It’s an appealing story and, in one sense, true — though
Monsanto might have something to say about that. A bit
harsher toke of truth suggests that, since the thawing of
prohibition, weed is born free but is everywhere in chains.
As a legit product on the capitalist market, cannabis is
now subject to the severe forces of mainstream supply and
demand — the same as, say, corn or beef.
The devious goads to mass agricultural production
— pesticides, chemical fertilizers, big-scale water and
energy consumption, to name a few — are concerns for
local cannabis producers who are making sustainability
their calling card.
Micah Griffin, a local cannabis producer who prides
himself on the sustainability of his process, says that
too many growers have a “huge carbon footprint that is
through the roof.”
Avoiding products like store-bought fertilizers and
pesticides, Griffin cultivates his own soil in a “closed-
loop” system that is organic and self-recycling, using
compost like coffee grounds along with manure (though
not bat guano, the extraction of which destroys the bats’
habitat, he explains). His process is no-till, meaning the
soil is layered upward in strata that are crawling with
worms, whose poop further fertilizes the plants.
“It’s a sensibility,” Griffin says of creating sustainable
cannabis harvests. He points out that “cost-effective”
and “sustainable” need not be mutually exclusive terms,
necessarily; left to its own natural processes, he says, his
soil becomes richer and richer, as opposed to him having
to constantly flush it and pour in more chemical product.
In short, Griffin says, the soil takes care of itself,
generating microbes and nutrients that prevent damaging
molds and insects, making additives unnecessary (when
required, he sprays for insects and mold with compost
tea or leach from the worm bin, he says). Indeed, the
foundational soil is rich, thick and moist, like dark
chocolate, though with little scent; running your hands
through it is like feeling life itself.
At one point, Griffin grabs a handful of the soil and
puts it in his mouth. “It’s totally clean,” he says, smiling.
A remarkable consistency occurs when talking
with cannabis growers who are focused on sustainable
practices; they all speak of the “closed-loop” system, for
instance, in which chemical products are avoided in lieu
of processes that, with careful and conscious stewardship,
allow nature to take care of itself, all with an eye on
reducing the impact of energy and water consumption.
At Cannassentials in west Eugene, grower Shane
Kramer also uses a “closed-loop” system that focuses
on practices that are entirely holistic and regenerating,
ADAM JACQUES
PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
) Thrive SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE (
MIC AH GRIFFIN'S SOIL
THE FOUNDATIONAL SOIL
IS RICH, THICK AND MOIST,
LIKE DARK CHOCOLATE,
THOUGH WITH LITTLE SCENT;
RUNNING YOUR HANDS
THROUGH IT IS LIKE
FEELING LIFE ITSELF.
methods Kramer first learned as an organic food farmer.
He says that, despite the labor-intensive requirements of
the process, sustainability just makes sense.
“The sustainable model is viable because, although
production may be slightly lower, the cost of production is
not increased but transferred to more labor, which equals
creating jobs, which are needed, instead of polluting
machinery and chemicals,” Kramer says. “In a closed-loop
system where fertility is produced on farm, the production
can go from sustainable to regenerative,” he adds, noting
that using sustainable practices typically results in the
ecosystem largely managing itself, from pest and mold
control to sustenance and fertilization.
Kramer — who this past weekend won the GanjaCup
indoor flower award at Portland’s GanjaCon with his Sour
Diesel entry — says that sustainable practices, for all the
environmental benefits, also produce better, safer weed.
“A quality, clean product is more desirable and easier to
market,” he explains, “and a healthy consumer is a long-
term customer.”
Award-winning cannabis grower Adam Jacques
at Oregon Microgrowers Guild says that the ethic of
sustainability runs through every part of his operation.
“My whole farm is built around it,” he says, noting that
he’s currently using LED lighting, which cuts way back
on electricity use. He’s installing solar panels in his
greenhouse as well as a rain-collection system to further
cut back on energy consumption, which he says can be a
major concern for the cannabis industry at large.
Jacques also uses a no-till system with no chemical
additives — “probably the craziest spray I use is hydrogen
peroxide,” he says — which both improves water retention
in the soil and minimizes the impact of what leeches back
into the water supply. “We pretty much run with zero run-
off in our drains,” he adds.
“We’re going to do what’s best and greenest for the
environment, because that’s who we are,” Jacques says,
adding that focusing on organic, sustainable practices
creates a better product in the end — richer, tastier buds,
with a fuller profile of turpines that gives the cannabis
a completeness not found in weed that is amped-up and
sped-up by chemical fertilizers. The analogy with the
beef industry is clear: Hormone-fed cattle might grow
faster and plumper, but its quality is questionable and its
safety even more so.
“We’ve built our business on trust,” Jacques says,
pointing out the similarities in cannabis production with
the organic food industry as a whole. “Let’s say you go to
a Fred Meyer and there’s a health food sections,” he says
with a smile. “What are the other sections?” ■
SH ANE K R AMER
PHOTOS BY TR A SK BEDORTH A
eugeneweekly.com • A pril 21, 2016
15