{"id":2218,"date":"2021-11-05T06:31:53","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T06:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=183729"},"modified":"2021-11-05T06:31:53","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T06:31:53","slug":"cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=2218","title":{"rendered":"Cannabis harvest 2021\u20143 farmers\u2019 emblematic stories"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <title>Cannabis harvest 2021\u20143 farmers&#8217; emblematic stories &#8211; Leafly<\/title>     <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. This script needs to setup it's interjection stuff before GAM loads. --> <!-- End Index Exchange --> <!-- Quotes = strings--><!-- No quotes = boolean-->\t   <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.1.2 (Yoast SEO v17.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->                  <!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- BEGIN Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Sailthru Horizon Meta Information -->  <!-- Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- End Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --><br \/>\n <!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <title>Leafly<\/title>     <title>Leafly \u00ae<\/title>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              <title>Loading\u2026<\/title>     <\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-white fixed flex hidden inset-0 items-start md:h-auto md:items-center overflow-auto\" id=\"age-gate-container\">\n<div class=\"bg-white md:h-auto mx-auto p-lg text-sm w-full\" id=\"age-gate\">\n<p><label for=\"select-country\">Where are you from?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__info\">\n<p><button class=\"button\" data-testid=\"age-gate-no-button\" id=\"tou-cancel\">no<\/button><button class=\"button ml-md\" data-testid=\"age-gate-yes-button\" id=\"tou-continue\">yes<\/button><\/p>\n<p><label class=\"checkbox__label my-xl\"><span class=\"text-xs\" id=\"remember-user-label\">Remember me for 30 days. <br \/>I confirm that this is not a shared device.<\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<p class=\"error error--underage hidden\">Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The nation\u2019s first, definitive valuation of our legal crop\u2014the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/industry\/cannabis-harvest-report-2021\">Leafly Cannabis Harvest Report 2021<\/a>\u2014gets even more definitive with a series of colorful interviews and profiles of actual, living, breathing pot farmers. (They\u2019re just like us!)<\/p>\n<p>Below, Leafly caught up with three emblematic farmers of the 2021 harvest. They\u2019re hyper-organic, loud AF, and more carbon-neutral than ever.<\/p>\n<div class=\"leafly-table-of-contents w-full relative\">\n<p>Jump to a section<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"kralick\">Brie Kralick builds healthy environments<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"Brie Kralick. (Courtesy Hava Gardens)\" class=\"wp-image-183723 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>Brie Kralick. (Courtesy Hava Gardens)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center\">Brie Kralick, <span><a href=\"https:\/\/havagardens.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hava Gardens<\/a><\/span>, Mesa County, CO<\/h3>\n<p>Living soil is the lynchpin that drives Western Colorado\u2019s Hava Gardens. As director of cultivation, it\u2019s Brie Kralick\u2019s job to make sure this delicate, often labor-intensive dance is performed to perfection.<\/p>\n<p>Having already worked with Hava\u2019s VP of Cultivation, Cassandra Maffey, on previous grows, Kralick has grown to appreciate Maffey\u2019s process of working with living soil, which essentially boils down to mimicking the conditions of nature as much as possible, thereby allowing the cannabis crop to react as it sees fit.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote is-style-solid-color\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>we\u2019re feeding the soil, not the plants.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLiving soil is optimized for the soil food web,\u201d Kralick explained. \u201cThere are many different ways to go about that but by optimizing for the soil food web, we\u2019re feeding the soil, not the plants. We\u2019re feeding the biology: bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and things like that. In turn, those microbials are providing the plants with nutrients and feeding the plants themselves and allowing them to choose what nutrients they need based on their symbiotic relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the workload can be massive, the results are mighty impressive\u2014the terps don\u2019t lie. Compared with operations where cannabis plants are spoon-fed synthetic nutrients, Hava Gardens eschews what Kralick sees as \u201can empty medium\u201d and instead lets the plants do their own thing. The payoff is cannabis bursting with terpene profiles across the operations\u2019 four, 5,000-square foot greenhouses and 4,000-square foot indoor space.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"Hava Gardens Garlic Breath (Courtesy Hava Gardens)\" class=\"wp-image-175419 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-2.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-2.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-2.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-2.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>Hava Gardens Garlic Breath (Courtesy Hava Gardens)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Another major focus for Hava is sustainability.<\/p>\n<p>To that end, they recycle their flower bed soil between harvests, saving an estimated 650,000 pounds of medium from going to the landfill. In addition, Kralick is also at work on plans to recycle the runoff water from greenhouses for use in an herb garden and landscaping around the facility. In addition, she also wants to pursue solar power and is speaking with folks in the brewing industry about an ambitious plan to capture the recycled CO2 from breweries for Hava\u2019s use.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s our big focus,\u201d Kralick said, \u201cto take this operation and continue to improve our sustainable practices and to be on the map in that way, long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s rare for queer women to publicly run cannabis gardens. Kralick not only cultivates a healthier, more natural soil\u2014she cultivates a more welcoming workplace than the ones she came up in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of it comes through in how I lead and what my expectations are; things I just won\u2019t really stand for. Anybody\u2014no matter how they identify\u2014can work here. It\u2019s really simple stuff: being a human being; having mutual respect and valuing the people that are working for you and with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/industry\/cannabis-harvest-report-2021\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>New Leafly \u2018Cannabis Harvest Report\u2019 values crop 5th in the nation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<h2 id=\"jesce\">Jesce Horton grows Black and proud<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img width=\"550\" height=\"825\" alt=\"Jesce Horton. (Courtesy LOWD)\" class=\"wp-image-183726 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-3.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-3.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-3.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-3.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>Jesce Horton. (Courtesy LOWD)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center\">Jesce Horton, <span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowd.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LOWD<\/a><\/span>, Portland, OR<\/h3>\n<p>Jesce Horton has come a long way from growing cannabis in his basement. Now the CEO of LOWD, one of Oregon\u2019s premier cannabis operations, Horton\u2019s products are both highly-acclaimed and constantly selling out. But long before he was in his current position, he was being warned by his father to stay away from cannabis entirely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy dad spent time in prison, due to the war on drugs,\u201d Horton said, \u201cand tried as hard as he could to keep me from cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As it turned out, a love for cannabis was an intractable part of Horton\u2019s being.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, while pursuing other professional ambitions, he began to hone his craft with a home-grow in his Oregon basement. When he finally decided to start his own legal cannabis business, an early failure to raise the necessary funds saw Horton turn to a most unlikely source: his father.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"(Photo by Resinated Lens; Courtesy of LOWD)\" class=\"wp-image-171300 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-4.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-4.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-4.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-4.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>MAC1 from LOWD. (Photo by Resinated Lens; Courtesy of LOWD)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cFor him to be my first form of capital was really meaningful,\u201d Horton acknowledged. \u201cI was not having a lot of success at raising money until I was able to get my first loan from my dad and a group of his retired friends from corporate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That this funding also comes exclusively from people of color only adds to the pride that Horton feels as the head of a successful, Black-owned cannabis business. While LOWD technically stands for Love Our Weed Daily (as well as a play on the popular weed descriptor \u201cloud\u201d), it also reflects what Horton sees as a need for cannabis consumers to be more visible and vocal in society.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking at traditional cannabis culture, being loud about your love of cannabis has been somewhat taboo,\u201d he said. \u201cAs cannabis moves more towards the mainstream, we want to make sure that we are loudly and proudly waving that flag and continuing to put traditional, legacy, stoner cannabis culture on a pedestal and not on the back burner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/industry\/cannabis-harvest-2021-vox-potpuli\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>Cannabis harvest 2021 in US farmers\u2019 own words<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<h2 id=\"delaney\">Brendan Delaney cuts cannabis\u2019 carbon footprint<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"Brendan Delaney. (Courtesy Solar Therapeutics)\" class=\"wp-image-183728 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-5.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-5.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-5.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-5.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>Brendan Delaney. (Courtesy Solar Therapeutics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center\">Brendan Delaney, <a href=\"https:\/\/solarthera.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span>Solar Therapeutics<\/span><\/a>, Somerset, MA<\/h3>\n<p>Before landing in Massachusetts, Brendan Delaney was making his mark in the Emerald Triangle. In total, he started six farms across the counties of Trinity, Shasta, and Mendocino before departing for the East Coast following California\u2019s recent surge in wildfire activity.<\/p>\n<p>Now he works as the cultivation director for Solar Therapeutics, a company located in Summerset and which holds the distinction of being the first cultivation facility in the country to use solar power to grow cannabis.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, the operation relies on a micro-grid, which combines natural gas generators with a large array of solar, including 70,000-square feet of roof panels and another four acres\u2019 worth of them situated behind the building. Solar Therapeutics has now been cultivating for nearly one-and-a-half years, which has given them ample time to tweak their operations to ensure ideal results.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been a fine-tuning process,\u201d Delaney said. \u201cCurrently, we\u2019re at four grow rooms, triple-tiered, with a little over 200 lights in each room. With the first three rooms online in our first year, we\u2019ve had 11 successful harvests with no major issues. Any time you\u2019re building a microgrid and also building cultivation at the same time, there are always going to be some bumps in the road, but we\u2019ve gone through all of that stuff and we\u2019re humming now.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" alt=\"New legalization states often mandate efficiency standards. (Courtesy Solar Therapeutics)\" class=\"wp-image-183727 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-6.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-6.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-6.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories-6.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>New legalization states often mandate efficiency standards. (Courtesy Solar Therapeutics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In total, Delaney shared that Solar Therapeutics eventually plans to have 14 grow rooms.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, their cultivation process also relies on triple-tiered farming\u2014a new challenge for Delaney but one that\u2019s so far already yielded some noteworthy strains, including Compound Genetics\u2019 Waffle Cone and Symbiotic Genetics\u2019 Cherry Punch. Delaney noted that he and his team are also currently in the pheno-hunting process, with a huge chunk of the featured strains originating from Humboldt Seed Company.<\/p>\n<p>Growing under Fluence Spydr lights, the harvests Delaney has already overseen are thus far definitely checking all his requisite boxes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor some strains,\u201d he shared, \u201cwe\u2019re at three and a half pounds per light. We\u2019re also dialing in the potency. We\u2019ve had a few strains hit over 30% THC, but really, our focus is on getting them up into the high 20s and being super good quality with a great nose. Yeah, our harvests are becoming better every run.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"author-box\" class=\"p-lg my-xxl bg-white rounded border border-light-grey elevation-low\">\n<div class=\"mb-lg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories.jpg\" alt=\"Zack Ruskin's Bio Image\" class=\"lazyload inline-block mr-md rounded-full border border-light-grey\"> <\/p>\n<p>Zack Ruskin<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"text-sm\">Zack Ruskin is a freelance cannabis and culture reporter. His other bylines include the San Francisco Chronicle, The Nib, Vanity Fair, California Leaf Magazine and Variety. Follow him on Twitter: @zackruskin.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"text-sm font-bold underline text-green\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/author\/zack-ruskin\">View Zack Ruskin&#8217;s articles<\/a> <\/div>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2021-11-05 13:29:07 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cannabis harvest 2021\u20143 farmers&#8217; emblematic stories &#8211; Leafly Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? noyes Remember me for 30 days. I confirm that this is not a shared device. Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The nation\u2019s first, definitive valuation of our legal crop\u2014the Leafly Cannabis Harvest Report 2021\u2014gets even more definitive with a series of colorful interviews and profiles of actual, living, breathing pot farmers. (They\u2019re just like us!) Below, Leafly caught up with three emblematic farmers of the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cannabis-harvest-2021-3-farmers-emblematic-stories.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}