CROPTOBER 2022

Outdoor sun-grown cannabis crops all over the Northern Hemisphere are preparing for harvesting in October. Between 70% and 85% of outdoor cannabis, varieties are ready for harvest during the October cycle, despite some cultivars tending to flower earlier in September or later in November. Thus the name CropTober.

Outdoor cultivators will spend most of the late autumn cutting, drying, curing, and trimming their fresh harvest of buds after months of anticipation and tender loving care over their cannabis crops. Soon after, a huge quantity of cannabis from outdoor farms appear on retail shelves everywhere, allowing patients to finally take advantage of the CropTober holiday.

Cannabis buds can only be harvested for a certain period before the plant starts to lose its favorable qualities. Farmers must cut all plants and prepare them for drying and trimming during this prime harvest time. Cutting down hundreds of cannabis plants in a short period of time can be difficult. For craft farmers, this number may be smaller but is still a very intense process.

Trimming is necessary after the plants have dried completely. Some farmers keep the untrimmed buds for their usage as the leaves have been rumored to keep in the terpenes. Old school craft cannabis farms still use teams of human trimmers who put forth a lot of skilled and precise effort to get the buds ready for curing.

CropTober is one of the busiest and most important times of the year for outdoor farms that only harvest once or twice a year.

With all this work put in by the farmers every year, I had to go check out the flower. Here are some of my favorites from Humboldt County, California and Tokelahoma.

Our CropTober tour starts off in Humboldt in the heart of the Emerald Triangle. We caught up with Nik Erickson of Full Moon Farms, an eco-friendly, fully organic, full sun farm to ask him a few questions about this year's harvest. The farm has always been involved in grassroots efforts and outreach programs such as compassionate care so we had to connect with them.

“This has been a year of hurdles, but one bright spot for us has been pheno hunting the Wildberry Pie. We are in year 3 of narrowing down this cultivar to two very distinct profiles. The lineage is our award-winning Northern Berry x Blueberry Muffin. We love to chase terpenes, not thc%s. We want you to enjoy the overall experience with all of its nuances. This cultivar is a very early girl and finishes full term by Oct 1. The entire plant is a deep purplish red, from the stem to the flowers she is memorizing to look at. She has an overwhelming fresh berry nose with underlying gas and spice notes” Nic shared.

“The Blueberry Muffin typically tests under 20% THC, but we brought her on board for her unique terpene profile, while the Northern Berry typically is around 24%thc it skyrocketed to 32.6% for us this season. The blend of these two strains offers a unique ride into the cerebral realms before gradually relenting to the sedative myrcene properties. Full-bodied and robust, the flavors will have you returning again and again. We have only grown her outdoors under the full summer sun, giving her a chance to mature slowly as nature intended. We only use locally sourced inputs like fish emulsions, crab meal and kelp to help her reach her full potential. She has proven to be a top-tier extractor's dream as well, and we look forward to expanding on this next season with both full melt bubble hash and fresh frozen rozen. Wildberry Pie will be in our stable for many years to come” said Nic.

Photo credit: Stan Cantor and Sam Armamino

Farm: Full Moon Farms Full Sun, Organic, Outdoor Humboldt County, California

Next on the list was Tom and Elizabeth from Full Sun Farms, who are seriously good people and their flower quality is top tier. I was lucky enough to be able to go out, visit the farm and hang out on the porch trying a few flowers on a delightful harvest evening this year. As we talked about the Cannabis Holistic Institute we spoke in depth about their flower and farming methods.

“Strawberry Strudel is always a favorite on the farm and it was grown again this year full-term in the greenhouse. We grow all the plants out using organic methods, in a living-soil environment. It was very fun, easy plant to grow. She gets big so will need a lot of support and extra trellising” Tom shared.

When asked about the reason why this flower is the best he states "This one is definitely special with beautiful, frostcovered, purple-streaked flowers and a warm, strawberry pastry smell. The magic about this flower is its euphoric, uplifting effects that progress into a nice, mild body high. Just an all-around great smoke.”

“Strawberry Strudel means a lot to us and is a regular here. One of my really good friends made this amazing cross of Wedding Cake(SeedJunky) x Strawberry Lotus(Bodhi). She's definitely a keeper” said Tom.

Photo credit: Tom Zink

Farm: Full Sun Farms Outdoor, Full Sun, Regenerative Poteau, Oklahoma

Settled right in the magical Redwoods, Sunboldt is a staple for the locals. Sunboldt cannabis is “cultivated beside ancient redwoods belonging to Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The plants grow under the sun and without added water in Eel River flood plain deposits. They harvest only when the resin is fully mature and achieve lasting flavor with longer drying and curing time” stated their website.

When we spoke to Sunshine Cereceda, the farmer and founder she said that her favorite cultivar this year is Delfina. “This is a Sunboldt Grown original cross because it yields quality resin. A great hash plant.” She said this one was easy to grow super gentle and the smell, taste and color make it so special. “It smells of sandalwood and tastes of coriander. The smoke is like breathing in the forest floor. It was developed as a hash plant that yields highquality resin” says Cereceda. If you are looking for deep relaxation and euphoria, this might be the one for you to try. Delfina is a cross of Purple Nepal with Rebel Moon which is also sometimes called NorCal Diesel.

Photo credit: Justin Miller

Farm: Sunboldt Grown Full sun, Dry farm, Substainable Humboldt County, California

Rounding off the tour back in Tokelahoma, we caught up with Kimmie the owner and farmer at Jackalope farms she mentioned that Gush Mint was her favorite cultivar this year by far. She explains that “finding cultivars that can handle Oklahoma’s extreme weather, and pathogen pressure are really important for me as a greenhouse/outdoor grower” she grows in greenhouses that have layered logs, organic hay, compost, green material and topsoil/compost mix and practice no til, organic, bio-diversity style growing. “I feed with compost teas, top dressing and foliar feeds every so often. I use a biological IPM program as well, with no oil-based sprays once in flower, and minimal spraying in general. We do light deprivation and winter growing. Spring/summer harvests are all sun and in winter lights are used in veg then it is 100% sun in flower. Having the cleanest medicine possible, no chemical inputs and sustainability are how we love to grow” Kimmie explained.

"The smell of the cured bud is a beautiful mixture of gas, minty sweetness and a hint of vanilla. A very smooth smoke that won’t leave a bad taste in your mouth at all. She tastes sweet and gassy, making the perfect mix, some candy flavor. She is really strong, but won't knock you out if you don’t want to be couchlocked. Creative energy flows when she hits and is perfect for a hike, walking the dog, yoga or a project. Very calming body feeling, pain-relieving and mindcalming" she shared with us.

“Gush Mint is a top pick because she checks a lot of boxes for what I look for. Healthy genetics, strong resistance, vigorous growth, beautiful, dense buds, bag appeal, nose and an amazing smoke. Her lineage is Kush Mints x (Gushers x F1 Durb) with terpenes reminiscent of early legalization days" Kimmie said.

Photo credit: Kimmie Mullen

Farm: Jackalope Farms Full Sun, Outdoor, Organic, Living Soil Northeastern Oklahoma

Happy CropTober everyone. I hope you get your hands on some of these sungrown flowers, make sure to ask for them in your local dispensary. Support craft farmers & as always educate before you medicated.