YOUR BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE UNIVERSE
Reconnect with the golden age of cannabis with iconic strains like Apaculco Gold, Panama Red and Northern Lights.
Let us set the vibe for your next session. Check out our playlist.
MADE WITH YOU IN MIND
LIVE RESIN ALL-IN-ONE
Formulated for quality, designed for convenience, and brand new in Maryland.
WES ABNEY CEO & FOUNDER wes@leafmagazines.com
MIKE RICKER OPERATING PARTNER ricker@leafmagazines.com
TOM BOWERS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER tom@leafmagazines.com
DANIEL BERMAN CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER daniel@leafmagazines.com
EARLY MARYLAND LEAF PUBLISHER early@leafmagazines.com
WYATT EARLY STATE DIRECTOR wyatt@leafmagazines.com (410) 961-8779
BOBBY BLACK LEAF BOWL DIRECTOR & HISTORIAN
bobbyblack@leafmagazines.com
MICHELLE NARANJO COPY EDITOR michelle@leafmagazines.com
ABOUT THE COVER
Maryland Leaf is proud to present our annual celebration of the art of growing Cannabis by some of the state's finest cultivators. Landing on the cover this month was a stunning close-up shot of Orange Drizzle, grown by Evermore Cannabis Company. As Leaf Writer Taylor Martin notes, "If you think a bag of Evermore flower or a jar of live rosin smells good when you purchase it from a dispensary, then you would be blown away walking through the grow facility midharvest, when ripe living flowers and freshly pressed dabs are plentiful." pg. 34-36
PHOTO BY HAYLEY EWING @HAYLEYSHOOTS.U
CONTRIBUTORS
WES ABNEY, FEATURES
BOBBY BLACK, FEATURES + DESIGN
DANIEL BERMAN, DESIGN
RYAN JOHNSON BITAR, PHOTOS
NEIL BRAYBROOK, PHOTOS
JACKIE BRYANT, FEATURES
DAVID DOWNS, FEATURES
WYATT EARLY, FEATURES
HAYLEY EWING, PHOTOS
REX HILSINGER, FEATURES + PHOTOS
ELLEN HOLLAND, FEATURES
MATT JACKSON, FEATURES
JESSE JOHNSON, FEATURES
GREG MALCOLM, PHOTOS
TAYLOR MARTIN, FEATURES
TERPODACTYL MEDIA, FEATURES + PHOTOS
BENJAMIN NEFF, PHOTOS
CHRIS ROMAINE, PHOTOS
MARC ROSSMAN, PHOTOS
KEENAN SHUR, ILLUSTRATION
NATE WILLIAMS, PHOTOS
BRUCE & LAURIE WOLF, RECIPES
We are creators of targeted, independent Cannabis journalism. Please email us to discuss advertising in the next issue of Maryland Leaf Magazine. We do not sell stories or coverage. We can offer design services and guidance on promoting your company’s medicinal, recreational, commercial or industrial Cannabis business, product or event within our magazine and on our website, leafmagazines.com. Email wyatt@leafmagazines.com to start advertising with Maryland Leaf!
LEAF
Thanks for picking up The Harvest Issue of the Leaf!
Harvest is a season of bounty, a reward for a long spring and summer of faith, work and long days.
Today, we’re used to hitting the grocery store and seeing bananas, apples and oranges year-round, but that’s not how life was only a few generations ago. Humans lived seasonally for hundreds of thousands of years, ebbing and flowing with nature, and enjoying the bounty provided depending on the time of year.
While our food is available 24/7, thanks to a global supply chain, those of us old enough to have bought weed illegally remember the flow of fire around November and the late-summer drought, as all of last year’s weed was gone. Today’s stoners know nothing of the shortages or a dealer being out of weed. Neighborhood dispensaries are open seven days a week and bursting with amazing ways to get high, delivering medicinal and recreational relief on demand.
“TODAY’S STONERS KNOW NOTHING OF THE SHORTAGES OR A DEALER BEING OUT OF WEED.”
The reason we have vapes, edibles, concentrates and topicals galore — along with delicious, terpy sun-kissed flowers — is hardworking farmers whose hands are in the dirt for nine months a year. Our industry runs on sun-grown Cannabis, whether it’s light deps, greenhouse or full-term flower. From native soil to raised beds of living soil, or a broad field full of autoflowering phenos that slap, there’s a farmer in the sun, rain and mud to thank for your next hit.
That’s why our Harvest Issue has been running since 2011. We at the Leaf recognize and celebrate the farm, where our roots begin and end, with people who work hard, smoke hard and have grown Cannabis since the medical-only and prelegal days and for generations. The knowledge, passion and cost of isolation are all part of a culture and legacy that means so much more than a price per pound.
We must thank and protect our outdoor farmers who serve the entire Cannabis ecosystem. They keep the machines of industry flowing and fill more shelves directly and indirectly than any other segment of the market. They’re responsible for the sweet honey of THC in the same way God is a provider of our abundance, the plant and our natural world. Cannabis is a gift that keeps giving, harvest after harvest, and that overflowing bowl is a promise kept that we should be grateful for this season.
HARVEST /ADAPT
October hums in Northern California. Diesel engines on backroads, scissors clicking in barns, the air thick with the smell of cedar and cut flower. The light goes gold around 4 p.m. and stays that way until the ridge disappears. This is the season everyone waits for and the one that breaks them a little more each year. Across Humboldt, Trinity and Mendocino, harvest is smaller now but sharper. The crews are lean. The fields are tighter, planted with cultivars that can handle heat, fog and the sudden rains that roll in off the Pacific. The farmers who stayed learned to match the rhythm instead of fighting it.
AT NEUKOM FAMILY FARM on the banks of the Trinity River, Cannabis sits beside tomatoes, melons and peaches in the summer, part of the same rotation that’s kept the soil alive for decades. Amy and Jacques Neukom move through the rows like it’s any other crop: water, cut, cure, repeat. They sell vegetables, eggs and joints at the same market stand. Nobody whispers anymore.
“People come for food and ask about the flower,” Amy Neukom said. “It’s just farming now.”
In the Mattole Valley, Dylan Mattole has shifted to washers suited for concentrates, specifically hash and rosin. “Sun-grown is rising to the top in those markets,” he said. “The hash makers appreciate the quality that comes from organically sun-grown flower with unique genetics.”
In Mendocino, Joseph Haggard and his mom, Katie, who helm Emerald Spirit Botanicals, breed for flavor and function, not percentages. Their multiple-award-winning cultivar Pink Boost Goddess gleams under the late light, the scent closer to strawberry jam and flowers than gas. Joseph Haggard said the demand is real.
And in Humboldt, the Humboldt Family Farms collective pulls the pieces together, jar by jar, farmer by farmer. They share transport, packaging and stories — the connective tissue of a region learning how to stay alive inside a system that barely sees it.
Founder Scott Vasterling calls it “logistics with heart.”
The collective’s latest campaign lifted sun-grown sales at Embarc stores into double digits for the first time. Proof, however small, that education works when the weed is good enough.
Harvest is a habit first and a headline second. Regardless of the attention it gets or doesn’t, the farm activity still swells before dawn, and the generators still buzz all night. The people doing it don’t talk about resilience; they’re long past all of that. They’ve built smaller, smarter, steadier lives on land and in a market that keeps asking for everything.
By dusk, the hills glow. The smell carries for miles: terpenes, rain and work. On some ridges, lights stay on all night, and on others, the barns are already full.
The season ends the way it always has: tired hands, quiet pride and smoke rising from the valley like a promise that next year will come around again.
"They’ve built smaller, smarter, steadier lives on land and in a market that keeps asking for everything."
“People want to feel good again. They don’t want to get wrecked,” he said.
Their farm feels closer to a vineyard than a grow site, with sun, soil and intention dictating everything.
AMY NEUKOM & SCOTT VASTERLING NEUKOM FAMILY FARMS
SCOTT VASTERLING HUMBOLDT FAMILY FARMS
PURE
Crafted
FULL
Preser ves
High
RECHARGABLE
Use
Just
FIRE FOLLOWER RED HOT AUTOS!
THE HARVEST ISSUE you’re holding celebrates the end of one annual, full-sun cultivation cycle, but another begins. Some growers are just getting set up for their winter indoor run, and we’re seeing more newbies, as well as pros, grow with “automatic” seeds.
Cannabis that flowers “automatically” does not need the strict lighting schedule of standard weed strains. Like early LEDs, auto seeds have gone from punch line to punching above their weight. Autos used to contain a little THC, with low terpenes and yield, but not anymore. Modern autos smack. Chances are you have smoked or dabbed an automatic plant and didn’t even know it.
NIGHT OWL SEEDS
Maine cult star Night Owl Seeds — a 6-year-old company and a leader in the automatic seed game — does midnight seed drops, like Strawberry Milk and Qookies, that sell out in minutes. What is company founder/operator Daz’s strategy? Automating classics like Marathon OG, AJ’s Sour D and (soon) Banana OG.
Daz learned how to make auto versions of strains in Europe, which is ahead of the Americas in the automatic weed game. Then Daz worked under Mephisto Genetics until he started his own thing. “I’ve been isolating with plants for 10 to 15 years,” he said.
Award-winning journalist/author and former Leafly Senior Editor David Downs’ monthly genetics intelligence dispatch.
CANNABIS THAT FLOWERS “AUTOMATICALLY” DOES NOT NEED THE STRICT LIGHTING SCHEDULE OF STANDARD WEED STRAINS. DO YOU EVER WISH HERB WAS MORE “SET IT AND FORGET IT”?
Daz said automatic weed growers are usually hobbyists working indoors in tents. When Daz finally got the wherewithal to run a large indoor warehouse, he populated it with 40 tents instead of one big grow.
HUMBOLDT SEED COMPANY
Experts say it’s getting almost impossible to tell the difference between automatic flowers and regulars. All automatics contain genes from a subspecies of weed called “ruderalis.” These rude girls flower automatically on the roadsides of rural Russia. Modern autos lack any telltale ruderalis aroma or taste.
Humboldt Seed Company, the 24-year-old top photoperiod brand, is working on autoing a vast chunk of its 80-strain commercial catalog. Among them, we’ve seen a new fruity auto Hella Jelly F5 with sizzling sativa effects, but it grows short and flowers quickly.
The December 2025 Auto Hella Jelly solves the two major issues commercial growers have with sativas: They get too tall and take too long. Time and space cost money. This squat, pink-flowered strain should take around 90 days from seed to harvest. When dabbing Auto Hella Jelly, you’d never know it’s the distant grandchild of Russian ditch weed. The live rosin is very blond, fruity and delicate, like a sugary confection. It hits light, clean, fruity, loud, strong and bomb, easing tension and energizing work.
AUTOPOTAMUS
One home grower in Quebec, Canada, who’s killing it with automatics is gardening influencer Linh Nguyen, aka “Autopotamus.” Sponsored by a raft of genetics and hardware brands, Autopotamus grows bountiful bushels of dank, icy colas that showcase the potential of autos in the 2020s.
Daz said autos grow a bit differently than regular, so-called “photoperiod” strains, which need timed lighting. For one, they don’t like getting transplanted or repotted. Don’t stress autos out.
Autos are harder to grow than photos, Daz said, but once you see the speed, flavor and potency, “it’s hard to go back.”
AMERICAN AUTOFLOWER CUP 2026
The American Autoflower Cup, one big sign of autos’ arrival, returns in early 2026 and just announced its seven categories. Registration is currently open. Judging is conducted by industry experts, lab analysis and popular vote.
The awards ceremony is Jan. 31, 2026, at beTRUE Los Angeles.
NOTEWORTHY AUTOMATIC SEED BREEDERS
OWL SEEDS
MEPHISTO GENETICS
HUMBOLDT SEED COMPANY
MULTIVERSE BEANS
AUTOMATICS
SPEEDRUN SEEDS
I’m running some autos this winter in San Francisco that were gifted to me in July by Cora Genetics founder Hardy Nieto, who just passed away.
I popped a full pack and selected four of the feminized Dr. Grinspoon S1 autos for a big fabric pot. I don’t need the bud, but the fresh terps and joyful bouquet are a living memento mori for the new year. Time flies, so be quick and excellent — automatically.
NIGHT OWL SSV COURTESY
HUMBOLDT SEED COMPANY
PHOTO BY KANDID KUSH
HUMBOLDT SEED COMPANY
HELLA JELLY
PHOTO BY NEIL BRAYBROOK HIGHIGAN ON YOUTUBE
NIGHT OWL CHEMMY POWERS COURTESY
Harvest time offers a lesson that all things change
WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE
I’m looking up toward a sky dappled with clouds and feeling the vibrations emanating from the life-form beside me. It’s a towering Blueberry Pancakes plant, and I’m pushing away from the energy of the group to stand in stillness with the silent hum of its life force.
The Cannabis flowers are a deep emerald green, huge and frosty, and they smell like blueberries at peak ripeness.
Held in minimal trellising, the plant’s branches confidently stretch out into the air. Watching it sway in the wind over the valley of oaks below makes me smile. When I touch the flowers, they leave a lingering perfume on my fingertips. This plant is statuesque, natural, beautiful and alive.
I’M ON a Humboldt Seed Company farm in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada near Grass Valley, California, as a part of the company’s 2025 quest to find the world’s best weed. Alongside me on this odyssey are Leaf’s chief operating officer, Tom Bowers, and fellow Leaf contributor David Downs.
This festive occasion in late September brings together a group to de-leaf and buck the flowers for steam distilling into terpenes for their aroma and flavor. Later, I’ll joyously dance in a fog machine that’s wafting the Blueberry Pancakes scent.
I’ll eat whipped cream infused with the plant’s essential essence. I’ll inhale other Cannabis flowers into my lungs as a soft, warm rain begins to fall and a lightning storm sends wavy electric jolts across the horizon.
But when I watch the flowers I’ve “big-leafed” fall into the bin, I feel a bit of heartache at the impermanence of it all. It’s the type of melancholy that can come when we mortals think about what comes in the end for us and for every living thing. And I’ll tell my friends: “There could have been another way.”
“In the days with the least sunlight ahead, these flowers will provide warmth in the darkest days.”
In my home grow on my rooftop balcony in Oakland, California, I feel a similar sense of loss when harvest time comes. The Cannabis plants on my front porch provide a welcoming display of lush greenery that I enjoy looking at as they grow and mature. But once the fall comes, they’re gone, and I miss them, even just for their decoration.
A 2022 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health shows that even a small amount of greenery in an urban environment can be beneficial for reducing stress, as elements of nature provide a “soft charm” that allows people to achieve more efficient concentration.
A FLOWER WITH THREE LIVES
I think Cannabis flowers (and all flowers) are here to teach us about impermanence. With flowers — which grow, blossom and fade — the only real moments are in the now. I smell and smoke Cannabis flowers and remember that their time, and my time, here on Earth will not go on forever.
I’m probably in the minority group of people when it comes to thinking about harvest as an ending for the Cannabis plant and not a beginning to its ultimate purpose: all the weed we’re going to smoke when wintertime arrives. But I know I’m far from the only one to fall in love with a Cannabis plant.
Tina Gordon, the cultivator at Moon Made Farms in Humboldt County, believes the Cannabis plant has three lives. The first life, she said, is when it’s growing in the ground, “and that’s when the cultivator is stewarding the plant.” The second life begins when the flower is cut, and that life continues all the way up to when it’s smoked. The third life starts within the resonance of a person when they smoke that flower.
This third life of Cannabis that Gordon speaks of alludes to our deeply personal connections with this plant because of the way it makes us feel.
I think the reason this plant resonates so clearly with so many different people has to do with the fact that our bodies are built with an endocannabinoid system, which has receptors that bind to the chemical elements Cannabis provides when we ingest it. The endocannabinoid system regulates critical bodily functions. It’s the key to our health and vitality.
Sure, other plants contain cannabinoids. Who can deny the sharp appeal of freshly ground black pepper or the soothing effects of cacao? But cannabinoids are most prevalent in the Cannabis plant. And while we know a lot about this plant, there are still undiscovered cannabinoids. We’re also continually learning more about how the other chemical elements in Cannabis affect our well-being.
A TIME OF REFLECTION
The Cannabis plant is our companion that helps us as we navigate through life and guides us toward asking the big questions, like “Why are we here?” Harvest brings a moment of reflection, even though it’s an intense time for growers. It’s a mad rush against the rain, a battle against hungry caterpillars, a phase when a few missteps in drying can ruin a year’s worth of effort. But at a certain point, it’s all over.
“To harvest or render the plant, it’s the culmination of everything that has gone into the plant,” Gordon said. “I mean, it happened. Here she is.”
The seasons help mark the passage of time and offer rhythmic resets that are in line with the Earth and nature around us. It’s best to think of everything, all of life, as an infinite loop. In the same way that there is no beginning, there is no end. Cannabis flowers are meant for smoking. Their ultimate destiny is helping us fulfill our destiny.
We’re getting close to reaping the benefits of the 2025 sun-grown Cannabis harvest. It’s almost time to open the jars, pull out the flowers and set them on fire. In the days with the least sunlight ahead, these flowers will provide warmth in the darkest days. We’ll settle into winter’s reset, and when spring comes, we’ll plant seeds and start over again.
@THEHUMBOLDTSEEDCOMPANY
@MOONMADEFARMS
MOON MADE FARMS Moon Made Farms Queen Colas
COURTNEY BEASLEY
COURTNEY BEASLEY is a beam of sunshine at District Cannabis in Hagerstown, and Cannabis plays a big role in her everyday life. As a child, she was diagnosed with chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis, a bone disorder that causes inflammation in and around the bones. One of the only ways she gets relief is from topicals and other Cannabis products intended for pain management. She sees the silver lining and connects with customers who are also managing chronic pain, using this experience to bond and make recommendations that resonate with them on a personal level. Stop by the shop and chat with Courtney about cannabinoids, terpenes and your journey with Cannabis!
HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY CHANGE IN THE SIX YEARS YOU’VE BEEN A PART OF IT?
Working in both the recreational and medical markets, we’ve seen a change between the customers and the product itself. People have trended more toward high-THC products, with less of a common focus on chasing specific terpenes and cannabinoids. There is also less fear among people to talk openly about Cannabis, leading them to ask more questions.
HOW HAS TECHNOLOGY CHANGED DURING YOUR TIME IN THE INDUSTRY?
Really, tech has been amazing. Stache is one of my favorite companies because I watched their tech grow alongside the industry. They started out with just a handful of devices, and as they’ve seen more people get into concentrates, they’ve created new devices, like a terp tap for your home. Puffco has also been making new products consistently, like the Pivot, which makes dabbing much more approachable.
CBD. She started taking RSO from a friend who had a grow, and now, she has been cancer-free for over a year. That was a really profound moment for me, seeing how much of an impact it made on her life. I watched her turn from a person who was ready to give up to having hope, eating and not being in constant pain. My dad also found a ton of relief from Cannabis before he passed away.
“THAT WAS A REALLY PROFOUND MOMENT FOR ME, SEEING HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT (CANNABIS) MADE ON HER LIFE.”
CAN YOU DESCRIBE A PROFOUND MOMENT YOU’VE HAD WITH CANNABIS?
Right when my mom got her diagnosis for cervical cancer, the doctors told her it was terminal, and there was nothing they could do. She was crushed. My family has always been into Cannabis, and I told her she needs to hone into the medical aspect of it and go straight to
WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST ADJUSTMENTS WHEN YOU TRANSITIONED FROM WORKING IN A GROW TO WORKING IN RETAIL? My favorite part of it has been getting to meet the patients. On the grow side, you know you’re helping people, but you rarely get to see their spark come back because of Cannabis. Some companies go above and beyond to make their grow team feel special, but it can also be a thankless job at times. A big part of what I like to do here is thank people who come into the store that work behind the scenes for a grow.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR HOBBIES?
I love playing with my Flowstar and seeing music at festivals, and I’m really into football. I love the Eagles — go birds! Other than that, I love hanging out with my cat, Mary Jane, and doing research on Cannabis, plus smoking some concentrates. I’m a dab girly, so I always have my Stache RiO or a Puffco by my side.
Follow Courtney @canna__court
GREEN GOODS
LOCALS FLOCK TO GREEN GOODS IN HAMPDEN for that local dispensary feeling combined with a top-tier menu and staff. Considering there are so many fun activities to do around Hampden, from the restaurants to the skate park, a dispensary is the perfect addition. Situated in what ap pears to be an old row home, the store is on the smaller side. However, budtenders have no trouble getting patients in and out quickly, and the large staff makes it possible for you to take as much time as you need deciding on a nd inquiring about different products. For familiar faces, an uplifted vibe and an educational environment, Green Goods in Hampden is the place to be!
SETTING AND VIBE
Walking in the front door has a similar feeling to walking into your stoner auntie’s house. A smell of fresh Cannabis hits you when you walk into the dispensary room as you’re greeted by smiling employees. Green Goods is a part of the Vireo Health family, so you can expect a huge selection of Vireo, 1937, and Kings and Queens products, among many other companies and product lines from various producers and processors. The accessory wall is loaded up with different rolling papers, pipes and smoking utensils. If you’re looking to browse the menu and place an order without help from a budtender, there are also two kiosks.
FLOWER
The flower deals went as high as 30% off for specific brands, making this a great spot to stock up on some discounted Cannabis. Don’t have time to grind up bud and roll joints? Grab some preground flower and cones, and get to stuffing! You can find all of your favorite brands available regularly at Green Goods. The team is highly knowledgeable about the newest and oldest strains, and they can make recommendations based on your consumption goals.
CONCENTRATES
Shatter was abundant on the Green Goods menu at this location, with eight options available during our visit. Bubble hash was the next most common item in addition to live resin budders, isolate, badders and crumbles. There was also a solid stock of RSO, truly one of the most medical Cannabis products on our market.
EDIBLES
The rainbow wall full of HiCOLOR gummies behind the counter lights up the room at this dispensary. They had over 15 flavors, many of which contained different cannabinoid ratios and THC levels. You can always get your favorite edibles — like Betty’s Eddies, Wyld gummies, Bubby’s Baked, Keef soda and more — right here in Hampden.
“WALKING IN THE FRONT DOOR HAS A SIMILAR FEELING TO WALKING INTO YOUR STONER AUNTIE’S HOUSE.”
Are you looking to spice up those dabs and joints with crazy levels of THC?
Isolate is the perfect product for doing just that. You can coat your dabs in it or sprinkle some into a joint for an extra kick. After trying it both ways, I prefer the flavor and effects of adding it to a joint, as it boosts the flavor and provides a high that begins behind the eyes and wiggles its way through the rest of the body. This jar reeked of that classic oniony GMO terpene profile, and the flavor came through swiftly in a joint.
TAVIN CAREW
To be one of the greats in any profession, it takes a lot of work and a solid mindset to make things happen, no matter the circumstances. For 25-year-old Tavin Carew, a photo of LeBron James training with a tire around himself that he used as his screen saver inspired him to put his head down and grind at whatever he puts his mind to while staying true to his own journey of educating anyone he can in the Cannabis industry. “You can be great at what you do and also be an active member of this community and really build other people up and be a face for people,” Tavin said. “That’s what I try to relate to Cannabis.”
BORN AND RAISED in Edgewater, growing up near the water gave Tavin and his friends somewhere to go and enjoy their youth. He said a typical day consisted of riding bikes down to the docks with their nets and throwing some turkey necks into the bay in hopes of catching some crabs.
“You know, they say it takes a village to raise a child, and that’s kind of how it was in Edgewater,” he said. “It was just kind of like that Maryland lifestyle when I was growing up in. Being by the bay was one of the best things growing up.”
Tavin said his Cannabis journey started relatively early on when he was in middle school, and the idea of trying it piqued his interest. Once he hit high school, he wanted to focus on his education, so he took a break from smoking until his junior year, he said. After his mom found his bong, he said she was accepting of his Cannabis use and recommended he get his medical card for a safer experience, adding that this conversation eventually helped him find his way into the Cannabis industry.
After transferring to Salisbury University, Tavin got a job selling insurance in the area, which went hand in hand with his marketing and sales major at the time. After graduation, he stayed on as a salesman for another year until he decided to make the jump into the Cannabis industry in 2023. The decision to switch industries felt scary at first, he said, but it was necessary due to the building anxiety and stress that came with the job, and additionally, complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made it harder for him to progress in his career.
Tavin works asa brandrepresentative forcuraleaf,where hetravelsthestate educatingdispensary patronsonproducts.
His Cannabis use in high school was more recreational, but once he got to college, Tavin said he found himself consuming it on a more consistent basis after developing some anxiety from transitioning to college and trying to navigate the real world.
“I was just trying to find something to help me other than just dealing with it. I was smoking a lot trying to figure things out, and it really didn’t slow me down at all,” he said, adding that he maintained a 3.5 GPA while using Cannabis.
“I just needed an escape from it into something that truly meant something to me,” Tavin said, adding that his first Cannabis job was at Gold Leaf in Annapolis. From there, he began talking to anyone and everyone he could to learn the ins and outs of the industry, he said.
Currently working as a brand representative for Curaleaf, he’s tasked with traveling around the state to educate dispensary patrons about different products and Cannabis in general. The educational part of Tavin’s job is something he finds the most passion in, saying his drive to learn carried over from staying on top of his school work and his previous insurance job.
“It’s so cool seeing the different demographics and meeting so many people that actually care and want to know more about it,” he said, adding that he averages 3,000 miles on the road per month. “I get a little nerded out about it.”
Tavin said that he enjoys the literature he receives and the advice he consistently gets from his teammates about the industry. However, he said that the most effective form of learning for him is talking with the grow facility employees and getting hands-on experience with flower. There’s also the bonus of getting a deep dive into a strain’s genetics, another passion of his.
“They’re doing it every day. They’re seeing it come to fruition, and I think that’s a huge part for me because I think a lot of us can learn that way,” he said. “And if you can’t physically see it, it’s a little bit harder to grasp.”
As far as a consumption preference goes, Tavin said he’s a flower guy in his normal day-today routine, but he likes to keep his options open and spreads the wealth around between products. Being a fan of strain genetics, he looks at those before deciding on a flower, with his favorite strain being GMO for its savory smell and potent effects.
With new people entering Cannabis jobs every day, Tavin expressed the importance of education not only for the patients but also for the employees to stay up on any trends and general knowledge. With a lot of youth coming into the industry at the same time, he said that they will be the ones who could be the most effective in educating their communities and beyond about Cannabis.
“If they see someone like myself in this position where I’m thriving and I’m doing everything I need to do, they’re going to start noticing and saying, ‘OK, maybe this isn’t what we thought it was,’” Tavin said. “You can enjoy yourself and still be a person that can grind and do what you want to do while enjoying the plant itself.”
RED ZUSHI COLD CURE LIVE ROSIN
This year’s harvest from Evermore Cannabis Company yielded an impeccable concentrate we will surely add to Maryland’s concentrate hall of fame: Red Zushi live rosin.
The exquisite, creamy texture of a professional cold cure is the hallmark of Evermore concentrates, but the nose and effects truly stand head and shoulders above most dabs on the market this month. Once cracked open, Red Zushi is one of those jars that invades the entire room with effervescent olfactory delight. You might expect a top-notch nose from this jar based on its 11% total terpene content. However, I was truly taken aback by just how much the aroma permeates the whole room.
Imagine stepping into a steam room with air so thick that you can practically taste it. But instead of steam, you are engulfed by vaporized Jolly Ranchers of assorted tropical tree fruit flavors, with notes of key lime pie and pineapple. Better yet, imagine finding rosin that makes your room smell so much like this that you can dab to your heart's content, and you will be close to understanding the joy of the Red Zushi live rosin experience.
Every month, I get this opportunity, but this month, I eagerly and greedily indulged in quite a few more dabs than I normally do when evaluating a product.
Each dab offers robust and complex flavors, which evolve in ways that are the telltale indicators of quality in Cannabis concentrates. However, this is also a characteristic we have come to expect from the artists at the Evermore lab.
“...
THE APPLICATION OF HEAT UNLOCKS A TREASURE TROVE OF NUANCED FLAVORS AND AROMAS THAT DANCE ON THE INHALE AND EXHALE.”
The nose has a tropical-flavored Jolly Rancher at the top of the aroma, and while this note translates into the dab, the application of heat unlocks a treasure trove of nuanced flavors and aromas that dance on the inhale and exhale. Creamy fruits, sharp candies and dollops of earthy herbs permeate my senses as I indulge in the rosin experience Evermore works so hard to provide, and I find myself insatiable.
You, too, will find a depth of flavor in this dab that will have you delving deep into the concentrated headspace Red Zushi offers.
"This version of Gelato is an excellent example of good flower that gets pushed into greatness via the knowledge, experience and dedication of the Verano grow team."
Cultivated by Verano
Gelato
For this Strain of the Month, it’s time to explore an old classic in the Maryland market: Gelato by Verano. Gelato has a long history as a popular and mellow indica variety that contains a classic terpene combination, with myrcene on top and tapering off with a healthy dose of limonene and caryophyllene.
MANY RECOGNIZE THIS PROFILE as one that is comfortable and stable, but not all have experienced the pleasure of sampling Verano's version of this iconic cultivar. Some may labor under the impression that a cultivar is the same regardless of who grows it or how and where it is grown. This is simply not true. Each team and growing system produces slightly different nuances from the same genetic blueprint.
Verano has a long-standing reputation for cultivating popular cultivars with top-tier techniques in the indoor growing community. This version of Gelato is an excellent example of good flower that gets pushed into greatness via the knowledge, experience and dedication of the Verano grow team. Gelato, a cross between Sunset Sherbet x Thin Mint Cookies, is a longtime favorite of mine and many Marylanders, but this particular iteration has a certain air of uniqueness that really makes it pop.
Gelato is known to be a creamy, sweet and citrusy variety that melds earthy notes in a relatively delicate manner. However, the cheesiness of Verano's version is notable. The flower and smoke both smell and taste of Gelato genetics, but there is a distinct note of hops that rises to the top of the palate and really makes Verano stand out as a grower. The hop essence isn’t too bold and doesn’t drown out the expected Gelato palate, but it’s noteworthy enough to be distinct. Within the Verano system and team is a standard operating procedure that allows them to take something comfortably high quality, like Gelato, and elevate it even further.
This batch from Verano will be a novel experience for anyone who loves Gelato grown from other companies, as it represents a unique expression of an old classic. VERANO.COM
Harvesting hope
Kind Therapeutics USA
It’s been several years since the Maryland Leaf last visited the Kind Therapeutics USA facility in Hagerstown, and many updates have occurred in that time. Some of the original strains from Nature’s Heritage, like ONYCD, are still growing at this facility in addition to tons of new ones, including Strawberry Jelly, Larry Bird Mints and Sequoia Strawberry.
THE 21 GROW ROOMS make up around 20,000 square feet of flower and canopy space, and they are home to around 14 strains that are constantly in rotation. Additionally, there are 7 to 15 secondary strains that make an appearance on the market from time to time. The dream team at this facility works hard day in and day out to produce hundreds of pounds of flower every week.
Visiting a grow facility during harvest time puts into perspective just how important each step of the process is in order to get an impressive finished product. Kind Therapeutics USA has a 10-day drying process, which involves bringing the humidity down in those first two days. Then, the flower is bucked off the plant and put in cylindrical drums to cure. Putting the bins at an angle creates more surface area for drying and curing, and the team uses “hang time” as a reference for the perfect moment to pull the flower for trimming and packaging.
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DARREN KELLY & NOAH PERINI
Kind Therapeutics USA
CULTIVATION MANAGER DARREN KELLY grew up on the East Coast and worked in construction management in Virginia before entering the Cannabis industry. The people he managed would often leave little freebies on his desk, but one of his employees used to leave him some “killer weed,” which stood out to Darren.
DARREN DECIDED TO GIVE GROWING CANNABIS HIMSELF A CHANCE AND FOUND GREAT JOY IN THIS LABOR OF LOVE.
He eventually asked the employee where he got it and was surprised to learn he grew it himself, and he was willing to share growing tips. This was in the early 2020s, when weed was still largely more taboo to discuss in the open in Virginia.
Darren decided to give growing Cannabis himself a chance and found great joy in this labor of love.
During that time, his wife was T-boned by a drunk driver, causing her to need multiple surgeries and a lengthy recovery process. She didn’t want anything to do with the opiates being prescribed to her for pain management.
Finding that Cannabis would make her back pain go away furthered the belief that a holistic form of medicine would be better for her in the long run.
This sent Darren down the rabbit hole of breeding in an attempt to discover a strain that really resonated with his wife and alleviated her pain. You could hear the passion in Darren’s voice as he discussed such a sensitive topic.
At a family cookout, Darren was chatting with his brother’s girlfriend, who said she worked at a grow facility in Hagerstown.
He showed up at the facility and applied for a job, wanting to “go all in” on the Cannabis industry. In seven years, Darren has worked his way from flower room duties to a mom room role to a propagation lead job and all the way to his current position as director of cultivation, where his tasks extend across all departments.
With his background of performing many jobs within the Kind Therapeutics USA facility, he uses his experience to work alongside the people who mutually respect and benefit from each other.
“I want to find strains that check boxes of customers’ needs that are also satisfying to grow on a personal level,” Darren said as he looked out at a room full of flowering plants.
under the lights
As the newest grower to hit the Maryland Cannabis scene, the BL^CK MRKT team knows it takes passion and perseverance — or a lifetime’s experience of growing Cannabis before entering the market — to make a name for yourself. A dream team behind the scenes certainly helps, with CEO Seth Murphy, head of cultivation and post-production manager Jason Harman, aka “Medicine Man,” and well-known Cannabis geneticist/grower Roblato at the helm.
CHARM BISCUITZ
BL^ CK MRKt
LET’S GO BACK A GENERATION and give a brief history of Murphy’s father, Judge William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr. He is a longtime advocate for civil rights and worked in landmark cases, including representing the family of Freddie Gray. Murphy Jr.’s efforts in creating an equitable environment in Maryland earned him the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award and the Charles Hamilton Houston Award for Lifetime Achievement in Litigation.
With these accolades, it’s easy to see where the passion in this family gets its roots. Murphy adopted his father’s values and carried them over to an industry that needs them.
Through his brand BL^CK MRKT (pronounced “Black Market”), Murphy brought a strain to market in honor of his father called Murphy’z Law. Maryland is loving this strain and many others from this brand, including Super Boof, Yikes, Candy Panties, Black Runtz, Cherry Limeade, Agave, Rainbow Walker and many more to come.
CHERRI LIMEZ
MIKE PINKETT
HEAD GROWER
ROBLATO, LEFT, AND HEAD OF CULTIVATION
JASON HARMAN , RIGHT, HARVESTING SUPERBOOF
SUPER BOOF
HARMAN HAS GROWN CANNABIS since he was 16 years old, and he started messing around with concentrate production in 1998. He went from making bubble hash and rosin to “tourmaline” CBD crystals in Oregon. Harman was born in Utah, but he grew up in Virginia before growing Cannabis in several different states and climates, from Hawaii and Colorado to Oregon and California. These experiences led him to “develop a diverse palate of Cannabis flavors.”
Additionally, Harman has the necessary experience for growing high-quality Cannabis at scale, putting love into every plant that makes its way through the facility. It’s easy to see how much fire Harman has in his heart for the plant, and the positive vibe he brings to the grow should not be underestimated.
As we walked through on harvest day, we asked several employees about their favorite part of harvest time and working at the BL^CK MRKT grow.
“This is my hometown, and the fact that I now work in a grow that gives back to the community is amazing to see,” Andrew Sewell said. Crystal Minor’s favorite part of harvest day is “seeing the plants before they dry out, watching them go through their life cycle from start to finish.” Jaden Batson takes pleasure in the little things, like “smelling all of the different scent profiles.”
All of these employees have a different and unique passion for the plant, which is necessary if you’re going to show up and treat each input with care, leading to a top-tier product for the consumer.
BL^CK MRKT has come a long way in a short amount of time, and you’d better believe they are just getting started. Currently, they are seeking a processing license, which would allow them to produce top-quality concentrates and grow with that goal in mind. This team has done so well with flower, so you can only imagine how fire their concentrates would be.
“THIS IS MY HOMETOWN, AND THE FACT THAT I NOW WORK IN A GROW THAT GIVES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY IS AMAZING TO SEE.”
Shoutout to the whole crew at BL^CK MRKT for bringing love and enthusiasm into everything they do. The Maryland market is a better place with you in it!
BLACK RUNTZ
HEAD GROWERS
weight in the city
RON KING & JESSE MONDRY
Harvest day at any cultivation facility is always a glorious affair. However, touring Evermore Cannabis Company on harvest day is one of those rare privileges we humble Cannabis writers at the Leaf get to experience that really makes life much more special.
AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, the Evermore team worked diligently to earn a top-tier reputation for their flower and concentrate production in Maryland’s market, but few of you know just how top tier that reputation truly is. In all industries, understanding the supply chain that gets a product from its source and into consumer hands is important, and for the products we love the most, the source is where those products really shine. We got that privilege this month, a tour of the source, when we visited Evermore during a busy and truly impressive harvest.
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evermore cannabis company
IF YOU THINK A BAG of Evermore flower or a jar of live rosin smells good when you purchase it from a dispensary, then you would be blown away walking through the grow facility midharvest, when ripe living flowers and freshly pressed dabs are plentiful. Fresh flower at peak ripeness and those moments right after their harvest — when they are all hanging and concentrating together in the same drying/curing room — are aroma experiences all Cannabis lovers should seek. Walking through a grow as well managed, diligently maintained and meticulously curated as the one at Evermore is the finest of such an experience. My nose, and maybe one day yours, can attest to this finery.
The Evermore grow crew is full of bona fide professionals, lavished with the markings of passion and meticulous attention to detail. The team is less of a group of individuals working a nineto-five and more of a bustling hive of dedicated Cannabis lovers, who know their role, love their work and joyfully produce the plant we all love and care about at the highest possible skill level.
From constant experimentation with new varieties to a curated selection of flowers (organized in ways that promote utter efficiency without sacrificing an ounce of quality),
“THE TEAM IS LESS OF A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS WORKING A NINE-TO-FIVE AND MORE OF A BUSTLING HIVE OF DEDICATED CANNABIS LOVERS …”
Evermore stands out in an industry that sometimes cuts corners. The Evermore crew has consistently refused to take shortcuts on their journey, and it shows, not just in their products but also in their optimization of a comparatively smaller facility.
A Cannabis license allows for only a certain amount of square footage, and every part of the Evermore facility is utilized to create a nourishing space for the Cannabis plant to thrive. Flower rooms are lined with a plethora of crowd favorites and new experiments, and hallways are packed with artisans. Labs are brimming with oceans of aroma, and state-of-the-art technology permeates the building, leading to the incredible products Evermore provides the market weekly.
Everyone should tour this facility full of very friendly people because then you, too, can deeply appreciate the talent, love and joy that sets this grow apart.
EVERMORECOMPANY.COM
@EVERMOREBRANDS
HUCKLE-
BERRY
SODA
DRYING RACKS
Danksgiving
Every year, I remind myself that Thanksgiving isn’t exactly a celebration I fully embrace. It’s a day we shouldn’t glorify, yet it does provide the rare chance to see my family. So, I’m choosing to hold it as a day of gratitude: for what I have, for who I love and for the chance to give back. I’ll volunteer at a soup kitchen, a small gesture to make a tiny dent in my guilt. On a recent trip to Electric Lettuce in north Portland — which, by the way, felt wonderfully safe and welcoming — I tried the new Stumptown Haze sativa strain. I’m not much of a sativa person, but my ever-patient budista promised focus, laughter and a flavor worth savoring. She was right; this strain hits beautifully — earthy, herbal and full of character. The recipes were all tested with this potent, happy-making strain. Laurie + MaryJane just introduced two golden milk blends, and I created these recipes using one of the blends. Scan QR code to order! Laurie@Laurieandmaryjane.com
CHUNKY GOLDEN SWEET
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced
2 cups peeled, cubed sweet potatoes
2 cups trimmed and halved Brussels sprouts
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
4 teaspoons Golden Milk Powder*
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil or butter, and saute red onion for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add garlic, and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Stir to coat, and cook over medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms (and extra oil if needed), and cook until vegetables are tender and lightly caramelized. Add honey or maple syrup, and combine well.
3. Remove from heat, and stir in Golden Milk Powder until fully incorporated and evenly distributed. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.
PASS THE PUDDING
Baking spray
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
¾ cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons Golden Milk Powder*
Pinch salt
¼ cup coconut
1. Heat oven to 340 F. Spray 4 ramekins with baking spray.
2. In a blender, combine all the ingredients except coconut.
3. Puree until completely smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.
Divide mixture between the prepared ramekins.
4. Bake puddings for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle with coconut. Place back in the oven for about 5 to 10 minutes until the toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or chilled.
GOLDEN SECOND HARVEST SOUP
2–3 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups peeled, diced carrots
2 cups peeled, diced butternut squash
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
½ cup coconut milk or cream
4 teaspoons Golden Milk Powder*
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt, sour cream or crème fraîche Sprinkle of Golden Milk powder, for garnish
1. Heat olive oil or butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and garlic, and saute until fragrant and translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato paste, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes to deepen the flavor.
3. Add diced carrots and butternut squash, stirring to coat them in oil and tomato paste. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Pour in broth, then bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
5. Stir in coconut milk and Golden Milk powder, then season with salt and black pepper. Simmer gently for another 5 minutes.
6. Use a blender to puree soup until smooth. You may need to do it in batches.
7. Serve hot and topped with Greek yogurt, sour cream or crème fraîche and a sprinkle of Golden Milk Powder for garnish.
*For all these recipes, if you don’t have Golden Milk powder, add 1 teaspoon each of turmeric and cinnamon, plus ¼ teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg and cloves. For the Pass the Pudding recipe, also add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Use an infusion method of your choice.
Golden Second Harvest Soup
Chunky Golden Sweet Potato Hash
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MAC WHITE
Mac White is a different breed. When the going gets tough, he just crushes through and perseveres. When he gets a vision, he doesn’t know the word “stop.” “I always looked up to Elbo and Coyle when I was first getting into glass, the way they could make it look like another medium always drew me in,” Mac said.
His journey on the torch started in 2012. When he relocated to Bellingham, Washington, in 2014, Whitney Harmon and I were fortunate enough to have him land at our studio, the Honeycomb Hideout, where he continued to create for another seven years or so before heading off to Albuquerque, New Mexico. In that time, I watched his talents grow to great lengths.
Mac also has a background in freehand art with a lot of different mediums. The mixture of that skill and glass art has made for some memorable pieces over the years.
You will see a couple of examples here where Mac either collaborated with others or made pieces himself. He then went on to freehand etch with graphics of another caliber, making these truly one-of-a-kind pieces of art.
His most recent drops were at Prism Smoke Shop in New York and Zee Vapor in Illinois. He usually has a piece or two available on his Instagram, so check him out there as well.
I also want to give Mac and his new fiancee, Emma Palmerton, a huge congratulations on their recent engagement, where he got down on bended knee during their trip to Greece!
WHITNEY HARMON COLLAB
WHITNEY HARMON COLLAB
HOW CANNABIS INSPIRES ART
KEENAN SHUR
A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA KID, Shur got his Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking at California State University, Long Beach. In 2018, at a studio on campus, Shur said he encountered an airbrush paint gun, went home, ordered a cheap set online and started teaching himself.
Seven years later, airbrushing is the most requested medium by his graphic design clients, though he mostly produces digitally now, as it requires less space and is most often used for apparel.
With a portfolio that includes work for Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, Green Day, Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Grateful Dead, many of Shur’s illustrations and paintings carry a vibe that evokes classic rock and the lava lamp era.
He describes his art — which often looks like it belongs on black velvet — as “vintage head shop through a fun house mirror.”
Growing up in Los Angeles as part of the skate and punk music scenes, Cannabis is “just part of something you're going to run into when you're a part of those subcultures,” Shur said.
As far as his artistic process goes, he said weed helps him calm down and focus on the task at hand.
“I feel like I'm a really fastpaced person to begin with,” Shur said.
“Weed helps even that out, so I can calm down and really get into it as long as I don’t have anything important to do afterwards. Plus, listening to music’s always more fun when you’re stoned.”
The Leaf asked him: What’s currently on repeat in the studio? Shur said he often goes on heavy kicks of certain music styles, and right now, the classic rock bug hit during a trip to South Korea a month ago.
“I was in the hotel in the middle of the night blasting Hendrix and Motorhead. That’s how the tear started.
Now I’m stuck on Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland.”
Shur told the Leaf he began working with Cannabis clients, like Jelly Wizard and Dammit Bobby, around 2019, shortly after he started airbrushing. He said people in the Cannabis space are good about collaborating on a solid jump-off point or letting him run with the vision he has in his head.
When asked what he thought first drew people from the Cannabis industry to his art, he said, “Everyone loves a blacklight poster.”
KSHUR.BIGCARTEL.COM
@NOT.SHUR
“I FEEL LIKE I'M A REALLY FAST-PACED PERSON TO BEGIN WITH. WEED HELPS EVEN THAT OUT …"
The Gospel of Soma
With his long, colorful dreadlocks, braided beard, hemp clothing and exquisite crystals, Marc Rossman — better known as Soma — comes across more like an Eastern guru than a Dutch seed merchant. That’s because this Amsterdam-based American expat has devoted his entire life to the hippie ideal, new age spirituality and the sacrament of Cannabis — earning himself a reputation as one of the world’s most beloved breeders.
BIRTH OF A HIPPIE
Marc Rossman was born on August 22, 1949, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to middle-class Jewish parents of Slavic descent. When he was just a year old, his mother and father divorced. Two years later, she moved him to Queens, New York, and remarried. After graduating high school at age 17, he tried to join the Air Force but was rejected due to a kidney condition called orthostatic albuminuria. Instead, he spent the Summer of Love sorting mail for IBM on Madison Avenue. Fate, however, had other plans for him.
“One day, a mail carrier from another office came in and asked me if I’d ever smoked marijuana,” Rossman recalled. “I said, ‘No, but I’d like to!’ The next day, he brought me 15 pin joints for $5! So, right after work, I walked down the East River and lit one up. By the time I finished smoking it, I thought, ‘Wow — I really like this stuff!’”
Rossman started smoking regularly, growing his hair long and wearing pastel-colored shirts, eliciting a reprimand from his boss.
“He said, ‘You gotta get a haircut, and this is a white-shirt-only place.’ And right then and there, I said, ‘I quit.’”
FROM MADISON AVENUE TO MADISON, WISCONSIN
Rossman spent the summer of 1969 in Haight Ashbury, where he lived in a commune, dropped acid and smoked tons of weed. When the commune disbanded that fall, he headed back to New York and drove a yellow cab for about a year. But after finding the city inhospitable toward hippies, however, he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1970.
Once there, he went vegetarian, became a “Jesus freak” (his words), gave up weed and learned how to bake organic bread. For months, he lived sober and celibate on an all-male Christian commune, studying the Bible and proselytizing on the streets. That is, until one night, when he was preaching to a topless dancer and ended up breaking his vow of chastity, after which he was cast out.
BAKED & BAKING
Rossman decided to utilize his newly acquired breadmaking skills to open a bakery. After purchasing some used equipment in New York, he and his best friend moved up to Putney, Vermont, and opened a bake shop/vegetarian restaurant called Salt of the Earth.
After work, Rossman would sit in his second-story boarding room, roll joints and toss seeds out the window. Then, one spring day in 1971, he noticed that around 20 little pot plants had sprung up under his window. He uprooted them and replanted them near a friend’s cabin in a secluded knoll up on Putney Mountain. But that August, just before harvest, park rangers discovered the plants and chopped them down. Rossman and his friend were both arrested and sentenced to a year of probation.
MUSHROOM MARC
It was also while in Vermont that Rossman first tripped on psychedelic mushrooms. Shrooming had such a huge influence on him that he decided to abandon his bakery and go find somewhere to pick them.
He read a book called “A Key to the American Psilocybin Mushroom,” which apparently stated that the best place to find them in the wild was Alachua County, Florida. And so, Rossman and his friend drove down to Florida in search of free shrooms.
Once there, they asked a random hippie where they might find some wild mushrooms. The hippie directed them to a specific farm, where they climbed over some barbed wire and started looking for cow pies. But within minutes, a
Rossman (left) camped out during his mushroom picking days in Florida.
pack of bloodhounds and a shotgun-toting farmer were chasing after them. Needless to say, they hightailed it out of there … but not before the farmer unloaded a barrel full of buckshot into the side of the car.
Luckily, they later found a location that was less dangerous and more fruitful.
“We found a magic field with no problem from farmers,” Rossman recalled. “It had so many mushrooms that every time we went picking there, we’d fill up our straw baskets to the brim, and we did that every day for a while.”
Eventually, his friend decided to head home, but Rossman stayed — pitching a tent in the woods next to the “goldmine” field and continuing to gather shrooms, which he then dried and traded for his necessities in Gainesville. “For a whole month I went without any physical money — I only had the mushrooms I’d picked to trade for all my needs,” he boasted. “I became known as Mushroom Marc.”
ARRESTS & ADDICTION
While in Florida, he was also able to begin growing his own weed using seeds he’d saved, including Colombian, Southeast Asian Thai, Ruderalis Afghani and even an all-American local variety called Gainesville Green.
Unfortunately, in 1980, police raided his outdoor grow, seizing around 200 kilos of weed. What’s worse, he also got into cocaine and heroin during this time, and ended up serving 25 months of a four-year sentence for drug trafficking. The only silver lining to his incarceration was that he went cold turkey and never looked back.
GROWING IN OREGON
“I was given 14 different kinds of Cannabis to judge, and every single strain in those days had seeds, so I ended up with like 200 seeds.”
THE CANNABIS CUP
In 1994, Soma invited Jack Herer to speak at his hemp shop. During that visit, Herer told him that he was traveling to Amsterdam in November to serve as a celebrity judge at the Cannabis Cup and asked if he’d like to come. Defying his probation, he accepted the invitation and was also made a judge by High Times.
or rather on “Amos Washington,” a new alias created specifically for the magazine (“Amos” being “Soma” backward). Soon, he was writing articles for them, as well as for 15 other international Cannabis publications and websites.
In 1999, he gave his first grow seminar at the Cannabis Cup and won third place Indica for his Reclining Buddha
After his release from prison in 1985, Rossman wanted to get as far away from Florida as possible. So, as soon as his probation ended in 1991, he hopped in his camper and headed to Oregon (where Cannabis was only a misdemeanor). There, he stayed with a buddy in the mountains, who taught him how to grow organically and gifted him with some starter strains, including Big Skunk Korean. With his new knowledge and genetics, he moved down to Eugene and started his first organic indoor grow in his attic with his daughter Willow’s boyfriend, Anthony. Just before harvest, they shot some photos of the garden. When he sent Anthony to get the film developed, he made sure to specify not to give a name. But Anthony foolishly gave them the house’s phone number, and the developer called the cops on them. The garden was raided, and Rossman took responsibility to protect his kids. As a result, in 1994, he spent six months in Eugene County jail before being released on another three-year probation.
In 1993, Rossman also opened Sow Much Hemp — one of the first few hemp stores in America. The shop only lasted for two years, but at least one aspect of it had a far more lasting legacy.
“That’s actually where I came up with the name ‘Soma,’” Rossman explained, “from the name of the shop — ‘Soh-Muh’-ch Hemp.”
“I was given 14 different kinds of Cannabis to judge, and every single strain in those days had seeds, so I ended up with like 200 seeds,” Soma told HT in 2014. “I labeled them, smuggled them back to America and planted them all. I started mixing the Amsterdam genetics with my own and ended up with all of these new crosses.”
Among the many new varieties he later developed were Afghani x Hawaiian, Buddha’s Sister, Amnesia Haze and Hash Plant. Soma turned this impressive library of genetics into his own underground seed bank, Seeds of Courage.
Needless to say, he had the time of his life in Amsterdam. “We got so inspired by the Cannabis freedom that existed there that when we got back to America, we said, ‘Let’s move there.’”
GOING DUTCH
By the end of 1995, Soma had fulfilled his dream of expatriating to Amsterdam — moving into a warehouse space recommended to him by Gene from Serious Seeds. Since he’d jumped probation back in Oregon, he put everything in his girlfriend’s name so it couldn’t be linked to him.
Nevertheless, his home grow was raided within his first year there; apparently, Serious had previously grown at the space, so the “politie” were hip to it.
Soma had around 750 plants, all of which were chopped down — including his 51 mother plants. Luckily for him, since they’d left a few bottom branches, he was able to revive half of them. And despite the large number of plants, he says he only spent six hours in jail, thanks to a friendly pot-smoking officer who declined to file charges after appropriating one of Soma’s plants for himself.
HIGH TIMES
Over the next few years, Soma’s relationship with HT continued to grow. In 1996, HT’s cultivation editor Chris Simunek wrote two articles on him —
— the first in a long string of Cup wins over the next several years.
Since rebranding his company from Seeds of Courage to Soma’s Sacred Seeds in 2001, Soma’s ge netics have won many more awards, and he has judged numerous other competitions.
FEELING THE LOVE
This past May, Soma had a stroke at age 76, causing him to “lose his mind for a little while.”
“All of a sudden, I couldn’t communicate,” he confessed. “I stopped being able to speak. (My granddaughter Lexis) was asking me a question, and my reply was total gibberish. I also lost a lot of my memory.”
In addition to cognitive issues, he also began experiencing up to a hundred seizures a day. When news broke about Soma’s condition, there was a massive international outpouring of love and support on social media.
“I felt it all,” Soma beamed. “I felt more good wishes from around the world than I ever did in my whole life. It helped me heal.”
After 13 days in the hospital’s stroke ward, he was released with some medication as well as a renewed commitment to Cannabis and the spiritual mindset he’s famous for.
“Cannabis and the eight pills a day that I’m taking are keeping me alive now,” he reflected. “The main thing that I try to integrate with, at this point in my life, is love and kindness and how I can share those energies … through Cannabis, mushrooms, crystals or other ways. Because for me, those are the most important things in this existence, and existence is such a gift.”
Hear Bobby’s extended interview with Soma at worldofcannabis.museum/podcast or search for “Cannthropology” wherever you get your podcasts.
STORY by BOBBY BLACK @CANNTHROPOLOGY for LEAF
Soma and Jack Herer at a rally outside the Gainesville courthouse.
Soma with Eagle Bill and Sensi Seed Bank’s Alan Dronkers at the Cannabis Castle in 1994.
Soma in 1994.
Soma poses with a few of his many awards.
for Well Beings.
