Pubdate: Thu, 18 Aug 2016
Source: Portland Mercury (OR)
Column: Cannabuzz
Copyright: 2016 The Portland Mercury
Contact:  http://www.portlandmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1174
Author: Josh Jardine

WEED READS

What to Read Before-and After-You Get High

HELLO THERE! Do you enjoy reading? How about reading about cannabis? 
I ask because if you're reading this column (or if it's being read to 
you by a service monkey using typing-to-speech-recognition software), 
it seems like you might enjoy some books on cannabis. I certainly 
hope so, because this week's column is about four of them. You could 
get them all through Powell's or many local, independent booksellers.

Big Book of Buds: Greatest Hits: Marijuana Varieties from the World's 
Best Breeders

by Ed Rosenthal (Quick American)

The Big Book of Buds series has always had a place on my bookshelf, 
examining cannabis strains with large, beautiful photos of-you 
guessed it-buds. Written by ganja guru and former Ask Ed High Times 
columnist Ed Rosenthal, this collection gathers 95 strains and covers 
how each gets you high, tips on growing and harvesting, and details 
on terpenes, cannabinoids, and more. A sidebar of colorful icons for 
each gives you extensive insight to the lineage, effects, grow times, 
and expected yields. Less a how-to-grow manual than a cannabis 
varieties guidebook, this would be a perfect gift for the weed nerd 
in your life. This is like Pokemon Go for the pot enthusiast, except 
they don't need to leave the house and won't get run over or robbed 
searching for the strains.

The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook

by Robyn Griggs Lawrence (Skyhorse Publishing)

This is a wide-reaching collection of recipes from a handful of chefs 
and mixologists, running the gamut from appetizers to main courses 
and cocktails to desserts. Beautifully photographed, it dedicates the 
first 100 pages to giving the reader a broad understanding of 
strains, storage, decarboxylation, and more. The book reaches the 
next level of culinary cannabis, though, with recipes for: green tea, 
cannabis and coconut brownies; cannabis sweet potato fries with hemp 
seeds and kelp flakes; and mary jane daiquiris. (The recipes are low 
dose, so as to avoid a "nom nom nom oh God what have I done" 
scenario.) The resource guide and glossary sections are well curated, 
with listings for growing, storage, websites, and recommended 
reading. If you're looking for a book to make you stoned and well 
fed, this one's for you.

Homegrown Marijuana: Create a Hydroponic Growing System in Your Own Home

by Joshua Sheets (Cool Springs Press)

Geared toward the home cultivator, this book is a great step-by-step 
guide to building your own hydroponic grow system. It's clear photo 
instructions take the guesswork out of the process, and the book 
covers everything you would need to get up and running with your four 
personal pot plants. Tips on cloning, CO2, watering systems, nutrient 
solutions, and production techniques make this a stellar handbook for 
the novice hydro grower. The author points out that a hydroponic 
cannabis garden isn't that different from other gardens you're 
tended. If you enjoy using cannabis and a power drill, but not at the 
same time, this is the book for you.

The Stoner Puzzle Stash: An Activity Book for the High-Minded

by Dr. Blaise Kushman (Workman Publishing)

As the back of this book succinctly puts it, "You're high, now what?" 
This is a fun collection of mazes, word searches, crosswords, hidden 
pictures, color-by-numbers, "DIY Inaction Figures," and 82 full-color 
stickers. There are some true stoner activities like "Trace Your 
Face!" (a blank page along with the instructions, "Place your face on 
the blank space, then trace!") or a Mandela Mandala (allowing you to 
color in a mandala of the late, great South African leader), and "fun 
facts" about Art Garfunkel. Silly stuff, yes. This would be a great 
activity book for those who get giggly after consumption. There are 
some very uptight people who are going to complain that this book is 
geared toward children, as only those 10 and under should be allowed 
to color. Ignore them, as they aren't happy people and never will be. 
Burn one down and bust out your coloring toolkit.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom