MEND Season 1 - Episode 24

The Last Word (for now...)  SEASON 1 Finale

with Part 2 with Jentri Anders, Ph.D.

We live in a doomsday era.  So much of our existence is in question and we wake each morning to a new tragedy in the world.  Around us people are allowing hate to be their motivation and justification for atrocities many thought we had outgrown. What is there that should give us hope?

In our own corner of the world the changes are happening so rapidly most are unsure of what the future will bring.  Skeptics worry about encroaching outsiders from larger, less committed and cohesive communities.  Once again the battle is being waged on our environment, and once again the land needs people to step forward and defend Her.  Our livelihoods are at stake…but perhaps this is a good thing.   Perhaps now is the time to grab the reins so passionately and confidently held by the cultural refugees of the 70’s; those lovers of freedom, equality and sustainability, the revivers of voluntary simplicity and builders of our community.  Now is the time to take control of our future before the outsiders and big companies have their way.  I say this knowing that most of us were outsiders at some point, and that should bring us humility, but if we move forward with the same intentions and values of the back-to-the-landers then I believe we will be moving forward justly and in accordance with the general rules of good stewardship.

This episode is the second part to an interview we did back in the spring, with Jentri Anders…a back-to-the-lander who went on to finish her degree in Anthropology, and then wrote an enthnography about the very community and people she was a part of.  We played the first half of her interview in Episode 2, as part of the foundation of our stories.  In this episode we get to hear more of her story on the founding of Southern Humboldt culture as many know it today…but mostly we talk ethics, responsibility, offing the pig in you, and finding where our strength comes from.    

May these words of advice echo from our modern origins and guide us as we move forward with integrity and a deeper awareness of what is at stake.

To find out more about Jentri Anders and her work, visit:

https://shumjentri.wordpress.com

MEND Season 1 - Episode 20

Pass It Along...

We were excited, this week, to speak with Siobhan, a 2nd generation cannabis farmer and one half of the YouTube duo The Grow Sisters.  She and her husband own Blessed Coast Farms, Humboldt’s first permitted cannabis farm, where she is proud to plant into the native soil along the Van Duzen River.

Legalization ended her days dodging helicopters on a dirt bike, and brought her a sense of liberation.  Now she can be honest about who she is, what she does.  She recognizes that being such a public advocate for her farm and cannabis cultivation may place her head on the chopping block, but the work needs to be done and she recognizes her well-placed position as an advocate. 

This is farming; practices and techniques are not secret, nor should they be.  Siobhan stresses the importance of sharing this knowledge, exclaiming, “This is how we survive!”  The coveting of farming knowledge is a black market thought and now we must grow into this new realm of legalization and transparency together.

Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties have been growing cannabis for decades, Siobhan describes it as generations.  No county is, perhaps, as known for its quality of cannabis as is Humboldt.  This is our strength and Siobhan urges us to get involved, step in and represent ourselves; suggesting, I believe, that as we move forward into compliance and legalization, our future lies in our history.  

To find out more about the resources we discuss, check out:::

Blessed Coast Farms

California Growers Association

Info on the Mendocino Appellation Project

MEND Season 1 - Episode 15

Looking Back to Find What's Next..

As I was sitting down to draft an introduction to this week’s chat, these words from Dante  Alighieri went flashing through my mind:

“In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself, in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost. …...I cannot rightly say how I entered it. I was so full of sleep, at that point where I abandoned the true way. But when I reached the foot of a hill, where the valley, that had pierced my heart with fear, came to an end, I looked up and saw its shoulders brightened with the rays of that sun that leads men rightly on every road. …...It is a hard thing to speak of, how wild, harsh and impenetrable that wood was,.....but, in order to tell of the good that I found there, I must tell of the other things I saw there.”

Anne & myself have chosen to take this week to re-group to some degree.  

A moment to step back and look at where this shifting narrative has taken us thus far, but also to try to regain the larger thematic thread toward which we’re aiming overall.  

To that end, we sat down, on opposite sides of the country and asked each other some questions.

*Stuff like -

What is the larger story we are trying to tell?

Have we succeeded thus far?

What are some of the voices we have yet to hear from and that we feel, are needing to be heard inside this story?

And... After all is said and done… is this really about Pot at all??

We re-cap some of our favorite episodes to date.

And talk about the process of trying to share a larger, Universal story with a message and a deep, pulsing heart - using the syntax of the humble everyday.  

Can the personal truly reveal the Universal, as they say?

We talk about Commercialization - both in this industry and beyond - and the effects it has.  

About what we’ve lost.  And hopefully what we are un-earthing still.

We talk about the underbelly of this story.  The dark, shadowy bits we had hoped to move away from - and how they’re part and parcel to this whole tale.  

And ultimately - we come back to: Who is this For?  

And begin to shift our focus from the past - of what has been - and invite in Voices that are beginning to pave the way toward our collective Future - whatever that may hold.  

Enjoy.  

MEND Season 1 - Episode 12

Straddling the Divide...

This week, we had the great pleasure of sitting down with Buzz, a cattle rancher and veterinarian who moved up to Southern Humboldt in 1985 to caretake the ranch his wife's family owned.  The pioneer stock who can trace their roots back to this are for multiple generations.  

He speaks about the shifts he's witnessed in this area.  Raising children - all of whom are now grown and prospering elsewhere in the world - inside the heart of the emerald triangle.  

When it became clear in 2007, that the timber production that he and his wife had been counting on as their retirement nest egg was not going to be what they had hoped for, Buzz recounts the pivotal moment he decided to put, to his mind, a big grow on their family land.  Next to the vegetable garden.  Ten plants in all.  

He talks about the anxiety and stress related to working to come into compliance with the new regulations and upping his production even further to a record 54 plants.  

He tells us about his lifelong love affair with cannabis and how a combination of CBD oil and a regular practice of Zen meditation, has helped him deal with some debilitating back pain.  

And, like many of our beloved interviewees, he steers us back towards a committed relationship to the land and to one another, and to moving forward responsibly and reverently, as we embark collectively upon this new chapter of our history.  

MEND Season 1 - Episode 5

With My Own Two Hands....

Welcome to our fifth conversation where we speak to Jane - a veteran, single-woman farmer, living and working in the hills of Southern Humboldt.

In our time together, we discuss how an educated & ambitious woman who could've "done anything" with her talents and drive - chose to spend her life here.  Caretaking the land and this plant with which she feels a tremendous bond and affinity.

We dip into the questions of what it means to craft a well-lived life.  We look at the hazards, but also blessings of living independently and remotely in the woods.

We tackle the gender roles and stereotypes that still reside within this industry.  Plus drop into some honest, unadulterated talk about money, hard work, privilege & what it's really like for a woman to forge her own way - & eke out a life on her own terms.  

We hope you enjoy.  

MEND Season 1 -Episode 4

Before the Culture...

In this episode we interview a long-time Southern Humboldt resident and activist who tells us one of the origin stories of marijuana in Humboldt County as it relates to the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970’s.  

We learn how this plant helped provide opportunities for activists, at home and abroad, and supported the building of a solid, thriving community.

We reflect on the impacts of marijuana’s progression through Humboldt County's community through the years, and discuss (and sometimes lament) the frustrations of it's current trajectory.  

We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the life of an activist before marijuana took over the Humboldt scene.    

MEND Season 1 - Episode 3

A Family Affair

In this episode we speak to Laura, a local midwife and resident of this county for nearly 20 years. 

For a decade she birthed babies out in the sprawling hills of Southern Humboldt. 

We discuss the many surprising advantages of raising children inside the marijuana culture along with some of the inherent challenges as well. 

Together we dive into some of the pervasive stereotypes associated with this way of life.  We look at some of the over sensationalized ways the traditional media depicts this region and it's people, and how that stacks up against the experiences and realities of those who live, work and caretake the land and their families here. 

She provides us an insightful and inspiring glance into the inner workings of the rich and varied landscape of people that make up this tribe.  We hope you enjoy this time as much as we did.