Grow Your Own: Understanding, Cultivating, and Enjoying Marijuana

by Nichole Graf, Micah Sherman, David Stein, Liz Crain

Overview

Honest, intelligent, and approachable, Grow Your Own combats the inaccurate stereotypes that are again being used to bolster the case for prohibition. 

Featured in Esquire, BuzzFeed, and more.

The benefits of marijuana are undeniable—medicinally, sure, but also for stress, for creativity, and for relaxation. And as any homebrewer, winemaker, or backyard gardener can tell you, there’s a particular joy in doing it yourself.

Whether you’re new to cannabis and need to walk through the basics, or you’re an experienced grower looking to hone your techniques, Grow Your Own provides all the background and instruction you need to set up a grow space, raise your plants, and harvest your buds. It will teach you how to choose a strain based on its flavors and effects, how to to manage insects and molds without the use of pesticides, and how to mix just the right soil. But Grow Your Own will also give you a primer on the myriad ways to enjoy cannabis—from carving an apple pipe to baking a delicious batch of pot brownies. With photography, visual aids, and illustrations from Allen Crawford (Whitman Illuminated), Grow Your Own makes cultivating cannabis as accessible as it is rewarding.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941040584
Publisher:	Tin House Books
Publication date:	09/26/2017
Pages:	300
Sales rank:	639,955
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Nichole Graf is Raven Grass's creative director and head of product development. A designer, illustrator, fine artist, stylist, and art director by trade, she worked as a footwear and accessories designer for Madewell in NYC, before moving West. This background, combined with her deep interest in alternative medicine, nutrition, and the natural world, led her to the creation of Raven Grass and its product offerings.

Micah Sherman is a trained architect who has worked in construction management, technical design for the modern luxury furniture brand Poliform, and as operations director for Hailey Development Group. His understanding of building and engineering has allowed Raven Grass to pursue innovative and uniquely effective systems beyond those used by conventional cannabis operations.

David Stein is Raven's Master Gardner. He has over forty years of experience cultivating cannabis in both Amsterdam and the United States. Known for his use of organic nutrient development and natural pest control, as well as his passion for unique strain development, Stein has been awarded "Best Weed" at High Times's Cannabis Cup, first place at Highlife Hemp Fair's Hash Cup, and his exclusive strain Stella Blue was featured in Jason King's Cannabible 3.

Liz Crain is the author of Food Lover's Guide to Portland, editor of True Portland: The Unofficial Guide for Creative People, and coauthor of Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull and Hello! My Name is Tasty: Global Diner Favorites from Portland's Tasty Restaurants. A longtime writer on Pacific Northwest food and drink, she has also written for Lucky Peach, Food & Wine, The Sun Magazine, The Progressive, and The Guardian. She is editor and publicity director at Hawthorne Books as well as co-organizer of the annual Portland Fermentation Festival.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/21/2017
Cannabis culture goes mainstream in this lavishly illustrated artisanal guide to cultivating and consuming marijuana. Food writer Crain (The Food Lover’s Guide to Portland) and Nichole Graf, Micah Sherman, and David Stein— the team behind Raven Grass, a cannabis grow operation in Olympia, Wash.—fashion marijuana cultivation as a high-end, enjoyable hobby in the style of brewing beer or growing orchids. Their guide includes short profiles on a variety of popular strains—with notes on flavor, growing tips, and effects of consumption­—before getting into the basics of growing your own. The authors provide blueprints for four types of greenhouses (or “growing rooms”) along with requirements for humidity, light, airflow, propagation clones, and flowering cycles. The sections on soil composition and pest management address the needs of certain strains, but are also broadly relevant to home greenhouses in general. The instructions for making hash, rosin, and tincture are easy enough for hobbyists. Parts of the book, particularly the chapters on harvest and culinary use, are more art than practical guide; still there’s plenty of useful information for newbies. The stylish presentation of the book and its useful information give it broad appeal among open-minded gardeners and 420-friendly readers. (Sept.)Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly identified Raven Grass as a cannabis store.

Publishers Weekly

"This is a beautifully made and laid-out book, the combined efforts of four authors who used their expertise to cover a wider range of topics than you would normally find in a grow book."

Portland Mercury

"A relatable, friendly introduction to the weed world . . . Smart infographics and crisp language . . . Unprecedented approachability and comprehensive scope."

Willamette Week

"A perfect present for all cannabis lovers — even if they’re not planning on starting a garden anytime soon. The full-color, photo-illustrated book explains everything from the history of marijuana, to what individual cannabinoids and terpenes do, to the different ways to consume pot — and yes, a detailed explanation of all the ways to grow it."

Rolling Stone

"Grow Your Own: Understanding, Cultivating, and Enjoying Cannabis, by the team behind the high-end grow-op Raven Grass, in Olympia, Washington, helps you do exactly as advertised, with easy-to-follow, elegantly illustrated instructions."

Esquire

"[A]s much a primer to the world of cannabis as it is a step-by-step instructional. . . The book's authors, who also own and operate Olympia's Raven Grass farm, filled the rest of the book with illustrations and all the information you need to sound like you know what you're talking about when it comes to pot. From terpenes and cannabinoids to retail products, a reference book like this is a great gift for both the weed-nervous newbie and the die-hard weed aficionado in your life."

The Stranger