MEND Season 1 - Episode 21

A Family Affair...

We are closing down the shop here soon on this first season of MEND and so it is with great pleasure that we bring you one of the final installments of this romp through the history, fields & families & glimpse into the future of this, our beloved culture & county.

In this episode, we sat down with Joshua & Sadie - She - a second-generation cannabis grower - who started down the same path as her urban-dwelling parents back in the day - even using their ballasts and scale when she first got started on her path in Humboldt’s indoor scene over 17 years ago.  And he - an East-coast transplant brought to this life by his love of cannabis, the land on which he lives and cultivates &, well, the love of a good woman, as well.

You’ll hear the story of their own relationship to the plant unfolding.  

From moving to the smaller, more secretive world of indoor into the free-range world of sun-grown, small-scale outdoor.

The beautiful life they’ve been able to carve out for themselves and their three children working with this plant and the abundance it’s provided them.

On what it means to finally step out of the shadows after all these years and claim cannabis cultivation as a legitimate path & profession.

On raising their children in a no-bullshit zone & how cannabis has actually sewn the seeds to start the conversation around Morality, Civic Involvement & Civil Disobedience - good & early.  

And how they’re equipping themselves for the fight they know they have ahead to survive.  To compete.  To stay afloat, relevant & maintain the beautiful way of life they’ve cultivated through the years.

And the magic 5th element inside all of this - they see as crucial to every small farmer’s survival in this swiftly-shifting landscape we are in.

At the end of the day, it comes back to this.

The families.

The freedom.

The community.

The rich way of life that is unique this region - and to the caretakers of this plant.

We are reminded, one again, that this privilege - is THAT.

A gift.

And if we are to see it continue…

We must all be willing to do what we can to maintain what we’ve been given.

At the end of the day, may these stories remind us… of what exactly we are fighting for.

Help us to keep the faith.

And to do the painstaking work of paving the way forward… for us all.  

MEND Season 1 - Episode 18

The Green, Green Grass of Home...

In this episode we speak with Bryan, a man from my home state of Indiana who, in his almost 30 year relationship with marijuana, spent 5 years working on various types of ganja farms in Humboldt County.  When Oregon legalized marijuana and offered licenses over the internet, he paid his fee and moved up to work on a small recreational grow.

He tells us the how and why he chose marijuana as a career path and assures us he is ‘in it for the plant’.  When we asked him if and/or what he misses about the black market, his quick response was precise and passionate.

We discuss the possibilities, both good and bad, in store for CA with legalization and the strict regulations in place for the marijuana industry.  

When asked what he believes the cannabis culture can offer to the world at large, Bryan tells us what Humboldt taught him that he didn’t learn anywhere else.  I’ll give you a hint, he refers to many of the farmers he knew in Humboldt as ‘Soil Builders’.

We hope you enjoy this conversation as we are winding down this season on the origin stories and looking towards where Humboldt’s marijuana culture is headed.

MEND Season 1 - Episode 11

Outlaw Farming - A New Twist on Things

This past week we had the great pleasure of sitting down with Carl Stanley.

Carl is the former pastor of a cannabis-friendly All Faith church in Eureka, CA, an educator in sustainability and self-sufficiency, founder of Manabu Farms, and an advocate for “outlaw farming”, which is perhaps not what you may think it is.

We spoke with him via phone from Flint, Michigan where he resides in an effort to help the local community with the water crisis before heading back to his beloved Humboldt County.

He speaks about the many services the church provided for the community here, the why’s and how’s of becoming Producers rather than Consumers, outlaw farming, his work in Flint, and offers his thoughts on how cannabis can help Humboldt County become a self-sustaining community.

Some of what we loved about speaking with Carl was his passion for the work that he does, but also what his origin story of Humboldt implies.  He came here as a ‘traveler’, what many might describe in not too polite terms as a transient.  The stereotype of the Humboldt transient juxtaposed with the amazing work that Carl has done here in this community and elsewhere is an interesting and important part of this story; and one could argue yet another stitch to further mend the way we relate to ourselves and to each other.

To find out more about Carl, or the work that he does, or how you can become more energy-independent and reduce your monthly bills, check out his work on Facebook.  

Become a part of the Bill Free Group @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/155362171643501/

Or find out more about the work and mission of Manabu Farms @ https://www.facebook.com/manabufarms2/

There’s also a website with links to his 300+ instructional YouTube videos on living the Outlaw Farmer lifestyle @ http://manabufarms.blogspot.com/

So much inspiration and food for thought here.  

We hope you enjoy.