Library Program Will Teach Basics Of At-Home Cannabis Cultivation
People with green thumbs are known to love a challenge, and the Jonathan Bourne Public Library is hosting an upcoming event next week to educate growers on how to grow one of the more finicky plants: cannabis.
The library will host Plant Guy Eric, a cannabis cultivation consultant, on Saturday, October 14, at 2 PM for his “Let’s Get Growing” program, which advises growers on how to do everything from choosing the right seeds and soil to proper lighting, cultivating and care techniques. It is essentially a crash course for adults on how to grow your own cannabis legally, affordably and successfully.
Library director Irja Finn told the Enterprise that Plant Guy Eric comes highly recommended by other libraries statewide; many of those libraries have had great success hosting him and his programs.
“Multiple people have listed him as a really cool, kind of science-y program,” Ms. Finn said, “and I was like, science-y? And then I looked at the stuff and I’m like oh yeah, he sells like an electron microscope on his website and these water meters. So I thought, ‘Sure, let’s try it.’”
After looking at the instructional videos on Plant Guy Eric’s website (www.plantguyeric.com), Ms. Finn said she realized that growing cannabis is quite labor-intensive and more complex than what people might assume.
“I think if you know a person who is an avid gardener,” Ms. Finn said, “the challenge of growing a difficult crop—whether it’s a certain type of vegetable or a certain type of flower—that’s the kind of people who throw down the gauntlet and say, ‘I’m going to try it. What’s the pH? What’s this, what’s that?’ I’m not one of those people; I have a green thumb but I’m not into it that much. But the people who view this as a challenging plant to grow in our climate outdoors would be very interested in it.”
Some of the libraries that previously hosted Plant Guy Eric have invited him back this fall for part two of the program, Ms. Finn said, which focuses specifically on how to harvest, dry and cure your product.
“I’m probably a little behind that I’m offering the ‘how to’ now, which is [usually] in the spring,” Ms. Finn said, “But he was totally booked, so I said, ‘Okay, let’s do it now and see if people are interested in it.’ And then in a year, if people still say ‘yes, we’re interested,’ maybe we’ll do the harvest program.”
Sign-ups started trickling in as soon as the library’s event went live on Facebook last week, with nearly half a dozen people signing up in the first 24 hours.
The event is for ages 21 and up and will run for about two hours, with Plant Guy Eric’s presentation followed by a question-and-answer session. Registration is free and can be completed online. Attendees can indicate their interest and find a link to register through the Bourne Library’s Facebook page.
A program such as this would not typically be in the library’s wheelhouse or on its radar, Ms. Finn said. With such glowing recommendations, booking Plant Guy Eric was a no-brainer, but his program also fits in with the library’s goal of branching out into new areas of programming and offerings.
“It all goes back to the strategic plan,” Ms. Finn said, referencing the document that the library has been formulating in recent months and just recently submitted for state approval. One of the main themes that came from the weeks of surveying residents and reviewing feedback was a desire for more library programming.
“We saw that people wanted more programs,” Ms. Finn said, “so we kind of teased out that we do a lot of craft ones, we do some gardening partnerships with the gardening club, but we need to be offering more-diverse things.”
The library will try its hand at a variety of new programs in the coming months. For a full schedule of events, see page 3. For more information, visit www.bournelibrary.org.