Bedford Grow’s Chem De La Chem is a fairly potent Sativa, topping 20% THC. The gassy taste makes itself known, but doesn’t overpower the base flavor. And it’s surprisingly smooth. Breeding I95 with Chemdog produces a heavy high, with enough drive behind it to get you up and on your feet. It’s a great social buzz, makes you chatty and love each other, befitting its hippie roots. If you’re inclined to such things, you’ll get the munchies.
They say the sixties ended at the Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont in 1969. But there was always one place that the spirit stayed alive, and that was wherever the Grateful Dead was playing.
When Jerry Garcia’s family came out with a line of cannabis bearing his name, Chemdog was an obvious choice. Their marketing material reads “One of the original strains to have a name, Chemdog is believed to have hailed straight from a 1991 Grateful Dead parking lot in Deer Creek, Indiana. ‘It was originally called the Dog, or the Chem. It rang all the bells, you know, as far as smell, flavor, effect. It was the weed for anybody who loved weed,” a Garcia family friend shared with us.‘”
“Much like Jerry himself, Chemdog is one of the originals, having spawned multiple legendary strains since its inception.”
One of those strains is Bedford Grow Chem De La Chem.
First taste of Chem de la Chem leaves me high, but strangely disappointed
The warnings on this one were ominous. Stupidly stoned is how one reviewer put it.
The first bong hit washed over me with waves of woodsy notes, then came the riptide of a strong, gassy notes -chemical. You’d think that would be unpleasant, and it was jarring. But by the third hit I was waiting for it.
The buzz raced up my spine and snapped me to my feet, looking for any quick busy work, as this was office hours. The burst of energy was more powerful than euphoric.
I take a couple more hits. By now I have a taste for the shit. As I inhaled it tasted not dissimilar to incense, before the chemical taste washed over it again. On exhale the woodsy notes took once more.
I got the first stoned smile of the day.
But that was it. I smoked a bit more, got quite a bit higher, but still nothing to set it apart from any number of Sativa dominant weeds I’ve smoked. High, but not legendary high, as befits a legendary strain.
That said, Chem De La Chem gets you up and moving. The trouble is, you’re really too stoned to do much of anything. The next day I tried it again, and the results were about the same. I was higher than fuck, but nothing happened worthy of writing about.
I promptly forgot I still had a small bud left.
Bedford Grow Chem De La Chem got me stoned, just not Deadhead stoned
If you’re a Deadhead, you likely spend much of your time stoned. Really stoned. The Grateful Dead knew how to play for stoned people. They could pick you up, blow your mind, toss you into outer space, take a ride down river into the jungle and just when you thought your brains were about to melt and run out your ears, they’d take you home with your foot tapping and a smile on your face.
“Chem De La Chem gets you up and moving. The trouble is, you’re really too stoned to do much of anything.”
Then by the end of the eighties it stopped working for me. Being a Deadhead meant going with the flow, which when it works is amazing. Coincidences pile up, easily spotted in alternate states. It’s said that when your life starts to be filled with what seems like coincidences, you’re on the path to enlightenment.
For me, that feeling of synchronicity faded away, and I disconnected from the Dead. For a about thirty years now.
I decided to research Chem de la Chem, learned about the Grateful Dead connection and thought I’d figured it out. I was looking for that sense of idiot glee you get when stoned and listening to the Dead by yourself. This was party weed, amazingly strong but very social.
When it comes to drugs, Deadheads know their shit. You always wanted to try to have your own acid when going to a show, but if you didn’t, what you’d buy there from a total stranger was always better than what you’d have brought.
And the same for weed. These folk were talking terpenes back when pot came in baggies that didn’t even seal without licking them, and had seeds and stems.
In the intervening couple of weeks, I noticed I was listening to the Dead again. Likely because I’d read about them and Chem de la Chem, and it jogged that hallucinogenic memory. And then I remember the remaining bud I had stashed back.
It finally clicks
Dead shows were often outside in the heat. Since it was a hot day, and I’d just finished off the last bud of the Bedford Grow Chem de la Chem, and wasn’t expecting much, I decided to mow.
Inside I’d been playing the Dead, and it was still running through my head. I mowed for about a half hour, then ran out of gas. Clouds were rolling in, the wind was picking up … there’s a storm coming Dorothy … so I put the mower away.
I stand there watching the clouds, remembering my first Dead show. Storm clouds piled up behind the stage as the sun started to set. Lightning lit the sky, then came the wind and rain with the night. Best concert I’ve ever been to.
I push the mower into the barn before the rain hits and start for the house.
“And with that I realized I was missing something in my experiment with Chem de la Chem. The right tunes.”
The phone rings, the screen says Los Angeles, and going against the grain I answer. It could be Hollywood calling you know?
It’s a photographer, wanting a website, in a hurry. He just sent me an email and he wants me to go read it right away so we can get started.
I go into the house, still pretty fucking high. The Dead is playing upstairs, I could hear it outside even once the mower shut off. I’m actually enjoying this buzz. The wind is really picking up now, and things just feel in synch.
I check out his website, he’s also a fiddler/violinist. He was in a band called Old and In The Way before their first album. I’ve got that album. The banjo player is singing on the stereo as I read this.
Jerry Garcia, of the Grateful Dead.
And with that I realized I was missing something in my experiment with Chem de la Chem. The right tunes.
So there you go. With Beford Grow Chem de la Chem, and a little Blues From Allah, you get a monster buzz, and another step on the road to enlightenment. And if that’s not your thing, well you get damned high all the same.
The Particulars
Bedford Grow Chem de la Chem
THC 22.68%