I live in Colorado and last year the state passed Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana for recreational use. Unlike the law in Washington state, Colorado’s law allows private citizens to grow marijuana for their own use (not for resale).

There are limits on the number of plants you can grow (six) and how many can be in flower at once (three). The plants have to be out of public sight and in a locked space. You can share with friends only if the friends are over 21 years old, and you can give away no more than an ounce at a time, nor can you carry more than an ounce outside your home. Otherwise, you are free to grow what you can in the privacy of your home.

I immediately got some seeds and started my first home grow in years.

There are some tricks to growing marijuana, but not too many. If you can grow a decent tomato—and lots of us can—you can grow decent-to-great sinsemilla in your home. Sinsemilla (literally “without seeds”) refers to growing strong female buds in the absence of pollen to fertilize them. Their strength goes into creating and ripening all the medical and psychoactive chemicals that the marijuana plant provides.

I had great success. The picture above shows one of my buds from the first grow. In total I got about five ounces damp weight, which dried down to about two or three ounces. The process took about six months from seeds to cured buds.

A few ounces isn’t much but then we don’t smoke much anyway. It turned out to be pretty high quality, definitely mellow and relaxing but with occasional very psychedelic moments as well. Overall I was pleased with the outcome. This particular part of the Colorado law provides a great opportunity for ordinary suburban folks to have a little fun and save some money, too.

My second state-legal grow is well underway. Here are my babies at about 32 days since I planted the seed.

This weekend I’m planting them into five-gallon pots. And I’ve decided to follow my new hobby here at Fierce Planet.

Colorado is currently taking applications for retail outlets, which are scheduled to open Jan. 1. For the first year, only already-licensed MMJ operations can apply for a retail license, which should make the transition fairly easy.

I’m looking forward to trying a little commercial bud so I can compare how strong my home-grown stuff is. More later.