Wednesday, October 22, 2008

East of Ephraim: amid hard economic times, secret gardeners put entrpeneuring shoulder to the wheel

last Saturday a friend called to make sure we were ok. on the news a family that sounded kind of like us had wrecked a car kind of like ours. "wow, no. thank God. that's not us. we're alright. everything's fine."

then yesterday afternoon another friend called to check up on us.
"Hey man, we heard about the bust. everything ok?
"yeah, fine. what?"
"I was just worried 'cause, you know."
"what?"
"you seriously didn't hear?"

it turns out that over the weekend a grove of around 20,000 marijuana plants was found in the foothills east of town. how had I not heard about this? and what have I been doing wasting my time with carrots and corn? actually, I have some serious questions about irrigation, climatic zones and frost tolerance for these guys. nothing on this in the Farmer's Almanac. nothing at the local library, IFA, county archives.
from the photos in the paper those little stalks of pot are looking pretty sad by the time the DEA agents make the scene.

how about it? other suggestions for a viable cash crop for central Utah? turkeys are out. kudzu too. also, I'm gonna say no poppies.

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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous10/23/2008 5:45 PM

    Mescal agave and peyote should both do O.K. at the right elevation. And just think of the social benefits.

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  2. T.R.10/26/2008 12:56 PM

    -wormwood
    -juniper berries
    -mink farms

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  3. english10/27/2008 11:01 AM

    dave- both great ideas! they would require a little more long-term investment than something like, say, "pickled cannabis hearts". but in the mean time I wouldn't have to worry about all the helicopters and I could even run tours through the plantations, if I can just keep the snow and moths off. I mean if people will pay money for corn mazes shaped like american idols...

    t.r.- yes, thanks. also some wonderful possibilities here. I think the juniper is an especially exciting prospect. the cutivation basically takes care of itself, and, at the rate things are going, bathtub gin may soon become a growth industry. pulque and absinth could be brought on once we get things going.

    ReplyDelete