Farm Update March 2023

We find ourselves caught in second winter. After a brief window of warm spring weather we are once again in snow storms.  Great for skiing, poor for farming.

So we are firing up the greenhouse grow.  It’s new to us.  The real sun is so much more fun, and straightforward.  Growing inside is a bit like playing God.  That’s a heavy responsibility.

Our sungrown fields are dormant, at least for hemp.  Patrick, Johnny and Quincy are actively working the security and grazing detail.  We are diving into no-till this year.  Living soil is an environment unto itself.  It builds up an insect and microbe ecosystem.  Mycorrhizae networks are a mind-blowing fungal chain that is worthy of its own sci-fi show.

Discing and rototilling this all up each spring sets the biome back.  This year we are working with it.  We will also continue with our usage of straw for mulch beds.  If we don’t till the soil, weed management shouldn’t be as much of an issue.  We shall see.

At this point we have released all 25 cultivars from our most recent harvest.  It was a tremendous learning curve.  Not all cultivars are so easy to grow.  We are diving back into an equally diverse genetics menu this year.

I’ve been appointed to the Oregon Hemp Commission.  We are working to stabilize the industry which is recovering from a boom/bust cycle.  It didn’t help that we had a wave of illicit grows.  The public doesn’t differentiate, and resulting legislation isn’t always on target.  But we shall get it right.  After all, some of our legislators are both fans and customers.  We all want this to work.