have now produced decades of meals.

I am gardening with my daughters this year, and I am so excited! Cannabis patients across the country are already familiar with the heart of victory gardens because many of us grow our own medicine— a victory of a different kind. Modern victory gardens may look pretty unique, with a canna-plant or two thrown in, but even if you simply grow food in your yard to help feed those in need, the energy invested will have lasting impacts.

  • For those with limited space, I recommend planting things that can grow vertically. Maybe peas, or green beans, etc… you can use various objects around the house to help support them as they grow, but most gardening stores will have trellises if you can afford it.
  • If you are new to gardening, I recommend looking into plants that are not as sensitive to overwatering or sun exposure. Here are some plants that the pros consider “easy” to grow: tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, bell peppers, beans, strawberries, and carrots.
  • We have a few veggie plants growing indoors at the moment; peas, tomatoes, and green beans. We started them in solo cups, labeled them, and set them near a window, and I am so very excited to transfer them to the dirt in a week or so! (Stay tuned!) If this is your first garden, start slow. Don’t make it fancy. Don’t plant too much at once until you feel ready to add a bigger commitment to your plate. You don’t have to plant them all at the same time, they all have different growth cycles anyway.
  • Get the kids involved, I cannot imagine a better life lesson than to learn *firsthand* that something small can be so powerful. Let them garden, and don’t pressure them to eat any of it… let their curiosity take root. This is their victory garden too, their chance to help contribute to world hunger. What an empowering job.

Having children with special needs, both developmental and medical, I didn’t know we were ready for a project like this until we tried. The seed supply is ready for another record-breaking year… but many seeds can be found inside of the produce you find at the grocery store. Next time you open a bell pepper or a tomato, save your seeds for planting and see what happens. Maybe 2021 can be a year of victory after all.

Miracle on 39th Street

by Micah McKamie

Part of my morning routine is to immediately get up when I open my eyes, wake and bake, and get a good outside workout in before the day begins. This had not happened in a few days due to the weather and I was starting to feel a little cooped up. That particular morning I had been smoking an amazing Sativa from Troy Buds called Pure Power Plant, which had zipped me up pretty well, I was starting to really get the pushy effects. I was pumped up!!! So, I decided to brave the temperatures, get some fresh air, and some relief from my inner turmoil that was developing. I fixed my sunglasses, took a puff from my pen, and stepped into the snowy streets.

Training Through Terps: Eliminate the Struggle, by Micah McKamie

My entire life had been spent in Oklahoma and Texas up until the Army, and I had never seen actual snow on the ground in the Pan-Handle state. We have always had dustings and ice storms, but this was fluffy arctic snow. I had encountered this type of snow before when I was stationed at Ft. Drum, NY and this reminded me of that soft, but compact snow, and is so cold it moved like sand. I knew that this was not going to be an easy run due to my experience in these types of elements, however, I knew how necessary it was to get outside for my mental health.

I zipped up my jacket, set Pandora to my “Runner’s High” playlist. I could feel my medication starting to kick in. Now, one of the strange things you have to get used to with Training Through Terps is the heavy effect of some of the cannabis products we use. These effects, though manageable, have the ability to completely derail your workout. You will need to be patient with the process and open to adjusting your focus for that day’s fitness routine. Go in knowing that tenacity and determination are key to the success of this program. You will have to show some drive to make this work.

There is nothing easy about changing your lifestyle. However, most things in life worth doing aren’t simple. While Sativa strains can enhance your workouts, the high THC found in these strains can sit you down quickly and make you lose track of your focus at that time. The key is not giving up. I have found that a heavy Sativa high will subside quickly thus leaving you with an outrageous amount of energy that can be harnessed for your workouts, it just takes a few minutes to get your head out of the clouds and back into the focus at hand.

As I headed north towards Downtown Bethany, I began utilizing a meditative state to keep my focus and to “drone” through my workout. I put my body on autopilot and really focused on the things going on in my life and how I could navigate them. Who and what are causing me to feel the way that I am and how can I go about navigating this issue? This kind of process is a key aspect in my mental health and allows me to process things in a healthy manner, one that PTSD and ADHD don’t always allow.

The biggest issue this morning was that although I was feeling better, the ball of gross energy that felt like a panic attack coming on was not going away. I started wondering why I was out there and if this was even worth the time. I am never one to quit so, I summoned my focus, regained my meditative state and kept going.

By the time I reached Southern Nazarene University, my beard and eyelashes are sufficiently crowned with icy accouterments. I could see myself in the shop windows. I looked like an insane person running in that much snow, when it was that cold. As I rounded the corner onto 39th, I let out a sigh of relief. The sidewalk was clear!!! Up until that point, I had kept about a 9-minute pace due to the lack of traction. Now, I had finally found an area I could really open up.

I grabbed my pen, took a few huge rips, and proceeded to do a series of sprints that destroyed the growing panic attack energy inside. As I finished my workout-within-a-workout, the snow really started to come down. I turned towards home. I had barely realized it, but pretty much everyone had retreated indoors and I was left with just the sounds of Crozet to keep me company. I have always loved the way the world gets so quiet when it snows, and now that I had gotten the nasty feelings out I really began to enjoy the entirety of my run. It was so quiet. The snowflakes and clouds created a blanket to muffle the bustling sounds of the city around me.

Training Through Terps: The Journey, by Micah McKamie

As I finished up my route and trotted into the driveway, I felt a sense of accomplishment. It wasn’t the 5 miles that felt so good, or the fact that I did it in a subzero winter wonderland, it was that I had actually had some major mental breakthroughs on my run. Things that had haunted me for years had come to the forefront on this dredge through snow and ice. After to my running introspection, I was mentally prepared for what the universe had in store for me and in no way doubted my abilities. I walked up to the doorand I looked back North, where I had come from, reveling in the feeling that I had set out dreading this run yet ended up grateful for the experience.

I unlocked my door, headed to the kitchen table for my normal post-workout smoke and shake. I had this overwhelming feeling of being grateful. The universe had provided the perfect elements for my healing. Even though I didn’t see it at first, the holy trinity of marijuana, music, and moxie took what could have been horribly emotional day and a lost workout, and turned it into one of the most healing experiences of my life. I only needed the aspects of cannabis and a strong will to capitalize on it.

Training Through Terps is not just about the physical aspects of your fitness. It is giving you a bulletproof mindset. You find your clean motivation to not only complete your workouts at a high level, but it allows for you to live a happy healthy life past the traumas and issues you have had in the past. It is High time that we stop accepting what society tells us about cannabis and start expecting more from our weed.

Women of War

by Tab Moura

March snuck up on me this year, maybe the winter storms distracted me for a little bit… but I’m back on my game and ready to see what this month has for us. What’s special about March?

Oh, plenty!

Asthma and Cannabis, by Tab Moura

I was reminded that we celebrate Women’s history during March, a month that was chosen, many believe, because of the anniversary of the first women’s suffrage parades. But maybe we should look closer at March… it may help us to see Women’s history month in a new light.

The origin of the name “March” is believed to originate from Martius, or Mars, the god of war. March was originally the first month of the year, and January and February were the last two months of the year.

March was the beginning of the year, with the Vernal Equinox. Basically, a calendar that synchronized with the start of Spring; it was a time of transformation and newness. It was celebrated much the same way that we celebrate New Years’. Some believe that it was named after the God of War because March was when armies would return to war after resting all winter.

I’ve been told that March was chosen, perhaps, because marching and activism were such integral parts of women’s history over the last 100+ years. But the heart of March is not protesting, it was war. It was the product of strategic rest and courageous planning. Roman soldiers would return home in the winter, not to huddle and stay warm… but to check on their homes, hug their loved ones, and gather resources/weapons they needed in order to contribute to the campaign in the Spring. During years of war, soldiers spent as much as 2 whole months at home, or none at all. They lived lives of sacrifice.

When I consider the mountains that have been moved in the name of women’s rights, I don’t only see what has happened over the last century, but also the way that women held up entire families and communities during those years of war, all those centuries ago. March was when they would take over everything, knowing they may not see their husbands, fathers, or sons again. In this way, I see the thread is woven through all of history… women fighting wars in their own way while demonstrating incredible bravery and strength. What a powerful tribe we are.

Asthma and Cannabis

by Tab Moura

Well, it’s that time of year again… The time of year where even if they weren’t asking everyone to wear masks, I would 100% be wearing a face-covering outside. It’s asthma season. I’ve been living with asthma for about 10 years. There are a lot of opinions about what improves, and what worsens, things like asthma… at the time of writing this, I’m watching snow fall, my joints are screaming, and I’m daydreaming of kids going to bed so I can curl up with my favorite concentrate. Like many of you, I have multiple health conditions that I treat with cannabis, and I’m all too familiar with the drama of finding what works.

This amazing plant is a natural anti-inflammatory, which helps in hundreds of conditions, including asthma. While there are definitely some benefits to using inhaled medical cannabis for asthma, there are some potential risks as well. Let’s unpack this…

Mom’s Table, by Tab Moura
1. Inhalation: not one size fits all.

Inhaled flower may irritate your throat more than smoother alternatives, like vapor or dabs. It’s not an exact science, but some believe the reason why lies in how the flower combusts; the particles from the plant can catch in your throat and lead to coughing. One option is to take small puffs to minimize bronchospasms, some say humming helps, others prefer to avoid inhaling altogether and stick to oils, tinctures, and edibles.

2. Quality, quality, quality!

The variety of price points in our cannabis industry does not solely reflect on the quality of said products, but it can sometimes give you an idea of the care that went into those products. While all legal products are tested for things like chemicals, molds, and metals, we’re still talking about a plant and every patient’s experience may vary. I have found that no matter what, I must look at, and smell, my medicine to be sure it won’t trigger my asthma. 9 times out of 10, I pick products that agree with my lungs.

3. Terpenes

The cannabis plant has roughly a zillion strains at this point, respectfully, and even the ones with identical names may hit you differently. Some terpenes are directly linked to better breathing and immune support, like Pinene, Ocimene, and Caryophyllene, but this doesn’t automatically mean your lungs will be happy to see them. If you are terpene sensitive, it is mostly because you’re high maintenance like me, but don’t fret. If you do find a strain that consistently irritates your lungs, ask your Dispo to show you the labs or terpene profiles, so you can narrow down what’s bothering you. If you take nothing else away from what I’m sharing today, I hope you feel hopeful that cannabis can help you, even if you have asthma. The sky is the limit with plant medicine; may your medicine clouds treat you well.

Mom’s Table

by Tab Moura

My mom was an antique lover, so we all knew how much she loved the dining room table that my grandparents passed down to her. Suddenly realizing how this system worked, a fight ensued between one of my brothers and me. We both felt it should be ours next, and when you have four siblings, these fights can get, well, a little heated.

In 1997 (of course I know the year) my brother decided to carve his name into one of the leafs of our mom’s table. It wasn’t huge, but to eight-year-old Tab, it was a really aggressive gesture —I knew what to do next.

You guessed it,

I carved my name near his,

—slightly bigger.

Simple Solution, by Tab Moura

But I haven’t even gotten to the good part.

A year later our family moved to a new state. We soon made friends and had them over for dinner. My mom laughed and made one of those faces that moms make (you know, when they are laughing about something they are still mad about,) and she explained to our new friends why two of her kids’ names were on the table. “Oh, they called dibs on the table for when we die.”

I felt miserably uncomfortable. I melted into my chair and escaped to go play as soon as I could. One of the kids visiting us was my age, and he was the only kid in our grade who had kissed a girl already. He wouldn’t talk to me, and I was busy looking as strong and independent as possible, so I was the last one to realize that at some point, that boy had taken a butter knife to our table and signed it himself! But he didn’t stop there, he chiseled a heart between our names also. I was mortified, his mom was mortified. But you know what? We became instant friends that night.

When I go home to visit my parents, I like to sit at that table and smile about how much life has happened since 1997. Things didn’t work out with the bad-boy who signed my mom’s table, but while sitting there I am flooded with memories. Like the first time I brought my husband to my parents’ house, we all sat at mom’s table and laughed telling him the story about the names. Some items are time machines, because of that table I can see the thread that weaves through my life, it’s something spiritual to behold. Why else would a couple of kids carve their names into wood? How else can we explain that a table can be so important?

It’s love.

Simple Solution

by Tab Moura

Everybody has a story to tell when it comes to food and how they feel about their bodies. Whether eating healthy comes natural to you, or not, I want to share what has helped me. Since first learning

Light and Shadows, by Tab Moura

about my Ehler’s-Danlos syndrome, we discovered that most of my quirks are genetic (even my sarcasm, thanks Dad).

But even with a genetic diagnosis, I have managed to improve my own unique baseline, with the strategic use of foods. Due to my absorption issues, I struggle with stamina. Believe it or not, food and cannabis have helped me make a lot of progress, slowly building muscle and stamina. The process of strengthening my body has helped me find a few life hacks to improve my overall health, while keeping up with my busy kids. When setting daily goals, one question I ask myself is, “could I do this on a flair day?”

 

Learn how to make one BOMB veggie dish

I have multiple food allergies, the only thing that keeps me sane with all of the meal prepping is knowing that my food is really yummy. This is worth the time and research, I swear. If you can consistently make one brag-worthy vegetable dish, your brain will begin making new healthy associations, believing that the work is worth it. Set limits- if the recipes you like have too many ingredients or steps, skip‘em. They are not the droids you’re looking for.

 

Plan your snacks

You know you eat snacks. Did you know that snacks are the most common way that people “cheat” on their diets and fasts? I have a confession. I spend more on my snacks than I do my meals. My meals are usually whole foods, which is honestly quite affordable. When I’m bouncing between tasks, I try to make my snacks healthy and simple, so I don’t go for the quick-grab-junk-food.

Sprouts, Whole Foods and Natural Grocers are my favorite stores. With your top 3 favorite munchies in mind, go visit a health food store to browse their options for healthy alternatives. If it helps keep you on the wagon, It’s basically diet insurance.

 

Food math

In our family we have those who eat gluten-free, one who has an egg allergy, another who has multiple texture issues, and I am allergic to coconut, almond, and corn. With so many different needs, we made up a concept called food math so we each felt more in control of our own plates.

Eat a protein + eat a vegetable + eat a complex carb + drink a cup of water.

This equation helped me through the anxiety of eliminating foods and not knowing what to make next. It’s not fancy, and it doesn’t fit all diet types, so feel free to make your own equation and post it on your fridge. It can make a full fridge feel less overwhelming.

The truth is, I’m still in the thick of saving my own life. Many of you are as well. If there was one thing I could leave you with, it would be this: It is never a waste of money to support your health, the question is how much will it cost you if you don’t?

 

 

Medicated Coleslaw

by Micah McKamie

With spring right around the corner and who knows we might actually get to have cookouts this year, I decided to share my medicated ColeSlaw recipe.  Now there are a lot of ways to do this, but I really like the fun slaw methods.  One of my favorites is a Hawaiian slaw that always is a hit, especially at a Pig Roast or Luau.

This slaw has got the traditional ingredients of cabbage and carrots, but it’s bumped up a notch into tropical nirvana with the addition of fresh pineapple chunks, black sesame seeds, and a ginger-soy lime vinaigrette. This Hawaiian-style coleslaw is super healthy too – which helps in the being bikini-ready department, as well as taking you to “Flavor Island.” My favorite part is that it goes well with so many different proteins; sausages, chicken, pork this might become your new go-to summer slaw!!  So let’s cross our fingers and hope 2021 brings back spring and summer BBQs because we could use them!!

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage(packed)
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage (packed)
  • 1/2 cup grated carrots (packed)
  • 1 cup fresh pineapple (diced)
  • 2 green onions (sliced)
  • 1/4 cup cilantro (minced )
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh ginger (grated)
  • 3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon medicate honey
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
  • 1 teaspoon mediated olive oil
  • 1 lime (juiced)
  • Salt (to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds

 

Click here for the full recipe:

Training Through Terps pt. 3

Eliminate the Struggle

by Micah McKamie

When building your workouts, one of the things that I consistently see is a lack of focus towards routine and consistency.  “Finding” a way to “Fit” your workouts in throughout the week is setting yourself up for failure.  

Intro to Training through Terps by Micah McKamie

Too many times we go into the planning and scheduling process of working out with the, “I will make time” mentality for your fitness and weight loss goals.  We go through our daily routines determined to make time for our fitness, however, we constantly fall short.  Why?  I want to be fit?  I have the desire!!!  I have the knowledge!!!  Unfortunately making time isn’t enough to sustain what it takes to become physically fit.  

The main issue is how we categorize the need in our heads.  By just making time for something you are already limiting your ability to work out to when it’s convenient.  When everything else is done, you will get to that run, knocking out the workout of the day, or get a good Yoga session.  Now, because we “make time” for our workouts in our head, we justify the lack of workouts that this causes.  I am just too busy, there isn’t enough time, and I just don’t have the mental capacity or energy, become normalized statements when your brain passes over the “what’s next on the list” thought.  

This is where I usually hit a wall with people, because the next part doesn’t make sense unless you practice it; the more you work out, the more energy you have.  This is hard for most people to understand because the first few weeks of making physical fitness a priority are exhausting.  The soreness, the mental anguish from making yourself keep going even though you are sore and achy.   Waking up your muscles and endorphin system out of hibernation takes time and work and honestly, it’s the part people hate the most. 

Part 2: The Journey, by Micah McKamie

That is where cannabis products come into play.  The abundance of products out there that are designed towards a medical or even a recreational standpoint can be highly beneficial to kick-starting your fitness journey.  Strains can be used to get you going, tone you down, eliminate soreness, and just make working out fun.  One group of products that I love is the pain-relieving capabilities of transdermals’ and there are quite a few on the market, but two have stood out.  Mary’s Medicinals 1:1 transdermal patch is crazy good.  The first use, you look at the little 2-inch pad and wonder how this could even work. However, less than 5 minutes after application this little guy will loosen you up, eliminate pain, and honestly put you in a good mood.  The second is a new product from Sunday Extracts.  They have not only made a 1:1 salve that works immediately, but it’s also made with hydrosol.  If you are not aware of what hydrosols are, they are the moisture leftover when extracting essential oils, so it is medicinal and really good for your skin. The reason I bring these up is even at the ripe old age of 39 I am able to get immediate results from these products which have aided me in longer and more reoccurring workouts than without. 

Not only processed products, but really good flower can also aid in the success of those just starting their fitness journey.  I always suggest lower THC doses or more manageable THC:CBD doses so as to make you successful and not just get you ripped. I have gone over a few of my favorite strains in past articles that focused more on performance, than pain management, so I thought I would list a few pain strains that have worked for me!.

Gorilla Glue #4

Great flavor, Creative producing, great for pain relief and reducing inflammation. No Time, Fabulous Cannabis

Skunk Hero

Great pain reduction, good for relaxing muscles, a sativa that is not energy producing, however does not rob you of your energy. Sunday Extracts

Mac Stomper

Great for recovery, reduces stress and inflammation, helps to release lactic acid build up, mood elevator. Gray Matter Farms 

Hulka Kola

2:1 ratio, great for body relaxation, clears your thoughts and aids in meditation, specifically hunted to reduce pain and inflammation, Does not have a CBD hemp taste Kola Organics 

 

Now, go into this knowing that it also is a process.  I have spent many a morning bombed out of mind sitting on the floor next to my weights and wondering if this would work.  The key was knowing myself, my tolerance levels, and how terpenes affect me differently, as well as, figuring out what strains and products work best at what times.  Eliminating the struggle through canna-centric workouts is what it is all about.  Cannabis isn’t a shortcut, it’s an add on.  It is a key to get to the other 90% of our potential.

I know l have said it before, but training through terpenes is as much about learning and knowing yourself as it is about Cannabis.   It isn’t just about utilizing medical marijuana to make working out fun or tolerable, even though it is an amazing side effect, but it’s about learning what makes you tick. How best to use clean motivation internally to meet your goals?  What will make this process go smoothly for you?  Canna-centric isn’t about other peoples’ routines, its how to harness your already installed and dormant passion to fulfill your goals and let’s be honest getting a little baked.  

 

If you are looking for a reason to start your canna-centric fitness journey, we will be coordinating a cannabis friendly group run on February 28th.  If you are curious about what Training Through Terps does, or interested in shot-gunning and running with us contact us at Cannabiscommunity405@gmail.com or DM us at @trainingthroughterps on Instagram!!!  Are You In?

FOMO Taught Me to Get Back Up

by Tab Moura

I remember the first time I stepped onto that fuzzy, blue, spring-loaded floor. My older sister was a gymnast, she was on the varsity team of a local gymnastics team. As a youngin, I mostly just watched from the lobby, but during their competitions, we could watch from the sidelines of the Floor, and I imagined the day it would be my turn.

Soulmate Rehab, by Tab Moura

It wasn’t much longer before I began taking classes and entering competitions. By the time I was 11 I was taking 5 hours of gymnastics a week, reaching level four and junior varsity. I was told that the Floor wasn’t my strongest event, they thought it was due to my lanky pre-teen-body. I had trouble with tumbling, but the Floor was by far my favorite event. —No matter how many back-handsprings ended with a faceplant.

Now that I’m a mother, raising three daughters, I have had the privilege of watching them grow as I learn how to support their developmental needs. We have been in and out of various therapies for the last 4 years, and I cannot count how many times a therapist has shared something about my children that ultimately helped me support my own needs. One particular session stands out.

She pointed out how my daughter, who has epilepsy, was basically choosing to stay in a loud room, longer than she could physically tolerate. Why? Her desire to be with people she loved was overriding her self-preservation. FOMO can be a bitter mistress.

I knew I shouldn’t laugh… but it was just so familiar. That’s my girl.

I told her therapist about my passion for the Floor and how many hours I cried from falling, attempting to master various skills. My daughter and I had a chat that day, I told her how I would be there to keep her company if she needed a break from loud rooms. She didn’t fully understand what caused her sound sensitivity, but she was a big fan of quality time with mommy.

She’s now an Oklahoma cannabis patient, and it’s becoming less and less common that she needs my help in this way… but her FOMO isn’t going anywhere.

I didn’t know I had epilepsy back then, I didn’t know it was affecting my body awareness… I didn’t know it affected my coordination. But I know now. I’ve learned that, because of my health condition, I need to accommodate for myself. I am now in my 30s, with more core strength than I had at 11. Mastering things like headstands for the first time in my life. I don’t have to miss out, I just have to pace myself, and I’m even stronger when I do.

I used to believe that my willingness to fall and get back up is what would make me a good athlete. But as time has revealed, I’m about 90% FOMO and 10% athlete. (It ain’t much, but it’s honest, right?) And now I am a mommy to a girl with FOMO. See? I’ve yet to find a limit to the real-world applications for this skill.

Weed Wisdom

by Tab Moura

“Yesterday I was clever, so I chose my own weed. Today I am wise, I let the weed choose me.”

It’s catchy, right? This is a silly rhyme I say to myself while I’m shopping at my favorite dispo. When I’m browsing the shelves, and the sales, and the terps, I can get a little overwhelmed by my options. My budtenders greet me by name, as though we’re in an episode of Cheers, and I am Norm. I love cannabis because I deeply appreciate how flexible and strategic this plant can be. Cannabis has been the answer to many dilemmas with my health, but cannabis therapy isn’t always smooth sailing.

Interesting fact: when I began plant medicine, I discovered I was sensitive to CBD. The long story short is that my neck muscles would relax and could not properly support my head, due to my cervical instability; the CBD would relax my muscles and then I would drop— lights out. I know that this may seem alarming, but let me reassure you that this is directly linked to my diagnosed neck degeneration, not the safety of cannabis. My symptoms would stop when I used a neck brace, so we knew we found our culprit. Because of this, I discovered I could use THC dominant concentrates to avoid my neck issues. That’s right, dabbing to the rescue.

Once my physical therapy and muscle building had made enough progress, I was able to reintroduce CBD in moderation, I can now use it to treat my seizures.

*whew, this chick is a hot mess*

The truth is, my experience with CBD sensitivity taught me to truly appreciate the differences in strains and profiles. I love how some strains are just so great for pain relief, and some are great for focus, or sleep. I’ve discovered I have to be picky about some things. I like that we have the technology to medicate with things like resin and wax. I love that plant medicine was the answer even when plant medicine was the problem. Yesterday I was clever, so I chose my own weed. Today I am wise, I let the weed choose me.

Soulmate Rehab

Photo Cred: Angelyn Moura | Written by Tab Moura

I’ve never been one to believe in soulmates, but if soulmates are a thing… I guess you could say he’s mine. The first time I saw him, 10 years ago, there was so much going on, so many people around. I couldn’t tell you what he was wearing, or even how he seemed… But what I do know is I had this heightened awareness of where he was at all times. I don’t know how to describe it, except that he still makes me feel this way when he looks at me from across the room.

Sprinklers and Metaphors, by Tab Moura

There is this electric currency, like a tether between the two of us. He plays this game where he will stare at my boobs or my butt, like a devious child, and wait for me to notice… because I always do, I can feel when he’s looking at me- I can feel his playfulness. I can feel the tension, it feels like the moments before a comedian delivers the punchline. That is the romance between my husband and me. We laugh so much.

But we lost it for a while. I dealt with depression a lot growing up, and it was amplified during each of my pregnancies; and then we have late nights with kids, and potty training, unemployment, and therapies, and my health issues…

 

and…

and…

and…

And I wondered if all of the hoopla in the beginning was just nature’s way of convincing humanity to keep popping out babies. Maybe romance was childish and this was marriage, the big leagues. That must be it, those fluffy feelings only existed to get us locked in, and from there, love was a contract, it wasn’t about feelings. We were mature now.

The thing is, I was wrong. I have learned so much about how life, stress, and eating patterns can affect the overall wellness of the body. It wasn’t only our affection that was in the toilet, it was our lust for life along with it. I cannot speak for him, but I know I went to some dark places occasionally.

Utilizing various forms of powerful plant medicines has been a game-changer for our marriage, but that’s because once we overhauled our health habits, those things that brought us together were still there. I know that’s not true for all of you, but I hope that gives you hope for finding new love. It’s not too late.

Plant medicine makes us more playful because our bodies are less painful. Plant medicine helped us climb out of our depression. Plant medicine brought us together after 6 years of therapy, fighting, checking out, and tug-of-war. It has helped us reconnect with our faith, and our community as well. The ripple effects have been extensive. Since cannabis can help you create and strengthen neuro connections, it’s a powerful ally while trying to fortify your relationship with your spouse. And if you’re out there looking for love this Valentine’s, set your intention and grab a blunt… be mindful of what you focus on, love may just be around the corner.

Spin the Love

by Anna Ervin

I think it is safe to say that for obvious reasons a lot of us have been feeling restless lately. Being cooped up at home has many people looking for new ways to stay entertained, or perhaps returning to old ones. One industry, in particular, has seen a substantial increase in sales since the beginning of the pandemic, and I am not talking about medical cannabis.

Last August, Billboard reported that “online music marketplace Discogs’ global sales in the first half of 2020 were up nearly 30% over the same period last year.” Later reports indicated that record sales were expected to continuously rise throughout the second half of the year.

I have always been curious about collecting vinyl, so I made a trip to one of Tulsa’s largest record stores, Josey Records, to see if they could convince me to pick up a new hobby. Store manager, John Gabriel, tells me that people who wander into their store are often in awe of the fact that they are still selling records.

Is Vinyl Making a Comeback?

People might claim that the future of music is digital but according to John, “you can’t hold it, you can’t touch it. With a record, you can pull it out and see the grooves, you can see where the songs are, you can actually look at it.”

“I think people are more into having that physical thing,” he continued, “and it just sounds better. If you listen to Spotify on decent speakers, you can tell the difference. You can tell that there’s stuff missing. It’s not the same.”

“So,” John said, “it’s the sound, the quality, and the hunt. I think a lot of people got rid of all their vinyl to buy CDs, then got rid of their CDs to buy digital, and now they are remembering that they loved vinyl. Then for some of the kids, it’s something new. People are kind of just getting back into it and finding things they either didn’t know existed or didn’t know to look for.”

“Even if you don’t want to start a giant collection like we have, you can get one of our crates, fill it up with 50 records and just have it in the corner, listen to them when you want. We also sell these Bluetooth speakers. You can hook up to your turntable, play a record, and when that is done you just open up your phone and put Spotify on through those.”

How Did Josey Records End Up in Tulsa?

Co-owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened the first Josey Records store on Josey Avenue in Dallas around 6 years ago. Now in a new Dallas location, Josey is the biggest independent record store in the country. They have since expanded to a couple of other cities, including the opening of the Tulsa store in March of 2017.

“I think they just saw an opening here and thought it’d be a good place,” John said. “We have a great location; the area is really coming up. Deckopolis just opened, and Buck Atoms is really helping. I think a lot of people stop from Route 66 and hang out there, then come in here.”

“I love that Tulsa is embracing this area,” he continued. “When I was a kid, 11th street was kind of a rough spot, but now it’s cool. It’s Route 66, people can walk around, shop, have great pizza.”

NOTE: Upon John’s recommendation, I did indeed have some of the best pizza just down the street at Bobby O’s. Aside from making the biggest pizza I’ve ever seen, Bobby O’s also offers a vegan menu and facilitates an entirely separate gluten-free kitchen. Check them out!

Pandemic Influences Record Sales

When the pandemic first began to take hold over US Cities, Josey Records attempted to keep their doors open for as long as possible.

“When it first happened,” John said, “before there were any ordinances, the owners called and said they were sending us this plastic shield. They wanted us to get gloves, sanitizer, whatever we could get. And people had already started buying that stuff, so it was kind of hard to find. We have the tattoo guys next door, and they gave me a couple of boxes of gloves and a few reusable masks. That really helped.”

However, like a lot of small businesses, when a city or state mandate forced them to close their doors to the public, they went online. “Every day I would take a picture of around 60 records that we have in the store and post them to Instagram and Facebook,” John told me. “Our customers are great, that kept us afloat, for sure. I did that for like 2 months, come in every day for 4 or 5 hours, fill orders, pack boxes, ship them and some people did curbside. As soon as we could we opened back up.”

Where to Begin

Tucked into the Pearl District off Route 66, Josey looks small from the street but once inside, boasts the largest used vinyl collection in the city. I had a feeling that if ever there were a time for me to ask for advice on buying my first turntable, this was it. John’s advice? Splurge on the player, save your money on vinyl.

“If you have a cheap player,” he told me, “it is probably not going to sound that great. They make those little suitcase ones, and we don’t even carry them because people end up disappointed. A lot of times they don’t play heavier records. Newer records are thicker and weigh a lot more. They are supposed to last longer but they don’t work on the cheaper players. If you have a decent player, even the $100 ones that we have here, it just sounds better. You can hear what is going on with the music. It’s not all compressed.”

“We have noticed,” John continued, “that these kids will get really expensive players, spend thousands of dollars on records, realize it’s not the work they wanted to put into it, they would rather just plug their phone in and play music. They come in here and we give them a fair deal, but they get a tiny fraction of what they spent just two years ago.”

“So, buy the used ones, ” he said, “buy the cheap stuff, see if you like it. We have a dollar section. Our dollar section is for the most part just stuff that we see all the time, like gospel, big band stuff, stuff that isn’t really popular. There is a lot of classic rock in there that either the sleeve is busted up, or it’s scuffed, but it should play.”

“That is a good place to start. Find something that you like, a band you know or something you have heard. Get a player and just kind of listen to it, see if playing it for 20 minutes and having to flip it over, then having to switch records is something you want to get into.”

Check out Josey Records on Facebook and Instagram for inventory and store updates.

Sprinklers and Metaphors

by Tab Moura

When I was a senior, my family moved across the country to Montana. If you remember an earlier article I wrote about growing up in Louisiana, this is what came next. I went from fireflies and bayous to more stars in the sky than I’d ever seen before. At least that’s the postcard version. Like any normal teenager being forced to move across the country at 17, I was handling this super well. *forced grin*

Learning From Our Roots, by Tab Moura

I found a job after a few weeks, hoping to make friends, and quickly learned that the job I scored was a coveted gig. Naturally, I didn’t make many friends, but I was so thankful I had this outlet while dealing with my feelings around moving. Another great outlet was my relationship with my younger sister. We were the youngest of 5 kids, everything about this move put us in unfamiliar territory. We weren’t really friends before our move, this was my first time to really have the full responsibility of being a big sister. No others to deflect to. Now that we were in Montana, a place with roughly 7 people per square mile, we had to become allies.

While our bond was rocky, we actually made a lot of good memories in Montana. One night, late in the summer, we hatched an idea. Our house didn’t have central air, due to the climate… but we were living in those few weeks a year where AC would have been super helpful. Our parents were ministers at a local church, so there was a little pressure to at least make sure we didn’t draw the wrong kind of attention.

Our house was across from a golf course; we had upset them before when our dog got loose, so you’ll understand my dilemma. As I looked out the window of our bedroom, I saw that the sprinklers were running on the golf course. As a freshly promoted big sister, I knew it was my responsibility to do the next most logical thing… sneak out of the house and run through the cold sprinklers.

Miles to Go, by Tab Moura

It’s important to know that while I am definitely rebellious enough to do this, my stealth was shattered as we muffled our screams. The golf course’s water pressure was like that of a pressure washer. It’s safe to say our jaunt wasn’t such a secret by the time we got back inside. I think back to the many times I moved states as a kid, and for the first time in my life, I see so much purpose in the displacement and transitions I experienced at a young age. I’ve felt displaced for a year, in my own city. Disconnected and confused, as I wrote recently in Miles To Go, it’s hot out here and we’re all having very different experiences depending on our cars (or houses.) What I didn’t share in that article is what to do while you wait. There isn’t a single right answer… only a moral mandate that you wait well. Not on my account, but your own.

You only have one life, now is the time to do something new, now is the time to prioritize laughter, now is the time to run through the sprinkler and piss off your parents— metaphorically, of course. While things are changing, don’t forget what has stayed the same… you have so many more memorable moments on the horizon. I’ll see you there.

Happy Hour Medicinals

Celebrating the Best Hour of the Day, Stigma-Free

“We work tirelessly in an effort to produce the highest quality flower available in Oklahoma. At the end of the day, we’re producing a medicinal product so quality isn’t an option.” 

by Veronica Castillo, Photo Credit: Happy Hour Medicinals– Instagram

I am so happy to be the writer assigned to the small-batch farm series, published by Herbage Magazine. These days, my connections have been intentional, aligned, and necessary. I have been craving stories. I want to hear them, I want to put them into words that we can publish, I want to motivate, encourage, and build community. 

Though my travel to Oklahoma awaits (it’s happening 2021 for sure!), I feel as if I have traveled around the state, learning about some of the best businesses, cultivators, dispensaries, and creatives. Like the folks featured in this piece, Happy Hour Medicinals. Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma- these folks live a STIGMA FREE lifestyle and say:  

“Whether you’re a free-spirited artist type, or you live a more rigid lifestyle, say that of a doctor, lawyer, or architect, all are welcome here. Everyone can appreciate a good happy hour and we want to evoke a feeling through our brand that reflects that most beautifully anticipated part of anyone’s’ workday.” 

About Happy Hour Medicinals 

A team described as: “friends, family members, and flat-out hustlers who all know our respective roles and know them well”, is the engine that makes this all possible. The team has over 50 years of collective cultivation experience, 20 years of experience in healthcare and compliance, and multiple backgrounds in design training, architecture, construction, photography, and world-class graphic design.  

The indoor cultivation facility grows 27 strains in rotation and harvests 12-15 per month. And speaking of strains, I asked Tobin, Co-founder and Brand Director of Happy Hour Medicinals, what the team favorite is: 

“It seems like everyone on our team has their own favorite. Personally, I love our Orange Cookies, STR8 Lemonade, Kimbo Kush, and Martian Monkey. They all bring something unique to the table. In January, we are harvesting a new strain called Drops of Jupiter that I’m dying to try. The buds are straight-up bright purple. Just gorgeous.” 

1620- What it is and What it Represents 

As I looked around Happy Hour Medicinals social media and merch, I noticed 1620 on almost everything. I asked Tobin to fill me in on what 1620 means and represents: 

“Anyone who’s ever smoked weed knows that the stoners’ happy hour is set for 4:20 pm. And while we love ourselves some 420, we really wanted to break away from some of the more traditional cliches of stoner culture.  

1620 goes back to the idea that we wanted to create a cannabis-friendly brand that was truly STIGMA FREE. We’d never turn our backs on the tried-and-true traditions of fellow stoners or cannabis lifestyle, but some things seemed to welcome new takes on old traditions.  

If you’re a working professional, say an architect, for instance, you might not want to walk around with a shirt that advertises a giant 420 on it. We hear a lot in this industry about breaking old stigmas. We decided to try and smash them.  

1620 is simply the 24-hour version, or worlds’ clock for 4:20 pm. Here in the states most refer to it as military time but around the world, many cultures use what they refer to as “the worlds’ clock” and we loved that idea.” 

I love it too! That is such a way to support the cause, represent the plant, and showcase love for it- without being labeled. 

Last Prisoner Project and Shameless Consumption 2020 

I found a cool video on Happy Hour Medicinals Instagram page, and I had to know more about it. Very diverse in their crafts, in support of meaningful moves within the industry, Tobin shares: 

“My creative partner Conrad is one of those guys whose dedication to creativity can’t be taught. He’s not comfortable unless he’s creating and he’s grown up in bands all of his life. I’ve just been a lifelong music enthusiast, especially for hip hop.  

One of my friends in Tampa is a well-known local MC, who I had the good fortune of working with on the backend of another track earlier this year. That working relationship spawned the idea of doing something together for Happy Hour.  

That exploration led us to dig a little deeper in an effort to create a more thoughtful track with some real substance. My wife Bianca had read about the Last Prisoner Project (LPP) earlier this year and we’d been trying to think of unique ways to get involved with them. We believe they’re arguably the worthiest organization in our industry, but we’re still a very young small business and don’t quite have the type of funds available to buy our way into that sort of movement as an official sponsor.  

We still wanted to do something meaningful though and this track seemed like it was at least worth a shot. I introduced Mike and Conrad to one another and together we studied the LPP. Conrad produced the beats, Mike developed the lyrics, and we went for it.  

Honestly, the LPP didn’t even really know we existed until we were done with the track. We sent them a short, one-minute mini-doc that we produced to promote it and they loved it! We had so much fun in the recording studio and we’re really looking forward to seeing Mike and Conrad perform live on stage when that moment presents itself.” 

And shameless consumption, while many of us try to leave politics out of Cannabis talk and all talk really, it’s sort of hard when politics sit right at the head of cannabis legalization. Tobin shared more insight on Shameless Consumption 2020: 

“Let’s just say with all the craziness that this election year came with, I thought it’d be a nice break to spin things in a more light-hearted direction. Shameless Consumption is a term I’ve used to describe our stigma-free approach since we started the company. I’ve even begun the trademarking process for another spin-off design campaign. One night while working late in the studio, it sounded funny to me, to use the two words like running mates in an election. Simple as that. Just having some fun.” 

In Closing 

Happy Hour Medicinals wants Oklahoma patients to know that they are more than cultivation: 

“Many cannabis companies develop a nice logo and then maybe create a promotional t-shirt and a hat. In order to embrace a true lifestyle brand, we wanted to take it much further. In our first year, we have over 50 products in our signature Happy Hour Medicinals™ Goods+Gear line. We are focusing our sights on national expansion in 2021.” 

Happy Hour Medicinals is aiming for more pop-up happy hour events all over Oklahoma and has their sight set on Portland and New York City (if the pandemic allows).  

I’m Pro-Getting-My-Life-Back

by Tab Moura

“I decided to try cannabis” I whispered… my hands were sweating, the hair on my arms was raised, I was nervous to look her in the eye. “I am only here at church today, because of cannabis.”

Healing From the Inside Out, by Tab Moura

I was speaking to one of the pastors’ wives at my church, she had prayed over me weekly, she checked in with me regularly. She knew that I was disabled and barely managing to care for my kids every day. She knew I was working random jobs to be able to pay a babysitter… which was a vicious cycle of exhaustion.

The guilt I felt every time someone asked me “why weren’t you there last week?” was so heavy. It wasn’t just church, but church was where I felt the most guilt. I was doing all of the things, but there was a serious deficit in my overall wellness. I was eating healthy, but couldn’t absorb it. I was taking medicines, but they were giving me ulcers and seizures. I tried sending my kids to school so I could afford a little recovery time during the day, but due to their special needs, I spent a lot of time meeting with teachers and guidance counselors. So when I said “I decided to try cannabis” I was truly wrecked with fear that I would be rejected, right then and there, as though this decision would be seen as weakness.

But my pastor’s wife knew my story. She hugged me, she asked me how it felt to be strong enough to bring my daughters to church. I just cried. I probably would have cried even if we were talking about the grocery store. I would not normally talk to you guys about a topic as sensitive as spirituality or religion, however, I am burdened with this awareness: how many people are out there right now, going without relief due to fear of being rejected?

Forward Facing, by Tab Moura

I’m not calling on churches to make statements of support, or spiritual leaders to become cannabis advocates. I understand that many people out there have complicated, or even negative, experiences with cannabis. But the thing is, I was afraid to even try this medicine, out of fear that I would be rejected. The only thing worse than being disabled is being a disabled person with burned bridges. I was watching my social life slip through my fingers, and my faith was tired. I was willing to suffer so that I wouldn’t rock the boat… until I didn’t recognize my life anymore.

Besides spiritual beliefs, I want you to know that having consistent community support while trying to navigate serious health complications, improves outcomes. Even if you aren’t pro-cannabis; you can be pro-answered-prayers, or pro-miracles, maybe pro-people-getting-their-lives-back, or my personal favorite, pro-playing-with-my-kids-again.

As for me, I am a spiritual person who just so happens to use plant medicine. It’s not mutually exclusive. I pray that you will have unconditional support on your journey and that your encouragement will come from unexpected places. If you’re feeling lonely, you can count me as a friend. It’s not an easy journey, but thank God it isn’t lonely.

Training Through Terps pt. 2

The Journey

by Micah McKamie

One of the interesting things that I found over the last year and through my training through terps journey was how crucial mental health is to the process. This is not an article telling you to move away from your meds or to go cold turkey into this process, because don’t let me kid you, I had some dark days myself.

Healing and processing past traumas and experiences are not the easiest tasks. When we think about healing we think about moving on, forgetting it happened, or worse, ignoring the lesson. Lucky for me, Covid provided me with ample time to dig into old wounds.

Training through Terps pt. 1, by Micah McKamie

As the pain and emotions came out in a variety of manifestations including; angry crying while sprinting on the treadmill, an hour-long session with the punching bag leaving my hands bloody, and 3 hours of mediation after a particularly heavy smoke and yoga session. Giving myself the ability to heal through fitness was really what began the training through terps idea.

I would get high with a solid wake and bake session and get all amped up, something would hit my emotional trigger weird that day and it would just come out – go run!!! Go throw big rocks in the back yard. Do pull-ups and pushups until you can’t move. These emotionally and physically exhausting workouts fueled this athlete that I had never known had existed.

I spent so many years killing myself, dieting, and doing crazy workouts and only to always be just right there. In my mind and in my soul I could feel that there was an untapped resource. That idea that you only use 10% of your abilities. I could honestly feel that power there.

It wasn’t until I opened up, changed the way I thought about working out, introduced Cannabis and emotions, and allowed music to drive the tempo, that I started to see that untapped potential. At 39 years old I am still running 8-mile intervals and training for longer competitions. The best thing about it all has been the interesting people I have met in the process.

Kenny is a long time cannabis advocate who does Ultra-Marathons while doing dabs at each rest station and is hands down one of the coolest guys. He cares about the community, is a part of a running group called Wahoo Runs, and is dedicated to removing the stigma of cannabis just like myself. The first time we hung out we smoked in his car, did some dabs, and then ran 6 miles while talking about random high things.

Now, I told this story to point out a cool effect of cannabis on your workouts. We ran 6 miles and didn’t feel a thing, almost didn’t know we ran that far, then went to City Bites and demolished some sandies, and got to have some very cool conversations.

I could throw a lot of medical details at you as reasons to utilize cannabis in your workouts or give you anecdotes of people that make it seem like cannabis is the fountain of youth, but stories like this one highlight the real reason. It’s all about expanding our horizons. Meeting interesting new people that will aid in our growth and you in theirs.

Cannabis not only spurs emotions and energies, but it brings people together, and in this case to run a crapload. I hope as this journey continues and people become more open about their canna-centric fitness regimes, that you will see that we have been hiding in plain sight.

Healing from the Inside Out

by Tab Moura

I think it was the sound of my daughters laughing that brought my drifting thoughts back to earth. I was sitting with my back facing the window, watching as my shadow was cast on the far wall. I probably looked like I felt self-conscious, did I look like Pinocchio demonstrating how he has “no strings?”

“I’m doing yoga.”

Forward Facing, by Tab Moura

They giggled a lot that day, but it didn’t take long for them to begin mirroring me. When you find yourself as your own personal science experiment, because you haven’t found relief in the mainstream health system, It’s at that point that even the “weirdest” things really start to make sense. What is “weird” anymore? I’m writing to you as a former skeptic, I believed pharmaceuticals were the only answer— and I believed this until a doctor told me to stop taking them for my own HEALTH. I’m stubborn, so I don’t take “you’re out of options” as an answer.

With my history of migraines, dislocations, and Endometriosis, I was definitely swearing in my head while trying to imagine my quality of life without things like ibuprofen or the good cold medicines. He told me about steroid shots, Physical Therapy, and surgeries… he told me I could see a nutritionist, but he didn’t believe diet would eliminate my issue. He was right, I wasn’t looking at a simple process, but I refused to give up without trying.

Yoga, cannabis, and other foods and plants are the most consistent tools I use from day to day to manage pain and neurological symptoms. It turns out natural stuff can be quite effective when you invest in understanding it; you accept that functional medicine feels slower because it addresses the root cause, but in reality, it’s lifting the entire body’s baseline as it works.

There isn’t an OTC “12hr-slow-release-make-you-feel-like-you-don’t-really-have-the-flu” pill in natural medicine… but as I’ve explored my options, accounting for my allergies, I’ve learned how to truly listen to my body when it whispers, instead of waiting until it’s shouting. I’m not where I would like to be, but I’m finally dancing, exercising, and playing for the first time in years; and I don’t care if it looks silly anymore, I’m living.

Forward Facing

by Tab Moura

My daughter gasped as I was driving my van down the road the other day; I had a glass of water in one hand and my left hand on the steering wheel. This isn’t a big deal to me, I learned how to drive on a Ford Ranger with manual shifting… and believe me, driving stick while holding coffee is much more gasp-worthy, but I digress.

Well Deserved, by Tab Moura

My daughter was surprised that the car still worked if I wasn’t steering with both hands. This was news to her because we had recently turned her car seat around. While she was busy taking everything in, I was struck by how beautiful this was.

Aria is 3.5, is autistic, and has a severe expressive speech delay. As her therapists will attest, her comprehension and expressive language fluctuate a lot throughout the month. History suggests it’s tied to her stomach issues somehow, it led to failure to thrive, and regular cyclical vomiting. Aria has been a cannabis patient for a year now and we have seen incredible progress with her sleep habits, weight gain, and relief from some of her stomach pains.

Cannabis, along with adding daily vitamins and minerals, has helped her quality of life significantly. We see way fewer stomach pain days, and she is decidedly quite talkative. Adding cannabis has been, for lack of a better metaphor, akin to turning around Aria’s car seat. We see and understand her health so much better now.

It was nice to be in the car with her while she could see what was going on, instead of relying on her big sisters to help me figure out what was bothering her. It was nice to share space with her while she was asking questions and learning about the world. But more than anything I am so thankful I was willing to ask my own questions, which led us to cannabis.

Insomnia

by Tab Moura

“2 am isn’t so bad,” I said to myself as I scrolled Pinterest. I am not going to sugar coat this, insomnia is definitely my least favorite neurological symptom. It’s the one I’ve lived with the longest, and even now with so many lifestyle adjustments… here I am. Writing a blog, because I cannot sleep.

Oooo check out that recipe!
That quote is definitely going on my grid.
Would this design style look good in my future tiny home?

In the days of “school nights” and therapy appointments, being awake at 2 am isn’t really the best use of my time… I keep myself busy because I can’t sleep… why can’t I sleep? Oh, I don’t wanna talk about that. I’ll just turn on a show while I scroll Pinterest… because my brain clearly needs more stimulation.

I can’t believe the Bachelor is still on the air
OMG people must watch this new docuseries!
This true-crime show is so old. No no no, no way that man murdered her!
But it never lasts…
Why did she look at me that way? Did I do something wrong?
This pain hasn’t gone away, maybe I should call my doctor.
They have how much homework?
That deadline is coming up, I just never get a break!
Did I rotate the laundry?
Do I have —

The cycle doesn’t break on its own… without crashing. I don’t know about you, I dread the crash… it always comes too late, and life always resumes on schedule whether I am rested or not.

Electrolytes for Balanced Health by Tab Moura

Due to my Epilepsy, I cannot go for walks or bike rides alone, but from my research, I’ve learned how important exercise can be for those with insomnia. Because of this, one of my favorite resources is to hop on my stationary bike before bed and peddle away! Usually, I bike 5 mins on, rest, 5 mins on, etc, and try to breathe through my nose as long as I can. I wear a sweater, I use resistance, and I intentionally bike to warm up my body and (if possible) break a sweat.

As a person with chronic illness, let me be the first to say how cliche it feels to recommend that exercise may help. I know the face you’re making, just know I made the same face. The truth is, exercise alone isn’t the answer… otherwise, I would be asleep. This part is important, but it’s also not a magic wand. The human body is magnificent and complex. I mean, a brain— the organ we are experiencing reality with— can have disorders… it intrigues me. The brain and body have an intimate (some may say symbiotic) relationship. How you treat your body will affect your brain. What makes your body healthy will make your brain happy (like vegetables).

Research is saying that exercise can help you make new connections in your brain, improving memory and mental health outcomes. I challenge you to incorporate exercise of some kind into your daily routine for a week… grab your electrolytes, your headphones, and an open mind, and see where it takes you.

Congress Boards the MJ Research Train

by Sarah Lee Gossett Parrish, Cannabis Lawyer

In the wake of passing the MORE Act, which I wrote about in my December 2020 column, two other Acts related to marijuana were passed by Congress at the end of 2020. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Medical Marijuana Research Act (“MMRA”) on December 9, 2020. MMRA is bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Andy Harris (R-MD) that addresses the burdensome impediments to legitimate medical research. Subsequently, on December 15, 2020, the U.S. Senate approved its own bipartisan bill, the Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act (CMREA). The CMREA also promotes cannabis studies and addresses current impediments.

More Act by Sarah Lee Gossett Parrish

A 2017 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that “research on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids has been limited in the United States, leaving patients, health care professionals, and policy makers without the evidence they need to make sound decisions regarding the use of cannabis and cannabinoids.” Thus, passage by the House and Senate of MMRA and CMREA is good news moving into 2021. It appears that Congress finally recognizes the value of cannabis research, and plans to encourage studies by removing antiquated federal roadblocks. The caveat is that, in order for federal legislation to become law, it must be passed by the House and the Senate, and signed by the President. Hopefully, Congress will reach an agreement on a unified version of these two bills during the early months of 2021.

Barriers to Cannabis Research

Federal law severely limits studies concerning health benefits of cannabis. There is a burdensome registration procedure, protocol reviews are redundant in many instances, security requirements are onerous and unnecessary, especially given that approximately ninety-nine percent of Americans now live in a state where marijuana is legal in some form, and there is just a complete lack of significant research. Limitations also apply to where marijuana for research can be obtained and unfortunately, the quality of that marijuana has been poor—a recognized fact now—which has inevitably hampered accurate results of any significant research studies concerning its health benefits

Cannabis Testing by Sarah Lee Gossett Parrish

Source Limitations for Marijuana Used in Research Since “marihuana” remains a Schedule I substance under the federal 1970 Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) regulates its cultivation for research purposes. The DEA controls registration requirements and establishes annual aggregate production quotas under the authority of the CSA. Unbelievably, the DEA has issued only one registration for research marijuana cultivation—to the University of Mississippi. Thus, only the University of Mississippi has been authorized to grow marijuana for use in research studies. Every few years, the University designates the land where marijuana crops are grown based on current and expected demand. Then, the marijuana is grown, harvested, stored, and made available in bulk or as particular elements of the plant, for use in research. The subpar quality of the University-grown marijuana renders it almost useless in conducting serious studies that might yield reliable, usable data leading researchers to significant conclusions about marijuana’s health benefits.

Additionally, studies have shown that this marijuana has lower levels of THC and CBD as compared to commercial grade cannabis products and is, in fact, genetically closer to hemp than the marijuana varieties sold at dispensaries in states where marijuana is legal. Given that marijuana and hemp are genetically distinct, reliance upon the low-grade marijuana cultivated at the University of Mississippi for research about its health benefits is problematic. Participants in studies who consume the varieties cultivated at the University may experience vastly different effects than patients and adult-use consumers that obtain their marijuana product from dispensaries, yielding unreliable results and faulty conclusions. However, efforts by the DEA to expand the number of federally authorized marijuana cultivators for research purposes are underway, and passage of the above pieces of legislation will likely ensure that higher quality marijuana becomes available for research purposes.

Medical Marijuana Research Act

The MMRA achieves four main goals. It addresses the poor quality and inadequate supply of medical-grade marijuana available for use in research; provides a clear path for researchers to study cannabis products used by patients and adult-use consumers pursuant to state-legal programs; streamlines the unduly burdensome, redundant process that researchers must navigate before obtaining a license to conduct marijuana research while guarding against misuse and abuse; and requires that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provide a report on the status and results of new research concerning the health benefits of marijuana.

The full text of the MMRA can be found here.

Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act

The CMREA, passed by the Senate, is primarily intended to streamline the application process for researchers to study marijuana and to encourage the Food and Drug Administration to develop cannabis-derived medicines. The congressional summary of the Act states that it allows “accredited medical and osteopathic schools, practitioners, research institutions, and manufacturers with a Schedule I registration” to cultivate their own cannabis for research purposes. This provision would insulate researchers from the requirement of using the poor quality marijuana cultivated at the University of Mississippi.

The Act also specifies that physicians can discuss the risks and benefits of marijuana with patients, and, in similarity to the required report under the MMRA, requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report concerning the potential health benefits of marijuana and addressing barriers to cannabis research and how best to overcome those barriers. The CMREA has been endorsed by mainstream medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

The full text of the CMREA can be found here.

 

Differences in MMRA and CMREA

One major difference in the MMRA and the CMREA is that the House bill (MMRA) allows scientists to obtain marijuana from dispensaries in legal states for research purposes, whereas the CMREA allows them to cultivate their own marijuana for such purposes. Both provisions are clearly designed to circumvent current federal requirements that marijuana used for research purposes must be cultivated at the University of Mississippi. Another difference in the two pieces of legislation is the provision in the CMREA protecting physicians from penalties under the CSA, to allow discussion of risks and benefits of marijuana products with patients.

Will we see more federally-approved marijuana research projects in 2021?
Stay tuned.

Information contained herein provides general information related to the law and does not provide legal advice. It is recommended that readers consult their personal lawyer if they want legal advice. No attorney-client or confidential relationship exists or is formed between you and Ms. Parrish as a result of this article.

Showcasing Love through a Pandemic

by James Bridges

All of the “make 2020 disappear” jokes aside, I was on a mission to find some magic. As with many, I am ready to move on and find something wonderful to experience.

On a very routine basis I find myself in the bottom of a well looking up at no ladder and realizing that I was actually the one who removed the ground which created the well to begin with.

Touch the Fire by James Bridges

I then step back and recall a voice of wisdom that once told me to just let the universe guide you. “Who the hell do you think you are. Do you really believe you are incredible enough to guide the universe?”

That’s usually when the magic starts to happen.

I allowed the universe to take control. Anthony Bruno was now in my car talking about… Magic.

“Magic is something that I’ve always had a love for, but I’ve never really had a chance to showcase it.” Anthony seemed a little out of place at first. Could have been the microphone being shoved in his face. Who knows? But once he started actually talking about his talent he lit up.

“I’ve always done tricks or magic for my friends. I consider myself pretty good at it. So I needed an outlet. The pandemic actually helped me with that.” Anthony spoke carefully. “I’m not saying it’s a good thing. But it actually helped me focus on what I needed to do next for myself and my passion.”

“I saw David Blain do his first street magic special back in 1996 and I was hooked. I was probably about 5 or 6-years old and I just kind of fell in love with it. Then I picked up a deck of cards. I started teaching myself card tricks. I’ve always been a lover of magic. Off and on throughout my life I’ve had the opportunity to dabble. So I would say yeah, probably about 20 years so far and I do not see myself stopping.” Anthony glowed.

He described magic as if it were simply an everyday part of his life. Tricks, magic, illusions… whatever you call it it was fun and uplifting for Anthony and those that have experienced his craft.

“My first little magic set it was a little deck of cards that if you went through them one way they all looked like different cards but if you went through them a different way they were all the same. That’s my first one that I remember performing it for my family. Obviously I didn’t perform very well but they acted like they were amazed. Seeing them react to it kind of got me hooked.

Countless numbers of talented people like Anthony are met throughout their struggle with authenticity with resistance. That can come from anywhere, especially from oneself. Anthony was and will continue to be at a fork or a decision point with his talents. Listen to the resistance and chalk this up to a need for attention? See past the attention and get to the core. You see…the attention is merely the conduite to which you can achieve your goal.

Call me Nuts – Gorilla Nut Review by James Bridges

“I really did like attention at some level but really on a deeper level it’s all about entertainment I just want to entertain. I want to put a smile on people’s faces, especially for you know covid-19 that’s going. People have so many bad things going on in their life. If I can just offer five, ten, or fifteen minutes of happiness then to me it’s worth it.”

Another interesting practice of Anthony’s is performing under a character. “So actually switch over. It’s still me and still Anthony but it’s like a different extension of myself. I’m able to be me but more. I’m able to express myself a little bit more than I normally would normally. I’m a little bit more introverted and kind of held back, but when I shoot into my performance mode I mean I’m just an extroverted. I’m wild. Out there. You know? I’m making jokes and so yeah it does it really brings out I would say probably the best in me for sure.”

Cannabis has become a part of Anthony’s performance as well. “I have one video where I have a poker chip and I change the poker chip into a joint but I am going to be working on giving some more cannabis influenced magic for sure in 2021. It’s going to be a fun year for me.”

“I struggled with social issues all my life and Cannabis helps me with that. When I got out of the military I went straight to Colorado. I was going to get in the industry. I started off wherever I fit in. Whatever I needed to do and here I am in the industry for around four years now.” Anthony said as if he had one last chance to say something. “It’s definitely a career that I love and I’m super passionate about and enjoy. It helps me a lot especially with anxiety and with performing and everything. Oh yeah it does 100%!”

Anthony Bruno Magic can be found on Facebook and Instagram

Booking Info: ☎️ 719-491-8687

Lamb and Farro

with braised kale, sweet potato puree, and herbed cannabutter

by Micah McKamie

Anytime it starts getting cold I start craving Lamb. There is something about the heartiness and robust flavor of Lamb that really warms the soul. I particularly love Lamb in Middle Eastern Food. Their love of family and friends comes out at every meal. They sit on the floor with each other passing large trays of communal food. It is a loving, warm environment that fully engulfs you and leaves you forgetting the freezing temperatures of the Hindu Kush Mountains. So when January brings the gusty north winds that cut through every Oklahoman like a knife, this little dish keeps me warm with memories of faraway lands, spending holidays with Afghan locals, and eating like family for just one night.

Ingredients:
  • salt
  • pepper
  • cannabutter
  • 1 cup of butter
  • 7-10 grams of your favorite strain
  • 1/2 cup of fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage, or garam masala)
    Fresh Herbs are not necessary if you prefer garlic, chive, or even a delicate Saffron

Kale:

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup cut bacon
  • 1/4 cup diced onion
  • 1/4 cup diced garlic

Farro:

  • 1 cup whole-grain farro
  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 2 cups sweet white wine (save the rest for dinner)
  • 1 Tbsp salted butter cold
  • sweet potato puree
  • 3 large sweet potatoes skin on
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp red curry
  • 2 Tbsp turmeric
  • 2 Tbsp salt (salt to taste)

Marinade:

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup white balsamic
  • 2 Tbs salt
  • handful of fresh cracked peppercorn
  • 1 Tbsp paprika
  • 1 Diced onions
  • 3 Garlic smashed
  • 3 Bay leaves
Get the full recipe here!

Electrolytes for Balanced Health

by Tab Moura

These cold weeks always make me pensive… perhaps the cold weather atmosphere makes time feel slower, perhaps it’s all in my imagination. What I know for sure is winter puts things in perspective for me like no other time of the year.

Let the Light In by Tab Moura

As a mother, I have experienced such a rollercoaster of feelings this past year. If ever there was a year to become self-conscious about one’s strengths and weaknesses, 2020 was quite an eye-opener. 2020 was a year where a few of my chronic illnesses flared at the same time, and my health was largely in my own hands. I tried several new things over the last 12 months, and given the overwhelming amount of health advice that sick people receive, I’m going to let you know upfront that I am not a distributor of any of the tools I’m going to share with you. Over my next few posts, I want to explain the health conditions I’ve been formally diagnosed with, and why I am using the tools I’ve chosen.

Electrolytes

Before I was diagnosed with my neurological conditions, POTS, and Epilepsy, I thought that only athletes needed electrolytes. It’s so much deeper than that. Your body is a complex network of electrical signals, and electrolytes help make strong connections. Hydration is just as much about the nervous system as it’s about your circulation and stamina. When I feel light-headed or get an aura, the first thing I reach for is my LMNT drink. LMNT is what I use because of the high sodium content, it has helped my symptoms more than any other brand I have tried.

Often people with POTS are encouraged to get more sodium and potassium to help with their low blood pressure that leads to fainting, but these can also help with brain fog, confusion, headaches, and more. I have noticed that drinking electrolytes while using cannabis has also helped alleviate any sluggishness or brain fog caused by the strain I am using.

Again, this all depends on your individual health. If you have high blood pressure, you may want to avoid an electrolyte with significant amounts of sodium, unless otherwise indicated by your doctor.

Electrolyte balancing has been a game-changer in my health. When I talk about wellness, I make a point to encourage everyone to read the labels themselves. There are so many brands out there, but many of them are marketed for athletes and kids, they are not for people with chronic illness (look out for dyes and sugars) and find one that helps meet your daily needs.

Remember, dyes and sugars can exasperate poor blood pressure and blood sugar, along with increasing or prolonging headaches and moodiness. Whatever brand you choose, keep an eye out for companies that have a history of wellness in mind for their customers.

Let the Light In

by Tab Moura

I have been pacing my bedroom for an hour trying to come up with the words to write a post I never expected to write. I am writing this on January 7th, I don’t need to remind you what has taken place over the last 24 hours, or the last 10 months for that matter. We have all been through a lot. My thoughts are swirling, but the light from my window is breaking through, silently taunting me with the truth. There is so much light in the world, even here.

Diagnosed with Depression by Tab Moura

Those of us who found our way to cannabis therapy did so from many different paths. There is no one right way to use cannabis, nor is there one type of person who uses cannabis. However, there is something that we all have in common, it is a shared appreciation for this plant. We may call this many different things, some people like the high (ok, many of us do), some people like the relief, some people think it’s a ‘good time’, some people like to escape, some people feel it grounds them. The truth is, we all have vastly different experiences, and yet it still somehow brings us together. My right to have access to plant medicine will always require me to support your right to have access to plant medicine. We cannot have one without the other.

I believe that the path to building stronger communities is nestled somewhere in diversity, and I believe it’s wrapped up in small moments, or as Brené Brown talks about, ‘marble jar’ moments. There was a reward system created by her daughter’s teacher, where you put a marble in a friend’s jar as your trust for them grows, slowly filling the jar. “Trust is built one marble at a time,” she says. I believe that right now, more than ever, we need to invest in our marble jar connections. Who around you has earned the most marbles?

One of the defining characteristics that makes the cannabis community such a unique, diverse, courageous community… Is the small acts of kindness and generosity that seem to be given almost compulsively.
Speaking Love into a New Year by Tab Moura

Families, growers, processors, legislators and lawyers, dispensaries and budtenders, and don’t forget our allies who support us even if they don’t use this medicine personally. Every day I witness gestures of kindness, burdens shared, help given freely, because cannabis doesn’t just make us a community, it makes us family— complete with crazy aunts and uncles.

It’s never been more important to find connection and community because we find purpose and internal strength when we choose community. It’s never been more important to intentionally look for the light in those around us and in ourselves. Being different can have many challenges, which feels like such an understatement, but I hope we never forget the benefits of building marble jar communities; I pray that light finds you even here.

A Bowl of Autumn Gold

by Chef Sebastian Carosi

Generally, around late August we start to see the plethora of winter squash ripening. Then over the next few months, you will see everything from curry to hubbard, and buttercup to delicata. Winter squash are some of the most delicious, nutritious, and versatile ingredients of the autumn season. Unlike their summer squash counterparts, winter squash is harvested in autumn when they are hard, ripe, and ready. Most of the winter squash varieties are “keepers” and can be stored and enjoyed for constant use throughout the winter months.

Having lived, cooked, and gardened many years in New England I quickly learned my cucurbits. Several of my favorites happen to be heirloom varieties, seeds that have been passed on for many years, over a 100 to be exact. Among my favorites are old-school names like hubbard, buttercup, red kuri, acorn, Kakai, Boston marrow, North Georgia candy roaster, Lakota, sweet meat and Hopi pale grey.

Over the years I have kept my hunger for cucurbits alive in many ways including sourcing very rare native American heirloom squash seeds to grow and utilize on my hyper-seasonal and locally driven, weekly changing menus. With family roots in the mountains of Italy, Abruzzo to be exact, I was able to dig up several old family recipes that were easy to incorporate into my ever-expanding culinary cucurbit repertoire.

Although now most of my cooking is done at home, I still utilize and often chase down rare winter squash to make the simplest of Autumn dishes. Soups mostly but every now and then a curry, or a risotto, and when I get rambunctious – pansotti a little pot-bellied ravioli filled with roast winter squash and served in a sage brown creamery butter. Yum.

This very simple and very nutritious soup recipe generally contains a mixture of as many different winter squashes as you can find and would like to add. Truthfully, the more the better. I usually use a combination of heirlooms such as hubbard, buttercup, butternut, sweet meat, and red kuri. They all seem to bring their own complexity to a soup with so few ingredients.

I usually try to keep the thc dosage on warm soups from 2 to 6 milligrams, so no one gets totally wrecked in front of the family. If you are seeking a different result, around your family members during the holidays please feel free to serve them two or three bowls and sit back and enjoy the evening. I hope you will enjoy the simple depth of flavor each squash brings to the pot. A quick chef’s note: this velvety smooth soup is best enjoyed smoking the best of your harvest with loved ones in front of a warm crackling fire.

Check out the recipe at CannaBanana & Mom

by #theshortordercannabisrevolutionary

chef sebastian carosi

@chef_sebastian_carosi on Instagram