Jeffrey Hickey Writes Blogs

It’s early in January, 2025. Happy New Year to everyone.

The day after Christmas, to ward off my empty nest blues, I planted approximately 1,500 fava bean seeds, after removing the plastic covers from our beds. Solarization is complete, having received both heat and ice, these beds are ready for a new growing year. It’s still quite cold and we’ve had 28 inches of rain so far, but the beds were fluffy and soft, because they’ve been covered.

I was able to plant all the seeds prior to 1.5 inches of rain that night, so I’m certain that sprouting has already begun.

There are many different legumes you can grow for nitrogen regeneration. My favorite is the fava bean. We usually only allow a few plants to produce fruit. The entire purpose for growing favas is to replenish and add to the nitrogen in my soil. Of course, I planted fish in each bed many weeks ago, so they are not going to be short on nitrogen.

But the favas are part of my growing process and one of the keys to my success. Because nitrogen has to be replenished after every grow, I believe in utilizing a variety of sources, from fish to plants, to local guano. Winter is the time to plant the fish and let the worms do their work of spreading the oils and nutrients all around each growing medium. Compost teas will begin six weeks after the fava sprouts break ground, and that’s when I’ll begin to utilize my home captured and dried brown bat guano.

In addition to nitrogen regeneration, favas are also strongly resistant to frost. I have seen frost damage on fava leaves, but nothing that prevented the plant from growing to completion. There is something to be said about a plant that shrugs off the worst of the cold.

I’ll also let you in on a little growing secret that I began using many years before I began growing cannabis. This was when I was learning to grow tomatoes. One of my secrets (aside from starving them once they are producing fruit) is to leave the root bulb from the favas in the ground when I cut down the stalk. I like to put plants in close proximity to those bulbs, because they are slow leaking sources of nitrogen for the entire growing season. This was one of my tomato secrets and it’s now one of my cannabis tips.

I wait until the flower buds are just starting to form, and the plant is mostly covered in those buds, before I cut down the stalks. This is when the plant is at its most nitrogen rich, so I cut down the stalks and cover them with fresh straw for six weeks. During that time, worms come to the surface and consume as much plant material as they are capable of before diving down into the growing medium for scat distribution. After six weeks, the soil is ready for planting, either cannabis, vegetables, fruits or flowers.

Of course, I’ll be writing about this again in a couple of months, but right now is when you should be doing this work, and not closer to spring. This is nitrogen renewal time.

I’m pulling sunflower seed sprouts from a lot of beds. These are all courtesy of birds who either dropped, or planted them into our beds last fall via their scat, before solarization.

And yes, it would be fun to just let those grow. Maybe dedicate a bed to sunflowers. But you cannot have a sunflower plant and a cannabis plant in the same bed. They are both nitrogen hogs and they would both not grow to their full potential.

But that won’t happen this year. It might happen next year, though, we’ll see.

A new weather station came for the holidays. My Vantage Vue died after almost two decades. As much as I loved the unit, it’s too expensive for me now, so I went with the Ambient Weather 2902. Once again, I am a pig in the proverbial slop. Very impressed with this unit so far.

Next week, I will make the calls necessary to purchase everything I need for this year’s grow. That’s organic molasses, and all my foliar sprays, Grandevo, Venerate, Regalia and Stargus. I think I have enough Humic Acid, but I’ll make certain before I purchase. The next buy after that is some soil for starting plants and for a few beds. I’ll take my time pricing that, because I can be patient and will wait for the best local deal. All of my growing products are being purchased locally and not online. I have friends in some of those businesses that read my blog, so I want to support them when I can. Once all that is in house, I will go back full time into novel writing, which I am plainly aching to do. I know I can’t finish the first draft this year. But I’m pretty sure I can finish it next year, if I get cracking on it soon. 

I’d love to tell you more about it, but not just yet. Only that it was started in 2016, and interrupted by significant life events. Both my wife becoming ill and then the pandemic stopped me from the work needed to advance and finish this ambitious project. 

My love, Karen, while still ill and the illness is progressing, has found her life within constant pain. I know how those words read, but that’s actually the way of it. I’ve witnessed it. It’s not her old life, by any means, but it’s the life she has now, and after ten years, she has somewhat made her peace with it. She is disabled for life, but she has proven herself to be capable of living a life within her constraints, that is satisfying for her.

And I’m getting back to work. It feels organic and right. It feels like I’ve felt when I’ve written my other novels. There is a certain mindset I need to be in to complete a novel. It’s entirely immersive and joins me on that part of the spectrum where I live. It’s one of my favorite feelings in life, writing a novel. It hasn’t happened enough for me, and that’s another reason why it’s time to get back to work. Those who have known me longest know that I am at my happiest when I’m writing on a project every single day. 

I have obviously been enjoying the fruits of the last harvest. We’re only now getting back to turning everything into FECO. I can tell you that the plants I grew with exceptional terpene percentages (like 3.97% on S Thai), are unlike anything I’ve ever grown. At most, I’ve taken three hits, which is one hit too many for maximum enjoyment on a minimal dose. Anyone who tells you that terpenes don’t make a difference doesn’t know what they’re talking about. 

The other completely shockingly great strain is the purple and neon green wonder that is Fruitcake, which we’ll do everything in our power to grow again this year, only in a larger plant. 

It’s supposed to be a sleepy time dominant plant, like a 70/30 Indica hybrid. But holy cow, if you limit the amount you ingest, just a hit or two, the front end of Fruitcake is full of euphoria. We smile at how the purple makes us feel. It makes us feel like growing again.

And we will, in about three months, seeds will go in the ground and others will be started in the cottage. Favas are going to break ground this week while the sun rises higher every day. A new grow looms.

Until then, all the best in 2025 to everyone. As always, though I’m not currently growing, I’m always available for questions.

Jeff

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