I was fortunate enough to recently have passed through the town of Graaff Reinet for the first time in decades. I have history here as my uncle had a farm outside of the town and also a house in town. As kids, we spent most of our time on the farm during holidays.
As an ex-psychonaut, I had to visit the cactus and succulent nursery which apparently housed an astounding number of mescaline-containing cacti. Probably the the biggest outside of the Americas. The plants are not illegal here, but it's illegal to extract or create a concentrate as mescaline itself is as controlled as cocaine and heroin. I also just really like cacti in general.
I was looking to buy some ornamental peyote and there they were, desert hardened babies at less than $2 each. I could only manage 4 which was tragic as there were thousands!
The owner suggested I take a walk in his labyrinth and have a careful look at the ground between towering San Pedro and Peruvian Torch clusters and a gobsmacking collection of the most stunning cacti and succulents. Clusters of weathered, brown peyotes, untended and completely adapted to the Great Karoo Desert lay level with the soil, hardly visible.
When it rains, they puff up and become green. The babies I bought from him were also completely neglected, bar a rough shade cloth overhead. After watering them, they transformed into little green pumpkins.
The pics are from a mobile phone camera and I'm no photographer, but here are some snaps, none which can do justice to the size and diversity of the nursery and its thorny maze.
Even on my walk to the nursery, I'd find San Pedro's growing on the sidewalks and in people's gardens
Not as conveniently packaged as, say, LSD
More than 7 000 species represented and stocked
https://www.sa-venues.com/attractionsec/obesa-cacti-nursery.htm
That's just so beautiful. I love succulents so much. Every time they have a new variety at the nursery or the supermarket I always pick one up and marvel at it. I've never in my life seen any growing naturally like that, not that many together, for sure. What a gorgeous prickly maze to wander through. You're lucky to live where you do. The environment is spectacular.
Interesting photography. Which cactus do you think makes for the best territorial defense? The one on the last pic looks like it would hurt the most. Ouch
A large part of the property is actually "fenced off" by columns of impenetrable San Pedro. I've read that in Bolivia, farmers use Trichocereus bridgesii (related to San Pedro), also known as Bolivian Torch or achuma, to protect livestock and homesteads.
Basically any clustering spiny columnar cactus that grows higher than 7 or 8 feet. Prickly pear is another option if you'd like to add some depth to your natural fence.
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Thats really interesting. I would love to have a cacti garden. If you don’t mind me asking why are you an ex psychonaut? I only ask because I consider myself one.
As Alan Watts said "When you get the message, hang up the phone". I'm turning 45 tomorrow and I started at 27. I did everything I could get my hands on and went in deep with the ones I was able to navigate without problems.
I have developed autoimmune disease and unfortunately I cannot handle tripping for hours at a time any more. Psychedelics amplify any mental and physical issues I have. This used to be helpful so I could work on myself, but as a chronic pain sufferer, I don't need my sober hell to be amplified for 10 or 12 hours and risk a bad mental trip on top of that.
I still do DMT/harmalas maybe twice a year because it's over quickly and I will always be a psychedelic type. Maybe in a few years I'll eat some fungi again or indulge in something like 2C-B because of the +- 4 hour duration. But only if my condition improves.
So maybe I will always be a psychonaut, just on a leave of absence for now...
I’m sorry to hear that and I totally understand. It was nice to see a fellow physconaut on Steemit. I hope things get better for you.
Thank you. Yeah, I looked at psychedelic culture on Steemit, but it's not a thing. I have a lot to offer (as I'm sure you do) if there was an active community.
I really miss it.
Well if there’s not one, that just means one needs to be made. I was thinking of trying start something of the like here on steemit.
Please do. I think there'd be an interest in it. Maybe I'm wrong about how much, but I feel like there would.