HEMP HARVEST!!!
Today is the big day and awwww! Get a load of these sweet hemp babies! It seems like we just put them in the ground yesterday and now, here they are grown and ready to be harvested so they can head off into the world and cure people’s ailments.
We are experiencing our first harvest as we speak and boy howdy! Hempin’ ain’t easy!!!! With an amazing crew we have pulled down nearly 10 acres of big, beautiful buds, as well as hanging, drying, bucking (taking the buds off the stems), and beginning to trim. I think we can all appreciate a beautiful bud, but after seeing what goes into creating them, I have learned a whole new respect for them. They are so intricate and so advanced in their growth and the farmers who grow them always have to be 10 steps ahead. It really is an incredible process.
Some thoughts I have had this grow season, even though we have several more weeks of the process:
1) First, tons of love and gratitude for our hosts Mike and Brittany Gierke, the founders, owners, and operators of Willow Billy Farms. Never have I met such genuine, driven, passionate people living such a worthwhile existence. They are so giving and free with their knowledge (knowledge that is probably worth a TON of money), while always striving to open their minds to MORE. MORE experience, MORE sustainability, MORE ways to grow and excel in the cannabis world and giving MORE back to the earth. These two people have a tremendous future in front of them and we can’t wait to see what next season will look like in the most beautiful place on earth.
2) Hard work is a great way of bonding. Working side by side, non-stop for 21-31 days with people really changes your relationship. We came here as strangers and we will be leaving as family. We have struggled through irrigation problems, freeze alerts, and crazy deadlines and it has been truly humbling to work together through rain and shine, 12/13-hour days for a common goal, HEMP. 1 year ago, we didn’t know much about hemp, but thanks to Mike and Brittany’s patient explanations we have learned what a truly magnificent creature she is, and it has made us even more driven to share her wonders with the world.
3) I will never look at any sort of agriculture with anything less than the utmost respect. Farmers are incredible, no matter the crop and many grow more than one thing. Much of what they know cannot be taught in a book and therefore they must learn year after year, success after failure, devoid of blood, sweat, and tears in order to provide us with the things we want and need. Here at Willow Billy, there has been 4 years of crops that have gone into the making of this one and there have been many trials and tribulations to get here, to the greatest crop to date. Thank you to all farmers everywhere for not giving up after your first failure!
4) What’s next for us? We really love the group of people we have come to call family here in Oregon, but it is time for us to hit the road. We have some incredible hemp flower cured and trimmed and ready to be sold in stores across the nation. It is truly our honor and privilege to visit CBD shops across the country so they can see for themselves, just what amazing things have come from the most perfect hemp growing soil in the nation.
***What strains would you like to see in our Rogue Mobile? If you enjoy growing anything at home, what has been something you are most proud of growing? Sidenote: my husband has always loved Bonsai trees and we have a 17-year-old one that he loves like a child 🙂 I actually have a brown thumb, so it’s amazing that Mike and Brittany have managed to make a farmer out of me! Check out a couple photos of the progression of our babies this season.
