history of mtf
well so far i'm 30 so i can't claim to be one of those old matsu hippy growers but i'm working on it and i'm lucky enough to have been raised by them right here in the matanuska-susitna. i always ask them about the old school matanuska thunder fuck i know it by, heard them call it a few namesbeing "matanuska valley thunder fuck" - "MTF" - "Thunder". I've smoked the real deal many, many times and it always had that creeping feeling like something bigs coming, then bangs you with a heavy cerebral high that sent tingles through your brain, neck and shoulders, and later drops hard right down to your toes for some heavy couch lock. it's the signature high you could say, the proof in the pudding. as far as history and info of the strain here's what i've some to hear repeated over and over in every circle
of old timer alaskan growers as far as how the stuff came about and where it's at now. as far as "alaskan strains" - alaska doesn't really have any landrace cannabis other than some possible ruderalis which also thrives in russia, the climate is just too harsh for naturally produce any other strain.
all the great pot came up the northwest coast on the hippy train back in the mid 60's and on.. most of their strains were coming from mexico, cali, canada, hawaii, thailand, veitnam, holland, and the like. that was the reality of things across the entire span of the northwest coast. it was just a huge pool of incredible world class cannabis. certain parts of the world back in the day knew all about sensimilla but the info haden't reached the masses yet and these hippies were taking the seeds from all this incredible bud and attempting to grow. the funny thing from what i've been told is when my folks, uncles/aunts started growing as hippy teens, they didn't even know to bud the plants. they just grow them as tall as possible out in the sun and harvest all the leaves which were still crystally and would get you high. eventually things got more advanced and nixon starting his anti-hippy/pot campaign forced grows to get smart about indoor growing and with that other things took place such as breeding hybrids. this is when certain hybrids were being born and could only be found in certain areas which again, was the story all over the coast. alaska actually has a few strains besides its mtf being kodiak gold, the shit that killed elvis aka elvis, chikalooney to name a few.. everything else you find around here is imported or homegrown popular brand strains.
the story behind how matanuska thunder fuck took it's name is this..
around '75 things got interesting when an attorney by the name of irwin ravin purposely got himself arrested while in possession so he could challenge the current anti-pot laws that nixon started. the courts looked at the alaska constitution which gives residents the right to uninfringed privacy and ruled that marijuana didn't constitute a person any danger and isn't reason to infringe ravin's privacy. this effectively made possession legal.
when news got out that alaska legalized, high times magazine gave alaska a cover and feature story. they found the cook inlet man responsible and in the interview he called the "thunder weed" by its full name, "matanuska valley thunder fuck" ... the magazine cut it down to "matanuska thunder fuck" when they published their feature. everyone followed suit and started calling it exactly that.
the magazine had a huge fan base even in the 70's, a lot of people saw the feature and decided to head to alaska to check it out. in 89, bush finished off what reagan started and alaska was finally pushed to recriminalize cannabis. the alaska d.e.a. started hitting grow ops hard and they targetted the biggest strain, mtf, the hardest. the strain went very underground and was passed off to the hell's angels simple because they could keep the strain safe. there were also a few hippy growers that kept it going simple
because they followed the rules, kept their grows small and sayed out of the d.e.a.'s sight. a lot of people will swear to you it never existed or is now gone forever, but i can tell you its still around, only harder to find.
there's also a lot of confusion over names so to share what i know..
matanuska thunder fuck and mtf is the most popular choice for alaskans. the name "alaska or alaskan thunder fuck" was given by people who weren't from here going back home and trying to tell people about the incredible strain.. its a lot easier to say and spell than "matanuska". the first seed banks to offer matanuska thunder fuck seeds were sagarmatha seeds and brothers grim, and then there's reeferman - reeferman seeds offers up what they called "kodiak gold aka mtf".. kodiak gold is actually a pretty well known strain in alaska that indeed comes down south around kodiak, indica dominant
stuff that i've had a few times and it gives a strong couch lock, nothing more.
sagarmatha seeds has matanuska tundra which they also call mtf. story is some guy from that seedbank, rob, travelled to alaska and pirated the strain, they bred it with something else and came up with tundra. i personally find this hard to believe since mtf is fairly well guarded even before the hells angels got ahold of it. it moved towards a clone only plant back in the late 70's, early 80's as well which makes long travel very challenging.
brothers grimm called something they had mtf, actually i believe they were the first to have anything from alaska, but their strain was listed as indica dominant which points towards the kodiak.
grothers grimm i believe was the first to claim they had "matanuska thunder fuck" but the truth of the matter it's actually kodiak gold, and indica dom. which is still a killer strain that lays a haymaker of a narcotic stone. i've had the pleasure of smoking a seeing a few grow and its plain to see where it differs from actually mtf. from there, other banks popped up with what they either called pure mtf's or hybrids of it.
sagamartha seeds also offers matanuska mist aka matanuska mint is a cross of tundra and grey mist. then you have blue alaskan which is what some is calling mtf and blueberry. all these strains also are indica dominant.
now as far as what the original strain was bred from.. original haze, nothern lights, skunk and highland oaxacan gold are named as definate parents.. they had all become big names by the early to mid 70's and they were widely popular in alaska back in that day. the indoor/outdoor growers took those gene pools and started creating hybrids for both indoor and outdoor. what they came up with was a high sativa dominant plant that still had some some the indicas hardiness and yeild.
my folks, aunts and uncles have had a lot of time spend with the mtf, they know what it tastes, smells, and looks like and i can say i've had the honor of smoking and growing the strain and i've also gotten to grow everything claiming to be the mtf besides the brother grimms strain but i do know if they claims its indica dom., it's not legit. so far, i can't find any thing that holds a match to what i know is the original valley thunder.
well, this matsu boy has shared what he knows. take from it what you will and just incase anyone finds themselves in palmer near lazy mountain, let me know and i'd be happy to share some samples and take you on the mtf tour!
