Wingman420's Farm Life In The Emerald Triangle

[420]

I was wondering how Brandon has been doing since we haven’t heard anything from him in a while? Hope you get better help soon and sending positive thoughts your way. Happy growing. CL

@Mycelium Farmer

 

[Wingman420]

I was wondering how Brandon has been doing since we haven’t heard anything from him in a while? Hope you get better help soon and sending positive thoughts your way. Happy growing. CL

I talked with Brandon a few weeks back he was planting on 4/20 and doing ok. I will reach out and tell him you were asking for him. I’m sure he will be back thanks for asking

 

[420]

I talked with Brandon a few weeks back he was planting on 4/20 and doing ok. I will reach out and tell him you were asking for him. I’m sure he will be back thanks for asking

I speak to him all of the time, he's fine, just dealing with constant obstacles and challenges from the state and had some changes in his crew. Also had some power and germination issues. Everything has been sorted now and he's bouncing back tenfold and promises to start a new journal soon and get everyone caught up.

 

[Wingman420]

That's a sad story dude! When I was a kid I'd a gave a left nut for good work!

lol right!!
Thanks! Sounds like we have a lot in common. When I was younger if I could have gotten a job on a cannabis farm you can bet your lungs that I would have worked my ass off and made some dough for sure.
People think because I’m older and sorted out that I must have a killer crew. Unfortunately the truth is that when you have good crew who bust ass and get work done they earn great money. So after a few runs the smart ones save and go follow their own dreams. I have former crew who bought farms themselves and have even bought farms that touch mine. Although it seems easy they don’t always keep them and several have lost everything in the past few years

 

[Wingman420]

most people don't realize it's actual farm work.

Absolutely!
I warn everyone ahead of time repeatedly that growing weed and smoking weed are two completely different things. One is very enjoyable, the other is hard work.

 

[Wingman420]

Your my Hero.
I've been in your shoes, it's difficult at best.
Nobody works as hard as the guy responsible for it all.
Finding someone who at least wants to keep up is miracle!
Hope everything works out for you.
Take care my friend.


Stay safe
Bill284

Thank You Bill284 I truly appreciate your kind words and friendship. Bottom line it’s our responsibility to get it done and we have resigned ourselves to the fact that we will do it alone, and just grow less weed.
As you know if the flowers are not perfect in every regard from cultivation, to harvest, to drying and trimming the product will not sell. Add into this mix that the cannabis must test clean, be over 25% THC, to even be considered worthy to enter the market here in CA leaves no room for anyone not completely dedicated, knowledgeable and well funded to compete. Even then it is totally up to Distributors to market and sell to retailers. This is the worst situation imaginable because you can grow the absolute best most perfect cannabis but still get screwed by distro and retailers who simply don’t want to pay.
It is a broken system engineered to put small farmers like me out of business.
Yet I press on

 

[bluter]

can you knock down for extract or divert product testing under to other markets ?

 

[Bill284]

Thank You Bill284 I truly appreciate your kind words and friendship. Bottom line it’s our responsibility to get it done and we have resigned ourselves to the fact that we will do it alone, and just grow less weed.
As you know if the flowers are not perfect in every regard from cultivation, to harvest, to drying and trimming the product will not sell. Add into this mix that the cannabis must test clean, be over 25% THC, to even be considered worthy to enter the market here in CA leaves no room for anyone not completely dedicated, knowledgeable and well funded to compete. Even then it is totally up to Distributors to market and sell to retailers. This is the worst situation imaginable because you can grow the absolute best most perfect cannabis but still get screwed by distro and retailers who simply don’t want to pay.
It is a broken system engineered to put small farmers like me out of business.
Yet I press on

My heart goes out to my friend


Stay safe
Bill284

 

[CaptainLucky]

I speak to him all of the time, he's fine, just dealing with constant obstacles and challenges from the state and had some changes in his crew. Also had some power and germination issues. Everything has been sorted now and he's bouncing back tenfold and promises to start a new journal soon and get everyone caught up.

That’s great news , I know he was going through a rough time for a little bit. I really enjoyed following his growing n respected how he did everything naturally. Plus the scenery was so nice . CL

 

[Wingman420]

can you knock down for extract or divert product testing under to other markets ?

There is a market for trim and biomass that pays like $8-20 per lb depending on the market price but I grow hella good flowers that usually test well above the baseline. Long story short it’s a money game like anything else. You have to have solid proven inputs and be tirelessly dedicated to producing high quality flowers.
I usually sell to brands that most recognize. They buy my flowers to put them in their jars or Mylar bags. They used to ask if I wanted my name on the jar but now it’s a foregone conclusion that I only want to get paid.
I am changing my licenses around to include Distribution, Manufacturing (non flammable extraction), Processing & Packaging, and maybe storefront retail but am waiting on the County for the regulatory framework

 

[Wingman420]

Here’s an update on the SeedJunky gear we ordered awhile back finally have them out in the full sun trying to harden them off before moving to the greenhouse.
Sometimes a nursery will have facilities that include greenhouses so the clones will be sun tolerant to a limited extent but many are indoor facilities in urban areas and the sun here in the mountains will cook them quickly. It’s all a dance that can be very costly especially when you make mistakes. I thank God every day for all He has Blessed us with and for all my past failures over many many years that have taught me invaluable lessons
I truly want to Thank You all for coming along on the journey and for your patience as I am trying to post daily but have so much work I sometimes come in at night and fall right asleep after taking a shower
Thanks for your thoughts and support

 

[CaptainLucky]

Here’s an update on the SeedJunky gear we ordered awhile back finally have them out in the full sun trying to harden them off before moving to the greenhouse.
Sometimes a nursery will have facilities that include greenhouses so the clones will be sun tolerant to a limited extent but many are indoor facilities in urban areas and the sun here in the mountains will cook them quickly. It’s all a dance that can be very costly especially when you make mistakes. I thank God every day for all He has Blessed us with and for all my past failures over many many years that have taught me invaluable lessons
I truly want to Thank You all for coming along on the journey and for your patience as I am trying to post daily but have so much work I sometimes come in at night and fall right asleep after taking a shower
Thanks for your thoughts and support

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights on growing. I want you to know that I appreciate the time you spend sharing with us your beautiful operation. It’s always interesting seeing what farmers do with a commercial farm compared with our little tents. We get a chance to live vicariously through you because every one of us has dreamed about something like yours. CL.

 

[bluter]

There is a market for trim and biomass that pays like $8-20 per lb depending on the market price but I grow hella good flowers that usually test well above the baseline. Long story short it’s a money game like anything else. You have to have solid proven inputs and be tirelessly dedicated to producing high quality flowers.
I usually sell to brands that most recognize. They buy my flowers to put them in their jars or Mylar bags. They used to ask if I wanted my name on the jar but now it’s a foregone conclusion that I only want to get paid.
I am changing my licenses around to include Distribution, Manufacturing (non flammable extraction), Processing & Packaging, and maybe storefront retail but am waiting on the County for the regulatory framework

it's crazy how different the two markets are. all commercial was restricted to indoor grow only here until recently. i'm not sure if we even have any producers growing outdoor yet.

we're only allowed a single type of license as well. you can grow, be in retail, or distribute, but you have to choose one.

 

[Wingman420]

it's crazy how different the two markets are. all commercial was restricted to indoor grow only here until recently. i'm not sure if we even have any producers growing outdoor yet.

we're only allowed a single type of license as well. you can grow, be in retail, or distribute, but you have to choose one.

it's crazy how different the two markets are. all commercial was restricted to indoor grow only here until recently. i'm not sure if we even have any producers growing outdoor yet.

we're only allowed a single type of license as well. you can grow, be in retail, or distribute, but you have to choose one.

it's crazy how different the two markets are. all commercial was restricted to indoor grow only here until recently. i'm not sure if we even have any producers growing outdoor yet.

we're only allowed a single type of license as well. you can grow, be in retail, or distribute, but you have to choose one.

Yes it crazy things here change constantly, i literally was licensed under a footprint with setbacks from creeks and their designations but last year everything changed I have to move my gear and one whole greenhouse. We have been through the wringer here in the Triangle. The state & feds have worked to bankrupt legacy farms having us chase compliance while limiting the canopy for us then handing out large canopy licenses during COVID to political insiders, investment groups and former law enforcement officers.
As for the licensing here they want people to be “vertically integrated” holding multiple licenses for everything from Cultivation, Manufacturing, Trimming & packaging, Transport Only, Distribution, non storefront retail, storefront retail.
It’s all bullshit. Before State licensing you could only have one county permit for cultivation but that has since been repealed.
I favored the Medical Program as it helped more people and was not a race to the bottom
Today there’s a real specific product that sells here and everything else you couldn’t give away.
I love Haze and Sativa’s but forget about it here. I grew a bunch of Super Silver Haze a few years back it was perfect tested 24% but the market here chases Indica.
I truly can’t stand the distribution system.
Never have I needed someone else to sell my work. Now I’m forced to. Here this burner Distros have screwed everyone. Washington state had Distro and repealed it.
The licensing system here is brutally flawed against the cultivator.

 

[Wingman420]

it's crazy how different the two markets are. all commercial was restricted to indoor grow only here until recently. i'm not sure if we even have any producers growing outdoor yet.

we're only allowed a single type of license as well. you can grow, be in retail, or distribute, but you have to choose one.

I forgot to add that despite these clones being outside everything must be vegged and flowered either indoors or in light assist greenhouses for light deprivation flowering
They are being hardened off from the sun before they get moved into the greenhouse

While there are “full sun” outdoor licenses the finished product falls short compared to light dep flowers

 

[Wingman420]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights on growing. I want you to know that I appreciate the time you spend sharing with us your beautiful operation. It’s always interesting seeing what farmers do with a commercial farm compared with our little tents. We get a chance to live vicariously through you because every one of us has dreamed about something like yours. CL.

Thank you CaptainLucky, I am humbled. I will certainly say that the habits and knowledge I learned and developed growing in basements, attics, 3rd floor apartments in tenement houses, and vacant factories using their electric, has helped me make the larger decisions dealing with thousands of plants 6-8ft tall jammed together in multiple 30 x105 greenhouses. So don’t sell yourselves short. Sometimes the greatest new development comes from a low key grower with a small tent or bedroom grow.
I can just think of Anthony who founded SeedJunky he started basically from nothing like us all. You can achieve anything you put your mind to.
I literally started growing again back east after a debilitating injury that left me a paraplegic. If anyone told me back then that I would own and operate a licensed cannabis farm in the heart of the Emerald Triangle I would never have believed it.
I started growing back east to make oil and flower for myself and a few other patients. Before anything was more than a few inches tall in veg I got busted, was held without bail looking at 30yrs mandatory minimum despite being one of the first licensed MMJ Patients and licensed Caregiver with multiple legitimate qualifying conditions. The story is here
Thread 'Busted'
Busted
From there I fought and founded the first legitimate tax paying licensed canna business through the Superior Court, Dept of Business Regulation, and Secretary of State.
The whole thing started with a small grow my friend.
I have been raided by the DEA, state and local authorities carrying machine guns, dressed full regalia on both coasts it’s sickening.

 

[bluter]

Yes it crazy things here change constantly, i literally was licensed under a footprint with setbacks from creeks and their designations but last year everything changed I have to move my gear and one whole greenhouse. We have been through the wringer here in the Triangle. The state & feds have worked to bankrupt legacy farms having us chase compliance while limiting the canopy for us then handing out large canopy licenses during COVID to political insiders, investment groups and former law enforcement officers.

oil money wound up being the primary investor here. it's a bad fit as the investors themselves are dead set against cannabis in any other instance. it's purely a money ploy.

As for the licensing here they want people to be “vertically integrated” holding multiple licenses for everything from Cultivation, Manufacturing, Trimming & packaging, Transport Only, Distribution, non storefront retail, storefront retail.
It’s all bullshit. Before State licensing you could only have one county permit for cultivation but that has since been repealed.
I favored the Medical Program as it helped more people and was not a race to the bottom

we grew under medical here for almost a decade. we jumped through the hoops to get our facility compliant. in the end they forced us out when full legal came in, there is no medical access at all anymore, and no one in the industry is growing for med any longer.

even personal grow licensing for medical is likely to be repealed after our next election. the political party most likely to win the next election does not believe cannabis has any medical use whatsoever.

Today there’s a real specific product that sells here and everything else you couldn’t give away.
I love Haze and Sativa’s but forget about it here. I grew a bunch of Super Silver Haze a few years back it was perfect tested 24% but the market here chases Indica.
I truly can’t stand the distribution system.

i'm sativa driven myself. we have more variety here, but no one in any of the dispensaries could tell you anything about it.

Never have I needed someone else to sell my work. Now I’m forced to. Here this burner Distros have screwed everyone. Washington state had Distro and repealed it.
The licensing system here is brutally flawed against the cultivator.

here you have to have corporate backing. there's no other way.

 

[Wingman420]

oil money wound up being the primary investor here. it's a bad fit as the investors themselves are dead set against cannabis in any other instance. it's purely a money ploy.






we grew under medical here for almost a decade. we jumped through the hoops to get our facility compliant. in the end they forced us out when full legal came in, there is no medical access at all anymore, and no one in the industry is growing for med any longer.

even personal grow licensing for medical is likely to be repealed after our next election. the political party most likely to win the next election does not believe cannabis has any medical use whatsoever.





i'm sativa driven myself. we have more variety here, but no one in any of the dispensaries could tell you anything about it.





here you have to have corporate backing. there's no other way.

Crazy that oil money came into it and are so against it. Here there’s a lot of venture capital investment and corporate guys banded together. Guys like me are truly in the minority.

It’s fast becoming investor driven, corporate cannabis here as well. So many farms and businesses have folded in the past 4years it’s truly changed the landscape across the Emerald Triangle.
It is not the norm at all to have independent owners not bound by investors and corporate oversight let alone to see an owner actually work. I am one of the very very few licensees who work their own farm and do every job myself before I ever think of asking for some hired worker to do it.

The fees for licensing, state and regional waterboard fees, every other lic and State corporation fee, sales tax, consultant fees one must have, is detrimental to success or survival.
Then after all that I break my ass to pay for the farm, the clones, soil, amendments, feed, hydrolysate, molasses, kelp, and all organic inputs, the labor blood sweat and tears we pour into producing high quality organic cannabis hand watering, touching every plant every day, pulling plastic, building greenhouses, keeping up with Fish and Wildlife rules and oversight it all is extremely expensive.
Then when I do bring in a crop I’m supposed to hand it over on faith to some random distro and trust them because they are licensed? No
They have no skin in the game and many many reasons to not pay me or any other cultivator

im sorry to hear they pushed out medical its about the same here. The whole Rec system sucks! It has been designed to do what 54yrs of the war on cannabis could not, hurt and impoverish legacy cultivators and retail.
Then they want you to stack licenses which are all super expensive to keep in good standing.

 

[MedScientist]

WooHoo! WTF! Holy $hit @Wingman420!

Welcome back!

I came back a few months ago to find a whole new Forum of growers, not many ol' timers left. It's nice to see you pop back in! I am simply AMAZED at how you have progressed!

I am doing So much better off the pharmaceuticals, and smoking, eating, drinking and rubbing my Medicine all over my body! Hehehe

So just imagine ME sitting down for an evening Smoke session, logging in to 420, finding and catching up on your Doings! I was Amazed at what you accomplished years ago, but NOW? I don't know what to say! I can't wait for the Documentary! You are a TRUE success story! Doing it alone is just McFreakingNUTS, But Soooo inspiring!

And look what I found...

"I will say after having the Card a few years, "California is the place you want to be." So I would love to "pack up the truck and move to Beverly... Hils that is." LOL
The Beverly Hillbillies circa 1969
If I could move from here and buy a place in CA I am leaning towards Santa Cruz, or another County that has liberal grow limits."

Sound familiar? I guess you were serious!?!?

I am getting rid of my grow house, and looking forward to a small closet/tent for personal. Gonna try to grow smaller pretty plants with LEDS like they do here nowadays. BUT NOT YOU! I have to admit, I was feeling the Stress of your workload, just from reading about it!

Just 1 question..

Is Medicine Man still your Best Buzz!

 

[Wingman420]

WooHoo! WTF! Holy $hit @Wingman420!

Welcome back!

I came back a few months ago to find a whole new Forum of growers, not many ol' timers left. It's nice to see you pop back in! I am simply AMAZED at how you have progressed!

I am doing So much better off the pharmaceuticals, and smoking, eating, drinking and rubbing my Medicine all over my body! Hehehe

So just imagine ME sitting down for an evening Smoke session, logging in to 420, finding and catching up on your Doings! I was Amazed at what you accomplished years ago, but NOW? I don't know what to say! I can't wait for the Documentary! You are a TRUE success story! Doing it alone is just McFreakingNUTS, But Soooo inspiring!

And look what I found...

"I will say after having the Card a few years, "California is the place you want to be." So I would love to "pack up the truck and move to Beverly... Hils that is." LOL
The Beverly Hillbillies circa 1969
If I could move from here and buy a place in CA I am leaning towards Santa Cruz, or another County that has liberal grow limits."

Sound familiar? I guess you were serious!?!?

I am getting rid of my grow house, and looking forward to a small closet/tent for personal. Gonna try to grow smaller pretty plants with LEDS like they do here nowadays. BUT NOT YOU! I have to admit, I was feeling the Stress of your workload, just from reading about it!

Just 1 question..

Is Medicine Man still your Best Buzz!

Wow brother, Thank You very very much!
Yes it’s been a long and winding road that’s for sure. I can’t believe you remember me and all the good times we had here on the boards! It is terrific to hear from you and I truly hope you are well.
Yes I wound up founding the first Legal tax paying Canna Business back East in RI around 2010 as part of settlement (plea bargain) of the criminal charges against me back then.
The judge threatened me with 30+ yrs Mandatory Minimum if I lost at Trial and if I beat the marijuana charges he told me he would sentence me to prison on the lesser charges of Assault on Police, Resisting Arrest, and some other bullshit misdemeanors so I took the plea of time served and the license to open a direct sales Collective.
I started looking West at Colorado, and Oregon, in 2013
I did travel out west looking at property in Oreg byh on, Colorado, Washington & California back then and was in Oregon the day they turned REC.
I thought we would buy and land in Oregon but wound up traveling up and down the entire coast a few times before deciding on our current location in the Heart of the Emerald Triangle
We did exactly like the Beverly Hillbillies and loaded up my 2006 F-250 and drove across the nation meeting with other business owners looking at opportunities in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and California.
Having a small LED grow is a great idea and I have seen many put out magnificent bud. I wish you Godspeed and lots of luck.
Thank You again for your friendship and support! It is truly touching that you remembered me.
The question you asked has me a little confused as there was a 420Mag member who was our great friend named Med Man from Hawaii who passed away and I do remember growing and smoking the Medicine Man strain back then also.
As for favorite strains it changes from year to year but I do love Super Silver Haze and other Sativa’s but here they just don’t sell anymore. The Rec market is a race to the bottom and I would encourage all that the Medical Marijuana Programs were much better for people who use and consume cannabis.
This past season my favorite bud (flower) was Governmint Oasis, and Molotov cocktail from Purple City Genetics.
This year I have some others from Seedjunky that I am currently working with and have high hopes.
Great talking with you and I look forward to posting more updates here soon.
I just finished planting one greenhouse and am working hard to get another ready ASAP.
I will add some pics of my progress as I just finished and recorded approval of my CEQA plans and engineering after 7yrs of wrangling engineers, environmentalist, experts, and state agencies.
It’s late now and I have to get some sleep. Look forward to talking with you soon