ReeferSmoke – A Marijuana Blog

Some time ago an American Expat friend, living in Amsterdam, told me about meeting Soma in person, he was somewhat in awe of the 57 year old Rastafarian and beaming when he showed me an article with an interview and photos of Soma’s rooftop garden, almost like I needed to see it to believe it. If you’re scratching your head, wondering why this would have significance, consider that Dutch growers primarily grow weed indoors and sadly most of the cannabis growing industry is focused on production but not specifically for quality. Although generally speaking, production and quality go hand-in-hand, since what grower would harvest a crop until every plant had reached it’s optimum flowering stage, in both quantity and THC level? And, what grower would start a crop with inferior seeds, if better were available?
The great weed growers of Holland are very scientific and extremely skilled at getting the best of both quality and quantity, I certainly don’t want to insult thier collective wisdom. However, it’s important to distinguish a major difference in Soma and other growers. See, the cannabis plant is everything to Soma. He feels that it is one of the tools that can save humanity from it’s direction of self destruction. He knows that it helps healing take place whenever and wherever it is used. Unlike aspirin, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and nuclear radiation, cannabis has never killed anyone. It is one of the safest therapeutic substances known to man. Humankind has been using it since time immemorial.

Cannabis is about love and sharing, it is about healing and finding new ways to help this planet to survive.

I don’t personally know Soma (yet) but I certainly want to hang-out with him on his Amsterdam roof-top and get to know him, on my next visit to the Dam. What I have learned however, from reading about about him on the web is that he calls his residence the Mission of Sacred Plants and say’s that it’s an extension of the Church of the Universe from Canada. Also, that he’s been involved for over decade in aggregating a sizable Cannabis genetic library and currently offers for sale, one of the largest award-winning collections, of feminized hybrid cannabis strain seeds on earth.
Please take your time and read through Soma’s personal blog and visit Soma seeds.

The Diesel genetics has its roots in the Big Apple from a strain of Mexican sativa crossed (60×30) with an Afghani indica originally bred by ChemDawg, it was very popular in NYC and Boston. As the legend goes, it was the renowned grower Soma who bred NYC Sour Diesel from a seed that was given to him by a Rasta in NYC, although other sources say it was from a cutting, so we’ll have to ask Soma but in any case, Soma took the original strain back to Amsterdam where he applied his breeding techniques to stabilize the new strain.
As with much of my exotic smoking experiences, it was Amsterdam where I first tested NYC Sour Diesel, however not too long ago I also enjoyed a very good sampling in NYC. Wish I could attest to the ripe red grapefruit flavor but then other than Chocolope, which does taste like chocolate, I’ve never really identified these taste descriptions recognized by contemporary weed connoisseurs. I can say this though; the look, feel, smell and especially the effect of NYC sour diesel is the gold standard by which all other strains should be measured against. This cannabis strain is absolutely stellar.
New York City Sour Diesel (also known as NYCD) won second place for two years running (from 2 separate breeders) at the High Times Cannabis Cup (2002 and 2003).