Hydrolife Magazine April/May 2016 (USA Edition)

heal
Soaking in a Little Sunshine:
by Sharon Letts
Sunboldt Grown Cooperative
Why is the Emerald Triangle a leader in growing quality cannabis? Sunshine
Johnston takes Hydrolife writer Sharon Letts on a tour of Sunboldt Grown
Cooperative in southern Humboldt County to help answer that question.
unshine Johnston came to southern
SHumboldt County when she was just
seven years old. She graduated from
Humboldt State University with a bachelor’s
of science in geology, and did her
senior thesis on the structural geology
south of Punta Gorda in the Mendocino
Triple Junction region. The degree led her
to work on road inventories for Humboldt
Redwoods State Park and a gig with Pacific
Watershed Associates, but today her
day job, for the time being, is brokering
wine for local vineyards.
A recreational marijuana user, Johnston
discovered medicinal cannabis
after a wrist injury. “I had made a topical
salve for my wrist, and the 215 card
came later when I realized I was medicating
for chronic pain,” she explains.
Since making that first jar of salve,
Sunshine has expanded her apothecary
cupboard, adding infusions with many
bases, including raw hemp milk, nettles,
hydrosol and other healing herbs from
the garden. “I grow flowers mostly for
the connoisseur,” she adds.
Her Loopy Fruit strain, which this
writer partook of at the end of the
interview and before the photo shoot,
reminded me of the quip, “Cannabis
forces us to be more creative than we
really are.” Sunshine’s extracts are all
made from fresh bud infusions. “I use
many different bases,” she explains.
“The salve is used primarily on
acupressure points; the infused honey
I love because it tastes good; the
infused coconut oil is used for baking.
I also make a probiotic nettle
brew used in the garden.”
Aside from the salve that quells
the pain in her wrist, Sunshine
juices fresh bud and leaves to
prevent illness and give her a
general sense of well-being.
Her garden is tucked away in a
southern Humboldt backwoods kind
of way, surrounded by redwoods.
Her home is colorful, warm and filled
with friendly faces busily working on
projects surrounding plants. The garden
is a mix of flowers, vegetables and
places to hang herbs.
Today, she is a farmer, joining the ranks
of others within the Emerald Triangle
of Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity
counties. “With the new regulations, I will
expand from an experimental, researchbased
garden and go into production,”
she informs me. “I’ll be competing for topshelf
placement in a high-end market,
and have a farm-to-table-like model.”
Being a part of the cannabis community
in Northern California is important to
Sunshine, and she’s planning outreach
to help others in the mix. “Education is
important in this industry, as the stigma
was created based on misinformation,”
she says. “I’ll be building community
by offering workshops and other
services as needed.”
Watershed stewardship is a big deal
in California and cannabis farmers
are garnering more criticism in recent
months than almond farmers, who are
purported to use nearly one gallon
of water to produce one almond. As
farmers in Humboldt install rain
catchment systems, invite inspectors
onto their properties and get permitted
in a historically covert region, change
is coming for good medicine and the
healing that follows.
“During our recent series of townhall
meetings, we brought in experts
on water conservation, and were told
that even in a drought we could gather
enough water to care for our crops,”
she said. “Cannabis farmers will take
the lead in responsible water use for
agriculture in the state.”
Sunshine waxes poetic on Humboldt’s
role in the development of cannabis
strains and improved efficacy of the
plant in general. A plethora of cannabis
strains, including cannabinoid
(CBD)-only strains, were developed in
southern Humboldt. “One of the reasons
the Emerald Triangle is a leader in producing
and growing quality cannabis,
and has the highest concentration of
farmers, is that we have always willingly
shared information,” she says. “It’s
not like that in places like Colorado and
Washington. As we enter a competitive
marketplace, it’s important not to lose
this part of our cultural heritage that
sets us apart from other places.”
For more information on Sunboldt
Grown, visit sunboldt.org.
Sharon Letts was raised in Southern California
then moved to Humboldt, where she
learned about cannabis as medicine. Her
work can be found in several international
magazines, advocating for the right to grow
every seed-bearing plant.
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