Carol
December 8, 2025
Carol, born in 1954 (age 70 at time of interview), shares her experiences growing up in Tennessee and northeastern Ohio, learning homesteading skills from her family and why she made Southeast Ohio her home. She discusses her early exposure to cannabis in the 1960s, and her subsequent cultivation of cannabis for supplemental income. Her interview details cultivation methods including seed sourcing, growing techniques, and the importance of maintaining secrecy. This interview also touches on the impact of legalization, her use of cannabis for medical purposes and the cultural dynamics of the cannabis trade in the region.
ListenTalcon 00:00Here we go. Okay, so it's December 8, 2025 and John and I are here with Carol. Carol, do you consent to being interviewed and recorded today?
Carol 00:16Yes, I do.
Talcon 00:18Do you consent to this recording being used for any future projects?
Carol 00:27Yes.
Talcon 00:27Do you have any stipulations on that consent?
Carol 00:31Not that I can think of.
Talcon 00:33Okay, let us know if that changes in any way. Carol, how old are you today?
Carol 00:4071.
Talcon 00:41And what year were you born?
Carol 00:441954.
Talcon 00:44Where did you grow up? Will you tell me about, like, where you grew up, what your childhood was like, your family background a little bit?
Carol 00:51My family's from Tennessee, and I grew up going back and forth between Tennessee and northeastern Ohio.
Talcon 01:01Okay.
Carol 01:02So I lived in Akron, Kent, Stow, Hartville, Uniontown, and then a bunch of places in Tennessee.
Talcon 01:13And those places in Tennessee, were they urban or rural?
Carol 01:16No. Very rural. I went .... most of the time when I lived in Tennessee, I lived with my grandparents, but not always.
Talcon 01:24Okay, and what was their lifestyle like?
Carol 01:28Oh. Pretty basic. My family used to have a general store, and my grandfather was the postmaster and the pastor of a local church. And they gardened and grew tobacco, and lived a country lifestyle more from last century, really (giggle). So that's where I learned to do a lot of stuff from them and the neighbors,
Talcon 02:01A lot of homesteading skills?
Carol 02:04Yeah. Because that's the way everybody still lived.
Talcon 02:07Yeah, cool. That sounds nice. So, what brought you to Southeast Ohio?
Carol 02:15Well, I, when I lived in Kent, I had friends that went to school here, so I would come down to visit people down here, and I liked it down here, because it reminded me of Tennessee, but I had no relatives here, so that seemed like a good fit. (Laughter)
Talcon 02:38Like some independence, yet familiar....
Carol 02:38Yeah.
Talcon 02:39Landscape?
Carol 02:40Yeah. And having the university here is a big plus.
Talcon 02:43Did you go to university?
Carol 02:45I did, but not until my kids were in high school.
Talcon 02:48Okay. But it was a draw for you, even before?
Carol 02:52Yeah, yeah, because of the fact that there was more diverse population here and things to do.