New streets, new stories. Printed proof the culture’s still alive—city by city, toke by toke.
DENVER NO.2 MAY-JUNE 2026
NATIVE PIONEER: JOSH GINSBERG
GLOSSIES .......................................... ...................................... ............................... ............................ ......................... GET HIGH: CONTRIBUTE:
EDITOR'S NOTE ................. 6 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ......................... 12 SPECIAL SECTION ........... 16 HIGH 5IVES ............ 22 HIGH ART .......... 24 HIGH TIMES ZINE .................... 25 .................. 26 DIRECTORY .......................... 52 .... 54 COUPONS .......... . . 57-96 ........................................ ....................... .................................... ...................................... ................................................
.................... 18 CASA BONITA TRIPPIN' ....................... 21 FROM THE VAULT: THE GREAT INDOORS ............ . 28
OUR AFTERNOON WITH DJ SHORT
...................... 31
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HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
PUBLISHER NATHAN JOHNSON
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MICAH JOHNSON MANAGING EDITOR ISAAC MORRISON ADVERTISING EDITOR DILLON RICE ART DIRECTOR MATTHEW HOLLINGSHEAD CONTRIBUTING EDITORS JAVIER HASSE, JORGE CERVANTES, TREVER HAGEN, JERRY GOLD, STONEY TARK CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS & PHOTOGRAPHERS MOOKIE, GRAHAM TOLBERT, SEAN MAGILL DESIGN ASSOCIATES RHETT THOMPSON, MIKE G CIRCULATION MANAGER NEWS LOCAL.HIGHTIMES.COM EDITORS LOCAL.HIGHTIMES.COM SALES LOCAL.HIGHTIMES.COM CORRECTION In our last issue we mistakenly omitted Cameron Neptune from the contributing photographer credit . © MOLLY FELBER ADVERTISING EMILY MORGAN GET IN TOUCH
Thank you for welcoming us back into the circle . When High Times Local landed in March, we weren’t exactly sure how people would take it. Would it feel like a comeback? A reboot? A strange little relic with fresh ink and better coupons? Then the launch party came, Talib Kweli grabbed the mic, the room filled up with old heads, and sud- denly it was obvious. The energy is returning. We want to continue riding that wave into summer. Inside this followup edition you’ll find the people and places that make our scene rock. We sit down with Josh Ginsberg of Native Roots, one of the pioneers from Colorado’s early dispensary era. And we embark on a misty, slightly suspicious misadventure through Casa Bonita. It’s also the time of year to hear from OG grow- ers. From the vault we revisit Ed Rosenthal and Jorge Cervantes. And we’re most excited to share our "Afternoon with DJ Short”, whose wisdom and history brings the important things back into focus. But this issue is not just looking backward. We’re also looking across the counter. That’s why we’re launching Tender Lovin ’, our new section and industry night built around the voices behind the counter, the people who know you the best. And judging by the letters you sent, you get it. You told us High Times being back on the rack meant something. You asked about shrooms, the Cup, old stories, new laws, strange nights, better sleep, and whether we could get even more local . The answer is yes . Here’s Issue #2. Devour. . From on high,
Editor-in-chief High Times Local
6 MAY/JUNE 2026
“STYLE MATTERS”
BACK ON THE RACK I damn near stopped in my tracks when I saw your glorious magazine back on the shelf. I’m 56 ripe years old now, but for a second I was in college again, sleeping on the floor after nights with friends at concerts, trading nugs, rolling our thin little spliffs, reading this magazine like it was scripture. HIGH TIMES was for all of us freaks who knew there was more to life than all the bullshit… work, TV, and behaving. Seeing it at my dispensary feels really full circle, like I’m running into an old hookup, a real dawg with primo shit. — Still Truckin’ Denver, Colorado
training, and accountability, but they can be expensive. The personal-use world is broader and cheaper, but also easier to screw up. If somebody is just selling you mushrooms with spiritual wallpaper stapled to the transaction, be careful. If they are actually sitting, guiding, educating, and taking harm reduction serious- ly, you’re at least closer to the spirit of the law. BRING BACK THE CUP I was at that first HT Cup when it came here… and back then everything felt only half-legal and twice as fun. We stood in the line for like an hour, the whole place was buzzing. It was like you just knew strangers, like they were friends. And then that ridiculous leaf-blower bong fogging an entire tent like a fire drill? They don’t do that kinda shit anymore. And Kid Cudi too! Crazy times, I’ll never forget it (Can you bring back the cup?!) — Ms. Hash Lover Louisville, Colorado DISCO DAMAGE Honestly great work, this takes me way back. I just want to say after growing up reading the Fear and Loathing stories from HST and a bunch of other counterculture stuff from that era, this new small version is looking really retro and familiar. Finding weed used to be so cool and new and dangerous. Things change, I guess, we all grow up... But man, what a Vegas story, and the whole look just felt like a reboot for the era. Didn't even realize how big and insane cannabis business has gotten. Either way, I laughed out loud a couple times. Bravo to the team. — Half-Baked Yo-yo Aurora, Colorado
Amigo! We're so freakin' happy to be here too.
LEGAL SHROOMS? Your Sean McAllister interview was the first thing I’ve read that made our psychedelic laws make any kind of sense. But I’m still confused. If mushrooms are decriminalized, and healing cen- ters are legal, and people can be paid for “harm reduction,” where does that leave a normal broke dude who wants to do this without getting totally conned or arrested? I feel like I should be hopeful but also don’t know where to start. Are people literally just sitting while you lay there? — Cautiously Curious Lakewood, Colorado Editor note: In Colorado, the future seems to show up before the instruction manual. The safest answer is still: start low, go slow, and don’t treat a legal gray area like a free-for-all. Regulated healing centers bring oversight,
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GRANDMA KEEF The Keef Brothers story got me, and totally saying this as a longtime-drinker of Keef. I saw the pic of the guy and his Grandma, had to crack a rootbeer in honor. My own mother was against weed her whole life, and then got to try it during her last days, along with CBD. It changed her life. I can only imagine what it was like for Grandma Keef. And to keep that legacy going, what an awesome thing for a couple bros. Seems like they’ve been around forever too. Print more Colorado origin stories like that! — Root Beer Believer Boulder, Colorado SOMA LIVES The Gordon Wasson - "Sage of Soma" piece was a nice curveball. I actually read the whole thing and went online to read the rest. Pretty much kept the book for the coupons, then somehow ended up deep thinking about ancient ritual plants and whether every generation just redis- covers the same door under a different name. That’s very High Times. Maybe this is just high thought (this email may or may not be inspired by the rosin I just puffed, haha). Keep that archive stuff coming. The past is weirder than most people’s “new frontier.” — Old Head, New Shrooms Nederland, Colorado TOO LOCAL? I grabbed the first issue expecting a bunch of corporate/superficial shit you can't buy around here... but it felt like a real Denver thing. Weird news, psychedelics.. and then actual deals in the back. My only complaint is that now I want it to get even more local. Give me some budtender gossip, some homegrow freaks, venue bath- rooms, bad edible stories, who spilled the bong, old arrest stories, the whole nine yards! — Print Ain’t Dead Capitol Hill, Colorado STILL HELPING I’m not trying to get on a soapbox. But I know cannabis helps me sleep when nothing else does. A small edible at night has done more for me than half the stuff in my medicine cabinet, and I’m grateful we have access to it here in Colorado. There are those of us regular folks who genuinely depend on this plant and I’m so glad it’s not the same world I grew up in. — Sleeping Better Arvada, Colorado
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HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
DENVER: Some launches get announced. This one got felt. High Times Local officially hit Denver with our premier issue release party, and for one night, the whole thing came off the page and into real life. The room had that rare kind of energy you can’t fake: old-school heads, new-school operators, artists, growers, advertisers, readers, friends, and people who just knew something was happening and needed to be there. Then Talib Kweli stepped in and reminded everybody what a real room sounds like. It wasn’t just a party. It was a little proof of concept. Denver showed up, the culture I used to have a subscrip- tion to High Times, back in the day, when I was a teenager. I'm showing my age. I was born in 1975. I've been doing this for a long time. It doesn't matter what age you are, If you love real music, and you love real vibes, and you love real connections, then you’re in here tonight at this event. - Talib Kweli Talib Kweli showed up, and the first issue of High Times Local didn’t just land on shelves, it got a proper welcome. For a few hours, it felt less like a launch and more like a reunion for something people didn’t realize they’d been missing. Somewhere between the music, the smoke, the art, and the stack of fresh issues making their way around the room, Denver got its first real taste of what High Times Local is here to be. For everyone who made it out, thank you. For everyone who missed it, well… we’ll try not to rub it in too hard. But yeah, you probably should’ve been there.
PRIES
DAYY4REAL
KNDRX
16 MAY/JUNE 2026
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SEAN MAGILL & MOOKIE
HIGH TIMES: For people who know the Native Roots name but not you — who were you "before" cannabis? JOSH GINSBERG: I have always been wired to push limits, take on challeng- es, and build. I grew up in Steamboat Springs, went to Bucknell for Finance and Computer Science, and started my career on Wall Street. On paper it was exactly where I was sup- posed to be, but it never felt like my path. I was always drawn to creating some- thing from the ground up and figuring it out in real time. Cannabis gave me that opportunity. It was a blank canvas to build something meaningful and real, something that could leave a lasting impact on the world, well beyond just business. HT: What brought you into cannabis in the first place? JG: It felt like one of those rare moments where something entirely new was opening up and no one knew what it would become or if it would last. When my partner Rhett Jordan showed me his caregiver grow, it clicked immediately. Seeing what was possible under the law made it real, and I went all in. There was something powerful about building from scratch, doing what most people did not be- lieve was possible, and helping lay the foundation for an entirely new indus- try. The medicinal value of the plant, especially as a healthier alternative to
"It really was the wild west, and we had to evolve in real time."
"Most people still associated cannabis with an Amsterdam-style co eeshop."
JOSH GINSBERG Native Roots'
If you’ve spent any time cruising through Colorado, you’ve likely seen the familiar bright logo of Native Roots standing as a beacon for high-quality green. At the heart of this homegrown empire is Josh Ginsberg, who saw the potential for cannabis to be more than just a transaction—but a part of the Colorado lifestyle. While most people were still figuring out the basics of legal sales, Josh was busy building a community-focused brand that felt as natural in a mountain ski town as it did in the middle of downtown Denver. For the everyday customer, Josh’s most legendary "lightbulb moment" was undoubt- edly the "Gas & Grass" concept. He realized that for most of us, life is busy, and chores are unavoidable—so why not make them a little more enjoyable? By opening the world’s first co-located gas station and dispensary, he turned a mundane pit stop into the ulti- mate convenience. It’s that kind of practical, "regular guy" innovation that has made Native Roots a household name for Southern Colora- do locals who just want a reliable spot to fuel up their cars and their weekend plans. In an business that can sometimes feel overly clinical or corporate, Josh has fought to keep the soul of the shop alive. He’s the archi- tect behind the scenes, ensuring that whether you're a first-timer asking a million questions or a seasoned regular grabbing your favorite wax, the vibe is always right. We sat down with Josh to talk about the early days of the Mile High scene, the inspiration behind his one-of- a-kind stores, and what he’s rolling up next.
18 MAY/JUNE 2026
prescription medications, made it an easy decision to get involved. When recre- ational opened up, it gave us the opportunity to lever- age our team’s strengths and build a brand that customers recognized and trusted. HT: What was your vision when you started Native Roots? JG: At the beginning, it was simple. Build something real in a space that had very little structure and help change the perception of what a dispensary could be. At the time, most people still associated cannabis with an Amsterdam-style coffee shop. We wanted to create a true experience that people could trust, even while the industry was still finding its footing. A place where you could bring your mom and not only would she feel com- fortable, but she would see cannabis in a completely different light. HT: What has changed about the cannabis industry in Col- orado since you started? JG: Almost everything. Ear- ly on, it was about survival and figuring out how to op- erate day to day. Today, it is a much more mature and competitive retail environ- ment where consistency and execution matter most. Being early is no longer an advantage. What matters now is being good and delivering the experience customers are looking for. The winners today are the best operators, not the first ones. HT: What did it take to sur- vive in those early days? JG: A lot of patience and a willingness to adapt. There was no roadmap, so you
had to stay steady through constant uncertainty and solve problems as they came. It really was the wild west, and we had to evolve in real time alongside reg- ulators and the industry as everyone worked to figure out how to best support customers with education and confidence in their pur- chases. HT: Was there ever a moment where you thought, “This isn’t a real business”? JG: There were definite- ly moments where it felt uncertain, honestly al- most every day. We were constantly adapting to shifting regulations, in- consistent guidance, new markets opening, ongoing price compression, and a tax structure that did not allow standard business deductions. The challenges were nonstop. At the same time, you could feel it tak- ing shape into something real, even if it was not fully formed yet. HTL What’s something about those early days people wouldn’t believe now?
How little infrastructure and guidance there was. No banking, unclear rules, constant change, and no one to learn from. It took a lot of creativity just to oper- ate day to day, and in many ways we were building the blueprint as we went. HT: What part of your per- sonality helped most and what created the most chal- lenges? JG: Staying steady and committed probably helped the most. Having the confidence that we could overcome any chal- lenge thrown our way while never having to look back at all of the stuff we had been though. At times, pushing too hard or mov- ing too fast created chal- lenges, but those are part of learning and refining as you go. HT: What advice would you give someone building a cannabis brand today? JG: Focus on the basics. Build something sustain- able, take care of the cus- tomer, and stay disciplined with your numbers. This 19 HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
HT: What’s changing at Na- tive Roots under the new ownership, and why should customers care? JG: We’re going back to fundamentals. Making the experience easier to shop, more consistent, and more trustworthy across loca- tions. That means more in- tentional product selection, clearer value at every price point, and better guidance in-store. If we earn your trust at the counter, every- thing else follows. Custom- ers should start to see and feel the difference when they come back in. HT: What are you doing be- hind the scenes to improve the experience? JG: We’re focused on mak- ing the overall experience better- simpler and more ways to transact, intention- al store flow, a tighter and focused product mix, and consistency across loca- tions. It should feel easier and more intuitive for the customer. HT: What do you think cus- tomers want that they’re not getting today? JG: Clarity, confidence, and more variety. Customers want to understand what they’re buying, trust the value, and have a consis- tent experience across vis- its. HT: With 20 plus locations, how do you keep a “neigh- borhood shop” feel? JG: By maintaining a con- sistent standard while still letting each store reflect its local customer base. It’s about balance- structure at the top, flexibility at the store level. HT: How do you keep com- pany culture strong at that scale? JG: It has to show up in ev Continued on Page 99
isn’t a hype-driven industry anymore- it’s an execution business. HT: After everything you built early on, why come back in a major way now? JG: It feels like another transition point for the in- dustry. It’s moving into a more refined version of itself, and that’s an oppor- tunity to build something thoughtful and lasting. It is the time where cannabis becomes real and a long
lasting part of our future, supported by only true op- erators that care about the products and clients they serve. HT: What made Native Roots the right platform for this next chapter? JG: There’s history there, and that matters. It’s a brand people recognize and have a relationship with. That gives you some- thing meaningful to build on.
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BY J ERRY G OLD
M aybe you’ve heard of Casa Bonita, the most famous diner in Denver, not be- cause the Southpark dudes reclaimed and restored it live on CNN, but because your family came here a dozen times over the years. Your childhood fantasies and foot stink were part of the walls. And now that you’re an adult aspiring for success, your curiosity is piqued. Should you return? And in what state of mind does one just usher themselves off to the Costa Grande countryside and shores of Acapulco, especially when they’re located in a Colfax Avenue strip mall?
Our trusty guide is here to help you. Just remember. What happens at Casa Bonita can lead to fines, charges, and legal fees. LINING UP - First thing: Don’t stand in the wrong line. If you’ve paid for standard seat- ing, and you know you probably did, then yes, eat a shit ton of hash tabs and make your way to the huge solid line. It does not physically move. You should probably show up a good 15-20 minutes early. Not because they’re gonna drop your reserva- tion (they keep reassuring it’s ok it’s ok,
C ONTINUED ON P AGE 108
Photo: Graham Tolbert
Setting
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traditional development. There are moments where the material approaches stasis, but it never settles fully. The interplay keeps it slightly off-balance, which is what gives the record its beauty and coherence. It’s less about atmosphere than about relation showing how sound behaves between people. Album notes: Setting (2026) by Setting. Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles, and Joe
Westerlund. Released via Thrill Jockey. Ensemble improvisation drawing from experimental folk, electronic, and minimalist traditions. 2. Wendy Eisenberg, Wendy Eisenberg The self-titled release from Wendy Eisenberg marks a continued move from solo-oriented work into more deliberate ensemble writing. Issued in 2026, the record operates between composition and improvisation, but with a clearer emphasis on arrangement than earlier releases. Eisenberg’s guitar remains central, though it’s rarely treated as a fixed voice. Phrases emerge and dissolve quickly. Melodic fragments that give way to texture, clean articulation shifts into abrasion. Individual moments are sharply defined, but they don’t necessarily resolve into a single, obvious arc, an emphasis on relation, not destination. What holds the record together is not only continuity of tone, but continuity of interaction between the ensemble. Notably, Trevor Dunn contributes a low-end presence that stabilizes the shifting woven surface. Known for his work with Mr. Bungle and John Zorn’s ensembles, Dunn brings a compo- sitional awareness that shapes how the material moves without becoming overt. His lines often function as quiet anchors, allowing the guitar to move more freely without dispersing. Across the record, Dunn’s arrangements are flexible but intentional. Parts enter and recede without fixed hierarchy, and transitions tend to occur through overlap rather than clear breaks. This creates a sense of internal logic that doesn’t feel as if it's relying on traditional development. Eisenberg’s naked vocal execution follows the same principle: integrated rather than leading, contributing to phrasing and texture as much as narrative direction. Continued on Page 106
PAOLO LE ONDATA Music Charts
1. Setting, Setting The North Carolina–based trio of Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles, and Joe Westerlund bring together their captivating collective voice on this eponymous latest release. The trio weave together their backgrounds that span projects like Mind Over Mirrors, Califone, Black Twig Pickers, and Sylvan Esso into a range that is audible, but it’s not presented as collage. It’s integrated. Sometimes swampy and fat, sometimes trancey and ethereal, every sound is treated with care on Setting . Released in 2026 via Thrill Jockey, the album sits between improvisation and composition without announcing the boundary. The instru- mentation is broad and fascinating in timbre (synthesizers, cassette loops, banjo, percus- sion, electronics) but the emphasis is on how those materials are held together , not how they contrast. What distinguishes the record is its internal pacing. Even at its most abstract, there is a low, continuous sense of motion. Less beat, more pull. A hum. The trio doesn’t rely on density to create movement; they rely on alignment. Small shifts in emphasis, from percussive accents, tonal drift, changes in register, carry the structure forward. This is where their experience shows. The playing is relaxed, not loose, but deeply inten- tional like a puzzle. Nothing feels accidental. The improvisation is bounded by a shared sense of duration: how long a figure can sustain? When to redirect? When to leave space intact? That produces a continuity that doesn’t depend on
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HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
LIVE ART FROM THE TALIB KWELI LAUNCH PARTY GOES UP FOR CHARITY AUCTION
of a live event, often mixing music, faces, street-art influ- ence, and bright pop-art colors with a raw, handmade feel. The auction gives someone a chance to own the original artwork from the first High Times Local launch event while sup- porting a good cause. Proceeds will
benefit Music is a Language, a Colorado-based nonprofit that supports music educa- tion by helping provide fund- ing to underserved youth and schools. BID AT HIGHTIM.ES/VERN To see more from the artist, visit ArtByVern.com.
D uring the High Times Local launch party, artist Andrew Veron created an original art piece live during the Talib Kweli show. Now that one- of-one work is being made available through an online charity auction. Vern’s work has a bold, col- orful style that fits the energy
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your plastic pots are slowly killing your plants BY STONEY TARK
G rowing top-quality cannabis in- volves time, love and care, but the pots you use play a bigger role in root development than most growers realize. This piece is not meant to give plastic pots a bad name. It is about the benefits of aerating your growing medium to encourage root prun- ing, and what happens when you do not. I will cover how and why plastic pots promote root-bound growth, walk through the different types of roots and their roles, and lay out several pot solutions to help you avoid root-bound plants for good. How Plastic Encourages Root-Bound Plants: We have all been there when repotting. You pick up your plant, turn the pot upside down, and check the roots, only to find them jam-packed, white, tangled and healthy, grow- ing in the exact shape of the pot. In some cases, roots are already pushing through the drainage holes at the base. It can look impressive. But root-bound cannabis plants come with real problems. If your plants seem off, check this list before assuming it is something else: • Stunted growth: Plants stop vegetating at their usual pace. During flowering, bud development slows and yields drop • Constantly watering: Growing medium dries out unusually fast after watering. Roots through the holes: Roots pushing out of drainage holes mean you need to repot immediately. • Nutrient deficiencies: Root-bound plants consume nutrients faster, leading
to nitrogen, calci- um, magnesium or trace element deficiencies. • Wilting leaves: Root-bound wilting looks al- most identical to overwatering. If you have ruled out water issues, check the pot.
• Tall, lanky structure: An unstable, stretched plant that needs canes for sup- port can signal root-bound growth. The Benefits of Fabric Pots: Having grown with thousands of plastic pots over 20 years, I can say without hesita- tion that fabric pots are a genuine up- grade. Unlike plastic, fabric allows air to pass through the container walls, which changes how roots develop entirely. Root pruning happens naturally in fabric pots. As roots grow outward and hit the fabric wall, they come into contact with air. The tip stops elongating and instead branches into new lateral roots. The result is a denser, more efficient root system. continue reading at HighTimes.com
by Javier Hasse O n April 23, Act- ing Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order rescheduling two specific categories of mar- ijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III: FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana, and marijuana products regulated under quali- fying state medical marijuana licens- es. It was the biggest federal cannabis shift in decades. For the commercial medical marijuana industry, it was a landmark moment. For home growers, the picture is considerably murkier. We put the same core question to four of the country’s leading cannabis attorneys: Does the rescheduling order cover home growers? They read the same order. They cited the same lan- guage. They landed in different places. The disagreement turns on a decep- tively small distinction: whether a state patient cultivation card is a “license” in the federal sense, or merely a state-level permission slip that still sits outside the Controlled Substances Act. That dis- tinction, business versus person, com- mercial supply chain versus backyard grow, is doing enormous legal work in a document that doesn’t spell out the answer. Does Rescheduling Help Home Growers? Even Cannabis Lawyers Are Split
continued on next page >
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WHAT THE ORDER ACTUALLY SAYS
Malkin Law and a cannabis law professor at Stockton University, takes the opposite view: state-licensed patient cultivation drops to Schedule III. Marshall Custer, who co-leads Husch Blackwell’s can- nabis team of more than 80 attorneys, lands somewhere more complicated: personal-use home growers remain fed- erally illegal, but state medical cultivation permit holders may now face Sched- ule III obligations rather than freedom. continue reading at HighTimes.com
The relevant language is specific. The order moves into Schedule III: FDA-ap- proved drug products containing marijua- na, and marijuana “subject to a qualify- ing state-issued license.” It then defines “state medical marijuana license” as “a license issued by a state entity autho- rizing the licensee to manufacture, dis-
tribute, and/or dispense marijuana or products that contain marijuana for medical purposes.” Everything else remains Schedule I. “Any form of marijuana other than in an FDA-approved drug prod- uct or marijuana subject to a state medical mari- juana license remains a Schedule I controlled sub- stance,” the order states, subject to all applica- ble “administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions.” So the question is: does your home grow qualify as marijuana “subject to a state medical marijua- na license”? Bob Hoban, one of the country’s most recognized cannabis attor- neys and a longtime fixture in federal drug policy de- bates, says ordinary per- sonal home grow remains outside the framework. Michael McQueeny, Part- ner and Co-Chair of the Cannabis and Hemp Group at Foley Hoag, agrees. Ste- ven Schain, Of Counsel at
Items marked contested reflect genuine legal disagreement among attorneys. Hoban and McQueeny say ordinary personal cultivation stays Schedule I. Custer agrees personal-use home growers remain federally illegal, while Schain says state-licensed patient cultivation qualifies. None say adult-use home grow is protected.
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HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
By JORGE CERVANTES
GROWING INDOOR POT BY THE CALENDAR
"Your garden is doing so well . . . I just don't under- stand it. We both planted the same clone stock un- der the same 1000 watt super halides, but only two months later, your garden is half again as big as mine," said Edwin with a disgusted glare. Ken passed Edwin a savory joint. "The trick, Edwin, is to keep track of your plants' progress and head off any problems before they occur. Take a look at this plant here," said Ken, pointing towards the floor. "I write down the date each clone was planted and its variety on the plas- tic marker that is placed in the container. Each week I measure the growth with a yard-stick. If growth is
slow, I know something is wrong," explained Ken. "All the plants want Is a perfect environ ment 24 hours a day. Here, take a peek at my calendar and checklist I keep hanging on the wail in the grow room." A grower's calen- dar outlines the life cycle of the plant semi-month- ly for four months (four months Is the average life cycle of an indoor indlca clone or seedling). It notes major points of interest during each stage in life. The weekly checklist con- sists of a few tasks that must be performed ev ery week to ensure a success- ful crop. Read the calendar while growing your crop: when you have finished each item on the checklist,
check it off. Remember, you are Mother Nature and you create the climate! In general, a person should spend at least ten minutes per day, per lamp to have a well cared for and produc- tIve garden. This Is enough time to com plete all the stuff on the weekly calen dar and checklist. Much of gardening Is simply watching and paying atten tion. Plants cannot talk; consequently, the grower must have a keen knowl edge of how marijuana grows and the require- ments for optimum flower pro duction. It takes only a little extra time to culture a bumper crop. if using CO2 enrichment or hydropon- ics, allow about 20 minutes per day for mainte nance.
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Check the following to see if they function properly: WEEKLY CHECKLIST
The calendar is only four months long: two months vegetative growth, two months flowering. Since this is an indoor calendar, you may start it any day of the year you want, no matter what the weatherman says. If the garden is full of clones grown with C02 enrichment or hydro- ponically, the calendar could move up one to three weeks, de- pending on how fast the garden grows. The calendar will move back several weeks if plants are stunted, root bound, or ne- glected in any way. Allow about 90 days for equatorial varieties of sativa to flower. Remember, light intensity substantially di- minishes over 4' away from the bulb. January 1 Firstweek • Take and root clones. They should root in one to four weeks. Clones take about a month to become strong and established. • Sow seeds: make sure they are warm (70 to 80 degrees) for speedy germination. • Mix dolomite lime into soil before planting. • Set-up the grow room and the lamp. • Set timer for 18 hour days and 6 hour nights. Continue reading at vault.HighTimes.com CALENDAR
• Air ventilation • Air circulation • Humidity (40-50)
• Temperature: day, 70-75 de- grees; night, 50-60 degrees • Soil moisture (check for dry pockets); water as needed • Cultivate soil surface • Check pH • Rotate plants under lamp • Check for spider mites under leaves • Check for fungi, algae and disease • Check for nutrient deficiencies • Regular fertilization schedule • Check HID system for exces- sive heat at plug-in, timer, ballast and near the ceiling • Move lamp up, 12" above plants • Clean-up!
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HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
30 MAY/JUNE 2026
OUR AFTERNOON WITH DJ SHORT
MICAH JOHNSON NATHAN JOHNSON
I n the world of cannabis genetics, few names carry a weight quite like DJ Short. Often called the "Willy Wonka of Pot," Short didn't just breed a strain; he birthed a legend, nay, a national treasure, with the original Blueberry strain. While modern growers often chase raw potency, DJ Short has spent the last several decades advocating for the "art of the high," focusing on complex terpene profiles and the euphoric "soul" of the plant. The Michigan-born breeder kindly took the afternoon to share his philosophy and stories like a cool uncle whose wisdom never ends. We sat down to chill over talk of the original "Blue" lineage, dangers of genetic bottlenecks, and why the best cannabis should feel like art, not just a chemical knockout.
MICAH: You've got such a history, man. Where do you even begin? How did you de- cide this is absolutely what I want to do and this is for me? DJ: Well, the first time I got high, I mean, that was that did it for me, you know, no looking back at that point. And then real- izing, you know, seeds are in the bag . They didn't sprout at first. It took a little time to learn, but the experience with the herb and wanting to be more intimate with it … From the very get-go, and I've never looked back. I've never considered anything else. NATHAN: Things have changed a lot since then. People these days are definitely more impressed they've got a Cookies strain or Stizzy than they are about the land race or the growers responsible. Do you think that’s even getting worse? DJ: I'll describe where we're at. Let's just call it an interim. We're in between coming out of the dark and coming into the light.
And during this period, there's no firm foot- ing. You can't really rely on anything as far as the government goes because there are so many factors working for us and against us, and–pardon my French–it's a shitshow out there in terms of trying to navigate le- galities. I believe, given time, that things will kind of work themselves out. We just need to do whatever we can to get as much good herb into the hands of the people as possible, and the people will figure out how to do things. My personal opinion on this is–where things should go as far as herb is concerned anyhow–is land race, and getting back to the countries of origin when we can import things. And the big player–I say this all the time in all of my talks I'm giving–is Africa. Africa has the most land mass in the trop- ics. There are things hidden there. I know that it's just waiting to be discovered again. So, you know, there's hope. 31 HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
We're just kind of stuck in this “you got to do it this way” [mindset]. And it's like no, you don't. That's always been the case. Also, in terms of the panels I was on with Subcool and all these people, those are all archived. Just do searches on YouTube and all that stuff is there, which is great. I mean, that's another great thing we have working for us, is the archival information that's on
panels in the past, they weren't too pleased that I mentioned that I was like 16 or 17 when I bought it. I was like 17 years old, but there they were. And that for me, was the same as Over- grow and Cannabis World in the 90’s and the aughts. It was wonderful for someone like me, and it was in a head shop. The first one was already sold out. I think it was up
this internet. Back in the day it was Over- grow and Cannabis World , right? How many people got their education from those fo- rums that are now industry leaders? And they were just basic at the time, trade se- crets that really were just common-sense logic. MICAH: Do you feel like there's still that community out there? DJ: Yeah, but there's the others, the com- peting community. And the competing community has to do with money and cap- italism, and that's what we got to get over in a few ways. One thing I've said a long time ago is that this plant, this substance, can teach us how to do capitalism right. Be- cause we haven't up to this point. We let too
to like the third or fourth issue, and I bought every one they had there. Took it home and… my god, “ I'm not alone .” NATHAN: Yeah, it might not be a black-mar- ket community anymore, but it is a commu- nity. DJ: It's great. And my advice to people in this day is hey man, find a gray market. It's still there. You have friends, right? That, and you've got a closet or you've got a backyard or whatever? Make something your friends are going to like, and then you're charging them less than what the point of sale is charging them, and it just works out nice. I know some people that are still, you know, cozy in that mindset. You've got a little of the paranoia left, but you know, we've been
kind bud
few people have way too much. We monetize tokens. We put value on a silly little thing. And if you're going to do that as a society, then it needs to be regulated 100%. Every dollar
should be accounted for. And you know, I'm sorry, a billion dollars is too much. No hu- man being should have that much. And that's where I'm at with it in terms of what High Times used to be. It's funny, too. I'm working on my memoirs right now. It's one of the things I'm doing. And I'm up to being 16 years old. I'm like 90,000 words into this thing – I'm coming up on the time with High Times . And I know back on a few
dealing with that for a long time. MICAH: A decade ago there used to be a ton of variety. But now it seems a lot of the stuff in stores is a derivative of [the strain] Cook- ies. And you’ve been a strong opponent of something you call “cookiesfication.” DJ: And yeah, I heard that Cookies may be related to Flo. Rumor comes and goes, but it wouldn't surprise me. I mean, I've been told by the genetic testing labs back in the day
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NATHAN: Seriously? Like the kind bud. DJ: Yeah. It was that indica that had this sweet fruity floral that didn't put you down. And, experimenting with all these different things, I would have some other stuff that I would have to market that people weren't quite as happy with. They would start com- ing back to me and saying, "No, no, no, man. You got more of that kind , man?" Photos of it look like, well, Blueberry. She had that lavender that leaned into blue. She had a nice blue hue to her. And that 33 HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
that something like 85% of everything out there has some marker of mine in it. NATHAN: It seems like that could be true. Growing up in the Midwest, any time you got a bag of dank chronic they called it Blue- berry. It didn't matter what the strain was, but if it was dank it was Blueberry. DJ: Yeah. Originally, Blueberry didn't get its name until like '93, right around that early 90’s period, because I'd heard it come back. Prior to that, the name I had given to it and that the public gave to it was “The Kind.”
beta-caryophyllene is sort of the odor of the blueberry. So it fit the mold. But prior to that, it was “The Kind” and that was in Eugene. That would have been in Eugene up until I moved out here in like ‘88, ‘89. NATHAN: I think that it's impressive that one person would have this much influ- ence on the colloquialisms of this industry. There's only a few things that people are like, "Okay, I know this. is is part of the whole culture." MICAH: Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like your influence has been far more than most others. DJ: Well, I really wasn't trying, you know. I didn't care about the hype. Matter of fact, you didn’t want hype back in the day. You didn't want to be noticed. You didn't want
berry and the Flo. Matter of fact, combining them–blending them–gets you closer to that Oaxacan experience. Not fully there, but in connecting the two, you can get a lit- tle bit closer. I think that might be a future for herb or pre-rolls, blends like that. MICAH: You established Blueberry for shorter flowering just because you were bringing it indoors, right? But you wanted to preserve the sativa euphoria. And that seems lost nowadays, like "how fast can we pump out this stuff?" "My breeding regimen, and what it all DJ: Well, I hear that. The mother–the par- ent stalk that I use for the Blueberry–was sprouted in 1998. It's the same plant, same mother, same father. Prior to that, I was us- ing a number of different things and it was wider between sativa and indica variants. And I did that on purpose, to then watch the boards. I would go to Overgrow and Cannabis World and see the people that were growing this out, to get their opinion. Well, what were they really after? And I saw that the indica type was more preferable. So I said, "Okay, we'll go with the one that looks more like that and behaves like that.” But, basically, my breeding regimen and what it all boils down to is: I breed and se- lect for the high. Nothing else. My advice to people – young people doing this especial- ly – is kind of counterintuitive at first, but don't fall in love with the plant in the grow- room, especially in veg. We all like to do that. We get that one that grows like, " Oh, boils down to is: I breed and select for the high. Nothing else."
notoriety. Again, breeding and selecting for that finished high is crucial. There's no shortcut around that. You go to the empty jar, man. Which jar empties first? Boom. That's that, and you know it. Another way it's more difficult, is when you have that one that's super special and then it's gone. We knew that was the sativas back in the day. A lot of the Oaxacans, and things that came through – and when there were a whole bunch of them, you weren't that particular about what you're going to have – but then all of a sudden it's gone and you really miss it. So that's another indicator. I came close. I got to say I pat myself on the back. The Blue-
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