Author: johnbrandall

John Randall is a writer living in Missouri. His interests include camping, running, walking, cutting and burning wood, messing around with magnets, foraging, and listening to podcasts, many of them about baseball.

Strain Review: Durban Poison

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

It's time to turn on. Do a strain review. I've already done Blue Dream. So it's Lemon Skunk or Durban Poison or Jack Herer. All sativas. The Jack and the Durban are probably the oldest. I'll flip a coin. Head Jack, tails Durban. Tails.

The bite. Paranoia. It doesn't taste like that first Durban I bought. I first bought an eighth of this UpNorth Durban Poison from the Mississippi Ave location of Beyond Hello. It was the tastiest weed I've ever smoked. I'd never tasted anything like it. Months later I bought another eighth from the same place.

The second eighth cost substantially less. The sticker price fell from $50 down to $25. I was a little suspicious. This second batch does not have the flavor profile of the first, not even close. But let's see where the high will take me...

The full review is here...

Peking Duck by Seed & Strain

~ johnbrandall ~ 1 Comment

A decent high, a fine high. I went and swept my garage, topped off the oil in my lawnmower. I had changed the oil in that mower last week and wasn't sure I had put enough fresh oil back in. Barely, just above that lower little hole on the dipstick. Room to add, so I added a couple small pours, perhaps an ounce.

Then I put out the new hummingbird food I had mixed up this morning. I stopped using boiled water when making hummingbird food. A source I believe valid said boiling the water isn't necessary. The recipe is four parts water to one part sugar. I have been using a funnel to pour 1/4 cup of sugar into an empty, re-usable club soda bottle. This is the same as the little tonic water bottles that come in a six-pack. Plastic bottles, holding about ten ounces. I fill this bottle to where it begins to taper up toward the mouth of the bottle. Then I shake the bottle and give the mix a few minutes to reach equilibrium, to solve. The sugar disappears. I take the garden hose to the hummingbird feeder, to rinse it off once I've dumped the old water. In this case, the water was about two days old. I've been changing the water more often now that I've nixed the boiled water part of the process. The hummingbirds seem to like this unboiled mix just fine. The feeder has not gotten mildewy or gunky/grimy. The hummingbirds won't be in town much longer.

Read the full review here.../\\...

OK Gush, OG Kush

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

In a short time, I've assembled a short history of OG Kush, as I understand the strain's story. It is perhaps the most common ancestor of all the other flower on offer in shops. OG Kush and Chemdog. Those two. One or the other, often both, will be found somewhere along the way in strain's lineage. I have to work to find a strain that doesn't have some OG Kush and/or some Chemdog in it. Is this a bad thing? That's what I'm trying to find out. I want to smoke the OG Kush, I want to smoke the Chemdog, then I want to smoke strains that aren't derived from them. And see which ones I like better. That's science!

At first I believed Chemdog was one of the parents of OG Kush. I have relied on two sources when doing cannabis lineage research. I started at leafly.com and then found seedfinder.eu. I still use both...

Read the full post here or by clicking the title above...

Dispo Review: Star Buds, University City, MO

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

I like Star Buds. The building it's in has never had a persistent tenant. It once was a bar but as far as I can remember, the building has been empty for most of the last fifteen years. I would point to Star Buds' tenancy in this previously disused building as one of the early positive impacts legalized cannabis has had on my neighborhood.

There is a small parking lot in front, which is the only place I've ever parked. There is additional parking in back but I've never had to use it. I go in, go up a few stairs, wait for a bud tender to come to the window, then slide my ID onto the metal tray under the thick window. Then in a moment or two they will call your name and buzz you through the door.

It's not a big place but I've never felt crowded inside. There are two main glass cases/counters in which dozens of glass jars of flower sit.

And this is one of the best things about Star Buds. You can buy by the gram. The flower is not pre-packed. You can see the bud, you can smell the bud. The jars have the names of the strain on them. Supply and variety has been pretty good.

Read the full review...