Animal Mints — Legends of the Frozen North ☃️ Part 1 — The Harvest Begins Before we begin this harvest report properly, we once again want to apologize for dividing this journey into multiple parts. Just like we did with the Legends of the 12/12 Galaxy series, the harvest, drying, trimming, curing, smoke review, and final strain analysis will happen across different weeks and different reports. But honestly… this is the only way we can truly document everything properly. We do not want to simply show the final dry buds and disappear. We want to show the process. The details. The decisions. The mistakes, the observations, the science, the emotions, the beauty, and the philosophy behind the work. Educational growing deserves time and space, and these girls absolutely earned it. So today marks the beginning of the final chapter for our Animal Mints — Legends of the Frozen North. And what a chapter this is. ⸻ From seed to harvest, these girls proved once again why 12/12 from seed continues to fascinate us so much. The morphology is incredibly efficient. Plants stay relatively compact compared to traditional long-vegetative runs, but what they lose in height, they repay with density, structure, resin production, and flower efficiency. The result? Compact giants. Dense towers of medicine. Heavy branches unable to support themselves anymore. Massive flowers held up by yo-yos because gravity simply started winning the battle. And honestly… this room became absolutely beautiful near the end. The senescence was fully setting in. The fade was impossible to ignore. During daytime photos and nighttime photos alike, the room transformed into a palette of autumn colors: * bright yellows, * faded lime greens, * soft oranges, * reddish and brownish tones, * curled leaves, * dry fans, * exhausted but fulfilled plants reaching the end of their biological cycle. And this is important to explain. A lot of growers panic when they see plants fading late in flower, but in many cases, especially near harvest, this is completely natural senescence. The plant understands its lifecycle is ending. Nutrients stored inside the leaves are being mobilized and redirected. Chlorophyll breaks down. Colors emerge. The plant slowly consumes itself while finishing resin and flower production. To us, this is one of the most beautiful moments in cultivation. Not death. Completion. ⸻ As always, we also harvest in darkness. Once the lights go off for the final night… they do not turn back on again. The plants remain in their night cycle until harvest. We personally prefer this approach because the plant is already in its resting metabolic state. The environment is cooler, calmer, and less stressful, and we avoid “waking the plant back up” only to cut it down shortly after. Before harvest, we also stop watering completely. We allow the substrate and the plant itself to dry naturally during the final stage. This helps reduce excess moisture inside the flowers and assists with the beginning of the drying process after harvest. ⸻ And speaking of flowers… These buds are enormous. Absolutely stacked. Rock solid. Frost-covered. Dense from top to bottom. The yo-yos became mandatory near the end because several branches simply could not support their own weight anymore. Every cola looked like it was carrying the entire weight of winter on its shoulders. Animal Mints truly lived up to its name. Frozen flowers. Heavy resin. Cold-looking trichome coverage everywhere. And despite the density, airflow management remained extremely important during the entire run. Defoliation timing, environmental control, humidity balance, and branch spacing all played a major role in making sure these flowers could mature safely without issues. ⸻ Of course, while removing dead leaves and cleaning the plants before hanging them whole for drying… something magical happened once again. Charas. That beautiful living resin slowly started building up on the fingers. And for those unfamiliar: Charas is one of the oldest forms of hashish production in the world. Traditionally associated with India and regions like Malana, charas is made by gently rubbing living cannabis flowers with the hands until the resin accumulates on the skin, later rolled into small resin balls by hand pressure alone. Unlike dry sift or modern extraction methods, charas is made from living plants. The resin is still alive, fresh, fragrant, warm, and incredibly aromatic. In places like Malana, ancient traditions surrounding charas still survive to this day. Entire generations preserved these techniques for centuries, often connected spiritually to Lord Shiva himself, who in Hindu mythology is deeply associated with cannabis. So every time we feel that resin slowly coating the gloves and fingers while handling living plants, it feels less like waste… and more like participating in something ancient. Something human. Something sacred. ⸻ The girls are now hanging whole. Full plants. Slow drying, exactly the way we prefer. For the first couple of days, humidity stays around 45% to help pull initial excess moisture away safely. After that, the environment stabilizes around: * 60% RH * 18–20°C And now begins one of the most important parts of the journey: patience. Over the next 7–10 days, chlorophyll will continue breaking down slowly, moisture will redistribute through the flowers, aromas will evolve, and the entire profile of the medicine will begin transforming. This is where harvest stops… and curing truly begins. ⸻ But this is far from the end. The next reports will focus deeply on: * drying observations, * trimming, * resin collection, * finger hash, * curing methods, * storage, * aromas, * textures, * smoke reports, * and the final strain review itself. And honestly… we still do not know how many parts this journey will require. Maybe two more. Maybe three. Maybe even four. But these girls deserve every detail. ⸻ As always, thank you to everyone following this journey and helping make these projects possible. Thank you to: * Zamnesia for the genetics, * Plagron for the nutrients and support, * F.O.G. for the lighting, * and everybody supporting this educational approach to cultivation. And of course… thank you to every grower, every reader, every silent observer, and every curious mind still exploring this incredible plant with respect, patience, and love. The Frozen North still has more stories to tell. As always, this is shared for educational purposes, aiming to spread understanding and appreciation for this plant. Let’s celebrate it responsibly and continue to learn and grow together. With true love comes happiness. Always believe in yourself, and always do things expecting nothing and with an open heart. Be a giver, and the universe will give back in ways you could never imagine. 💚 Growers love to all 💚