Harvest Season Reflections: Notes from the Castle Rock Area

There’s something about Fall in Castle Rock that reminds us to slow down. The light shifts, the leaves change color and everything feels grounded again. At the end of the road, our fields are full with rows of plants ready for harvest, the reward for months of steady work and care. This season felt more relaxed. Maybe it’s the rhythm we’ve learned to trust, or the way a hometown treat in the Castle Rock area can reset the pace. Either way, we were reminded how far Fat Flower has come—and how much commitment and care still lives in every small batch. 

The Rhythm of the Season

Autumn has arrived with that clean, earthy scent you can only describe as Colorado. The plants were all waiting with their own vibrant and complex scents, casting shadows shaped by the soil, sun, wind, and time.

Matt: “Each year teaches us something new about the various characteristics of the hemp plant—the size, scent, colors and structure—each strain exhibiting its own unique combination of features. The goal of harvest is to preserve as much of the terpene and cannabinoids as possible.”

Erin: “Harvest is a ritual of care — the hand cutting and slow drying that preserve each plant’s integrity. During important stages of development, including harvest, I take time to meditate among the plants — to exchange energy, gratitude, and intention. The plants give so much of themselves, and I believe they respond to the energy we bring to them in return.”

We walked through the rows, brushing our hands along the sticky leaves, noticing how each plant carried its own story — some tall and strong, others small but determined. It’s always a humbling reminder that even with all our planning, the best things still happen in their own time.

Terpenes & Cannabinoids: What We Saw This Year

In the Castle Rock area, we talk a lot about “Colorado craft,” and for us that starts with aroma and profile.

●     Terpenes: This season leaned bright and resinous. We noted myrcene and beta-caryophyllene showing up alongside clean citrus top notes from limonene. These compounds are part of what gives each batch its signature scent. (Deep dive: Terpenes—The Other Good Stuff → https://fatflower.com/pages/terpenes-the-other-good-stuff)

●     Cannabinoids: Our fields continue to be CBD-forward, with select runs showing meaningful contributions from CBG and CBDV. While each plant expresses differently, we aim for balanced, test-verified profiles rather than chasing extremes. Preserving the delicate plant compounds and the essence of the whole plant matters more than chasing the highest CBD numbers possible.

●     How we think about profiles: We look at the whole picture—terpene content, CBD as the anchor, and supportive traces of minor cannabinoids like CBG/CBDV/CBC and more. The full profile of the hemp plant tends to create a more robust and natural sensory experience with a special uniqueness to each strain.

●     Verification: Everything goes through third-party lab testing for profile and purity. Results inform our small-batch blending to help us stay consistent from field to bottle. (Learn more about our approach to the ECS: https://fatflower.com/pages/your-bodys-endocannabinoid-system)

Note: We keep language clear and grounded—terpenes contribute to the aroma and taste while influencing and enhancing the cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, and CBDV so they can do their thing more effectively. We do not make claims; we publish facts and test results.

From Soil to Supper (Castle Rock Area)

We wrapped the day at one our of favorite spots near downtown Castle Rock, The Cake Company https://thecakecompanycastlerock.com/  just in time for the happy hour special on cupcakes! We compared notes over hot coffee at Lost Coffee next door https://www.lostcoffee.com/ about which areas of soil grow larger plants, which strains offered the most enticing scents with Myrcene, Limonene and B-Caryophyllene and how a few sections seemed to have the happiest plants with the best vibes. Small differences, big lessons.

Meet the founders: https://fatflower.com/pages/the-founders

Looking Ahead

Driving back through Castle Rock still energized from the lively plants (could have also been the coffee), the car carried that familiar, resin-clean scent of harvest. Gratitude is the word we kept coming back to—gratitude for the land, for the locals who stop us at the farmers market, and for the patience this work requires.

Matt: “Quality can be seen in the test results—Care shows up in the bottle.”
Erin: “When you pause long enough to notice the details—the terpene balance, the CBD anchor, the small lift from CBG or CBDV—you remember why small-batch Colorado craft matters.”

Here’s to another season in the Castle Rock area and to profiles shaped by terpenes, grounded in CBD, and fine-tuned with CBG and CBDV—all verified, all intentional, all Colorado.