“If you are unable to find joy in loving your plants, smoking their flowers, or sharing your bounty, you should probably stop growing. However, I do encourage you to at least give it a try.” – Madrone Stewart

Maybe you want to start growing your own cannabis and are unsure of where to start, or you’re drawn in by the brightly colored cover and promise of subversive gardening insights (*raises hand*). However you find it, Madrone Stewart’s Feminist Weed Farmer: Growing Mindful Medicine in Your Own Backyard (part of the DIY series by Microcosm Publishing) is a substantial and delightful book to have in your arsenal as a punk rock gardener. Here are five reasons why you should pick up a copy.

1. Stewart’s Voice and Point of View as a Grower

Stewart’s voice is like that of a friend sharing her unique approach to growing cannabis, because she wants you to be successful and have a good time doing it. That’s pretty much exactly how this book came to exist. She wrote a cultivation guide for friends who took over her own farm, Purple Kite Farm, and it evolved into the guidebook you see here.

She says, “I want this book to serve as both a guide for you and a cultural artifact for the community of people who taught me how to grow. This is what we did in those mountains.” Her connection to community is palpable, and I fucking love it. She also says, “I want weed, kale, tomatoes, sunflowers, and echinacea cultivated in every backyard, terrace, and rooftop. I would love for the corporate controlled cannabis farms to fail, and I would love to see women and gender-queer cultivators put them out of business.” Me too, girl.

Throughout this short book (it’s only 125 pages), Stewart weaves her “biased beliefs” about responsible gardening to minimize environmental impacts and the potential for cannabis cultivation to be a powerful feminist experience. She recalls fond memories of Humboldt County “trim scenes,” where mostly women worked together to trim the harvested flowers. But she also recalls how they all understood the risks involved in working on those mountains as a woman, and how sexual harassment and assault are common on cannabis farms. She says, “As you pull in your harvest, connect with the women who have done this work before you; these are your ancestors, and we want to support you.”

2. Calls Out the Dominant Cannabis Industry as Very White, and Very Male-Centric

It shouldn’t shock anyone, now that weed has become accepted and decriminalized to varying degrees, that straight white dudes benefit the most from the newfound boom in economic opportunity. Stewart calls out how deeply unfair this is, given our country’s history of criminalizing black and brown communities, and non-white mothers in particular, via the War on Drugs.

Some cities, likes San Francisco and Oakland, are actively working toward some version of racial equity in the industry. This is good! However, the cultural image of the white Weed Mom is also taking root, in contrast to those women who have been criminally and socially penalized for their cannabis use. This isn’t discussed in Feminist Weed Farmer, but I encourage you to do your own reading on the topic.

3. Honest Recommendations and Advice

Stewart shares anecdotal advice and product recommendations throughout the book based on her own experiences of fucking up, and of trying to work smarter, not harder. These recommendations feel honest, and her candid, conversational tone about the mistakes she’s made, and what’s she’s adopted as best practices over time is refreshing. Stewart makes clear from the get-go that Feminist Weed Farmer is a guidebook for beginners, and that the simple instructions are intended to get you through your first couple seasons as a grower. She also includes visuals, such as hand-drawn diagrams of set-ups you may wish to use. These are helpful in picturing the more technical bits of instruction.

4. A Back-to-Basics Refresher on Caring for Your Plant Babes

The book is broken up into five parts. They are: The Plant Life Cycle, Creating a Good Growing Environment, Protecting Your Plants, Harvesting Your Medicine, and Hash Making. As you become a more skilled and experimental home gardener, you may need an occasional reminder of why you perform tasks a certain way. It’s sometimes easy to rush through your watering or care routine between working hours and other obligations. Stewart says, “It takes compassion to tend to each plant according to their unique needs in order for them to flourish.” This little book reminds us to slow down and really pay attention to what our plant babes are telling us.

5. Finding Joy in the Garden

I won’t give away all of Stewart’s twenty ideas to enhance your cannabis growing experience, which are listed on the very last page opposite her photo. But I will tell you that her recommendations include ways to incorporate more beauty and pleasure in your garden. Through a combination of focused task management, bursts of energetic release, and meditation on why you’ve undertaken this project, you’ll find growing your own cannabis to be an enriching new part of your life.

I appreciate that Stewart states in her conclusion, “This book was not written for your academic exploration of cannabis cultivation.” But I do think there is still great wisdom here for home gardeners growing veggies, herbs, and flowers with community and justice in mind.

I adore this little book, and I know I’ll keep it close for a long time. And like Stewart, I wish for you to find peace and un-self conscious joy in tending to your garden — one Spotify playlist or homegrown plant medicine gift at a time.