High Times Magazine - I Like My Sauce Blissfully Spicy

I’m the type of cook who likes to play with herbs and spices. I like to experiment with new and unusual combinations just to see what new flavors I can get, and my spaghetti sauce is my favorite dish to experiment on.

That being said, I decided last year to plant my very own herb garden. First I had to decide where. Well, when we first moved out here to the country, our 94 year old neighbor had told me that if I wanted to plant a garden, I was welcome to use part of his back field for it. He passed away two years later, but since his family hadn’t rented or sold the property, I felt that the offer was still good.

Okay, now I have the place, but I needed instructions of some kind. I had never planted a garden before and hardly knew how to begin. So, I went looking for a gardening magazine. Now remember, I’m out pretty far in the country, so finding specific things is sometimes difficult…there aren’t a heck of a whole lot of stores to choose from.

I began my search and actually got lucky with the very first drug store I went to. Nestled between Hustler magazine and Easy Rider, a magazine with an herb plant on the cover caught my eye. “A gardening magazine!” Surely this could help get me started.

High Times magazine looked like an excellent gardening magazine, as I flipped through this magazine, I saw beautiful pictures of herbs and spices that I can only compare to ferns and mushrooms, only they didn’t look like regular plants, but something more. In the pictures, the crop-raisers stood proudly by their harvests. These people had used this magazine and the results were beautiful! High Times magazine even has several advertisements from companies selling the seeds and plants, though I was a bit confused over the disclaimer at the top of these ads…”This is a paid advertisement…These products are not marijuana”…Not marijuana?

Okay, I’m not stupid, once I really thought about it anyway. I’ve seen pictures of marijuana plants before, and I suppose these herbs resembled the plants enough for them to have to put up a legal disclaimer.

High Times magazine not only has expert advice on creating and harvesting an outdoor and an indoor garden, it has plenty of ads from companies selling the seeds and plants, and the magazine also has some very pretty and interesting statuary and knick-knacks for sale. I was impressed, and immediately bought a copy. I couldn’t wait to get started on my garden now.

The first thing I needed was the seed. As I looked through the advertisements, I saw that all of these companies had websites so you could order online. Being this far out in the country, this was extremely convenient for me. Since the prices were all pretty much the same, I chose legalbuds.com simply for the name. With the word legal in there, I knew that I wouldn’t have to worry about my garden being mistaken for anything illegal. I ordered several packets of Acapulco Bud, Panama Red, Krypto, and B.C. “Dro” seed. With names like these, I figured these would be some very unusual herbs.

Carefully following all the instructions I found in High Times magazine, my garden was planted, and in time began to bloom. Little plants sprouted up, and the smell! My herbs smelt…spicy. Oh yes, these were going to be wonderful in my spaghetti sauce, I knew it would be my best sauce ever!

There was still a week or two left before they could be harvested, when I went to check on my little crop. I was unprepared for what I found when I arrived…my herb garden had been set on fire!! Not only that, but there was a crowd of police, firefighters, and several neighbors. I made my way to the closest police officer and asked him…“who could have done this?” His reply was a bit confusing…”We don’t know Ma’am, but there has to be a major distributor in the area”. At this point, I thought to myself…distributor? What did a distributor have to do with arson?…but before I could ask the officer, he was called away by one of the firefighters.

I was also a bit confused as to why the firefighters made no attempt at putting out the fire. I tried to find someone to ask, but it seemed that everyone was too busy, and I certainly didn’t want to bother anyone. Besides, it was only logical to assume that the firefighters figured since the crop was already ruined, they would simply contain it rather than waste the water it would take to put it out.

With everyone so busy, I decided that I wasn’t accomplishing anything getting in the way like I was, and went home. I have to say, I was terribly disappointed about how I was unable to harvest my herbs before the horrible distributor person set fire to everything, and a little worried over the fact that my garden had been singled out. Not too much though, I’ve satisfied myself that this was just a random act of arson, since no one knew that the garden belonged to me.

Even with the loss of my garden, I do highly recommend High Times magazine for some very good planting and growing advice. Beautiful photography of very pretty herbs, lovely statuary, and something they call “stash”…which seems to be those same herbs in vacuum sealed bags. Numerous ads for companies that will give you a good deal through the mail, and online on the plants and seed. A magazine packed full and well rounded, perfect for the first time gardener!

As for my garden? Well, I’ve started a new one this year a bit closer to home. I believe I’ve hidden it well enough, and shouldn’t have to worry about any arsonist finding it. I can’t wait to try out these new herbs and I’ll be sure to update my review on High Times magazine come this fall, complete with my family’s reaction to my new spicy spaghetti.