Cultivation & Farming methods
Healthy Soil means Healthy Hemp
The key to healthy plants lies in healthy soil. Our practices include adding organic material and contains beneficial bacteria, fungi and the organic nutrients to feed our high-potency CBD, CBG and CBDV hemp strains. Having high numbers of the beneficial bacteria and fungi are the foundation to healthy soil. We use regenerative farming practices including cover crops to improve soils along with organic soil amendments to create the ideal nutrient profile for our hemp plants.
Our winter cover crops keep living roots in the ground when we aren’t growing hemp. This keeps the microbiology alive and diverse throughout the off season. The cover crops add significant amounts of organic material to our fields. Organic material improves water retention, soil structure and significantly improve nutrient holding capacity and the availability of those nutrients for the plant’s roots. Compared to sand or clay organic material has a very high amount of surface area with lots of little places for microbes to live. Our cover crops also reduce the amount of nitrogen and other soil amendments that we need add every year.
We have found that when we take care of our soil, our soil creates conditions in which hemp plants to thrive. We believe this natural approach to soil health cause our plants to develop more diverse cannabinoids and terpenes in concentrations than would otherwise be achievable. Real sun and healthy soil make for a more effective and tastier experience than indoor or hydroponic grows.
Extraction Methods
Common Extraction Methods
CO2 Extraction – CO2 solvent extraction uses CO2 and pressure to separate the cannabinoids from the plant matter. This is the purest extraction method that exists and leaves no residual solvent that needs to be removed. Spoiler Alert! This is the only method we use. The equipment costs are on the higher end and the extraction times are slower. We have chosen this method because of its purity and integrity of the finished product. Compared to other methods, CO2 extraction requires significantly less post processing on the material to get a pure Full Spectrum product. The better the initial processing method, the less additional processing needs to be done which can lead to damage and deterioration of the terpenes and other beneficial hemp plant material.
Ethanol, Alcohol, Isopropyl Based Extraction - This solvent-based method is one of the cheapest ways to extract Cannabinoids on a large scale. It uses an alcohol-based solvent to strip away the cannabinoids from the planter matter (along with a lot of chlorophyll which then needs to be cleaned out through distillation to prevent an extreme bitter aftertaste). The yields are high but there is a significant amount of post processing required. The solvents used are dangerous because extremely flammable and can be toxic if not completely removed from the end product.
Hydrocarbons, Butane & Propane Extraction – This solvent-based method is very similar to Alcohol-based extraction. It has high yields and fast extraction times while keeping a low equipment cost. The cons are that the hydrocarbons are flammable and explosive. Again, it can be difficult to completely remove the residuals from the final product which leaves the potential for toxic compounds in the finished product.
Infusion – Infusion involves placing the raw plant product in heated oil such as coconut oil, butter or olive oil to infuse it with cannabinoids. This is a fairly simple process and can be done at home using standard kitchenware. You cannot separate the cannabis extract from the oil so the chlorophyll and waxes all remain in the end product. Overall it is too inefficient, expensive and impure to utilize at a commercial scale.
Our Extraction Method
All of our oil is extracted via the CO2 extraction method. We have partnered with a state-of-the-art certified organic solventless extraction lab in Colorado whose mission and values align with ours; quality and transparency every step of the way. The CO2 extraction method allows for a pure extraction of all of the beneficial compounds without the use of toxic solvents. Because of our lab's targeted and customized extraction techniques, no "winterization" or use of ethanol is required. We do not know of any other CO2 extraction companies that can accomplish this.
We grow healthy and robust hemp plants bursting with cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids and essential oils. CO2 extraction lets us extract and pass on all of our plant’s therapeutic compounds to you in the form of pure Full Spectrum Distillate or Extract Hemp Oil.
