In my area, in North East Ky, we first got Skunk in 1978. In 1971 a buddy of mine played in a band, and they opened up for various acts, including James Gang. This particular concert was in Athens Ohio.
At this concert, my buddy met a guy named William Keith "Noodles" Hayes. Noodles invited my friend to come to his farm, in Meigs County Ohio. In the 70s, Meigs county was known as the Humboldt county of the East, and Noodles was the #1 guy in Meigs, and was also known all through Appalachia for his weed.
A grower from Ky, on Instagram, said he knew of Noodles, and that he was one of the most respected growers in Appalachia, during his time. This guys name is Ky Skunklord, and also sells seeds to various banks, and is fairly well known. He was buddies with the Cornbread Mafia.
And he knows who Noodles was, and respects him. He is also holder of Killer New Haven, which is one of the parents of Petrolia Headstash.
In 1972, Noodles gave my friend the first Indica I ever saw, and hadnt really heard of it using the term Indica. We were used to getting landrace Mexican, Panama Red, Acapulco Gold, Red/Gold Columbian, Thai. Noodles had been collecting seeds since the 60s.
This stuff would grow like a hedge/forsythia bush, and was a deep brick red when dry, and extreme lung buster. It would make your head spin, with each hit. So my buddy grew this until 1984, when he got ratted out, and the cops got it. He did a year in jail. He actually got lucky, because he was technically to far away from the plants, when they arrested him, but he had a small amount of weed, on his person. He did weekends for a year.
So then, in 1978, Noodles gave my buddy some Skunk seeds. And it truly reeked of skunk. You could smell a patch of it 300 yards away, if the wind was blowing right. So my buddy used the Ohio River, Scioto, and Big Sandy rivers to grow it, away from people, on what then, were very remote stretches of river bank, that nobody really frequented, and the only real way to get there, was by boat. He used the Levisa, and Tug Forks of the Big Sandy, at the foothills of the Appalachians. Bordering Va, West Va, and Ky. And on the river banks of the Ohio in Lewis County Ky, and Adams County Ohio. Lewis is one of the largest counties in Ky, and has one of, if not the lowest population density, still to this day. To say Lewis was in the middle of nowhere in the 70s-80s is an understatement. Same for the Levisa, and Tug Forks if the Big Sandy. He also had a buddy he grew with. Also consider my buddy was born in 1949, and he passed away last year. I was the one that found him. Noodles was 4-5 years older than him. So these guys were really really old school. My buddy wuld travel up to 120-130 miles to plant on the Levisa, and Tug Forks. We were in Ashland Ky, and he would travel as far away as the Breaks Interstate Park, in Virginia, to plant. And as far north as Waverly ohio, on the Scioto. And for fertilizer he would use individual elements. 46-0-0. 0-44-0 - 0-0-52. Lime Usually both Calcitic, and Dolomite. These were common to use in farming back then. He usually only went back to kill males, as the fertilizer would hold them for the whole season. If one has never grown on a river, the growth rate is off the charts for river growing. The bad thing about it is that in October, we get all kinds of Fog, and it can quickly cause rot, and mildew.
But my buddy asked Noodles what the Skunk was made up of. Noodles said the skunk he had was made up of Kerala, and an unnamed Indica, and was a Sativa dominant structure. Long medium sized donkey dick colas. 10 foot tall plants. Huge secondary branching. Ive seen colas from this stuff 3 feet long, and as big around as a 2 litre bottle. My friend grew this, along with the Indica until 1984 when the cops got it, and Ive not seen the likes of it since. He also grew Highland Guerrero, he got from Noodles. That too, was extremely good weed. Memorable.
Noodles is also the originator, of Meigs County Gold, or which at the time Willie Nelson was extremely fond of, and used to visit Noodles farm every so often. Meigs Gold was a cross of Acapulco Gold, and Skunk #2, which from the descriptions Ive seen are the same specs as Skunk #1. I have a strong suspicion Noodles had connections to Sacred Seeds.
Noodles got busted, also from a rat, in the late 90s, and did 7 years in federal prison, and passed away in 2020, at the age of 76. He would be 79 now. He passed at St Marys Medical Center in Huntington West Virginia. His son is a member of this forum, but only signed up, several years ago, to set some things straight about Meigs County Gold. And YES, it is still around, but extremely hard to get.
Ive often wondered if Noodles had anything to do with Haze, as his last name is Hayes, and he was directly connected to many growers in California/Humboldt County, in the 60s. As this is where he got many of his seeds. Ive also wondered if Noodles was connected to the development of Skunk, as his was the first I ever heard of in 1978, and they were for sure calling it Skunk, but was never referred to as Roadkill. It was just straight up skunk, and thats exactly what it smelled like.
It also seems curious that many say that in the late 90s, the skunk started becoming elusive. I just wonder if the prevalence of Skunk demise, had any relation to Noodles going to prison, and not breeding it anymore.
Sk1 was never Skunk like we are speaking of. I grew that stuff from the very first of being available by mail.
Ive also seen Marc Emery mentioned. way back. He was scorned by the weed community in Canada, after it was found he was passing off F2s as original stock. And he sold millions of seeds like this. I also grew his Sk1 and it was a let down. Very very weak vs original. Must have made bad selections, or just bred anything, just to get seeds. Sk1 is a stabilized hybrid, so he had to have made bad selections to have his Sk1 come out so weak vs the original. Goes to show you how fast someone can fuck something up.
William (Noodle) Hayes, 75 of Racine, OH (Antiquity community) went home Friday, January 24, 2020, at St Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV. He was Born July 27, 1944 at Middleport, OH, to the late Arnold Wilson (Red) Hayes and Nettie Mae Badgley Hayes. He was a carpenter and mechanic...
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