My Story
From Patient to Producer
My journey as a hemp cannabis producer really began as a cannabis patient. Thanks to The Medical Cannabis Community I was finally able to find a cannabis friendly doctor and became a medical cannabis patient in August of 2016.
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According to the FDA CBD does not cure, treat, or aid any medical conditions.
Being a patient and cannabis advocate may have been where the story had ended if the 2018 hemp farm bill hadn't come along. With it's implementation an opportunity to further my passion with cannabis opened up. After a few deliberations with my husband we began saving to implement my dream of turning our little 2.25 acre patch of land into a hemp farm. In 2020 we had exhausted our research into the preparations we needed to complete. January even provided some growing experience for me as home-grow was added to our state medical program, which alleviated some of that stress. Finally we had saved enough money to get the ball rolling for the spring outdoor growing season in late May, or so we thought.
With Coronavirus in full swing I had forgotten to submit my license application. I still could have been ready for the end of May, but it was good that I had delayed because tragedy struck. In April 2020 my husband was in a rollover accident on his way to work, and was life-flighted for emergency spinal surgery. He had sustained a T-12 3 column burst fracture which had him paralyzed from the waist down at the scene with respiratory distress from crushed nerves in the upper thoracic. The day we had intended to finish up our paperwork my husband was fighting for his life on an operating table in the height of Coronavirus without his family. With us unsure if he would make it through the night, or ever walk again. We were blind sighted.
The following days after surgery was a blur of calls to the hospital, the insurance company, to family; filling out paperwork and making preparations for my husband to come home. With the spread of Coronavirus cases through hospitals, and rehabilitation facilities the surgeon was reluctant to keep him in house and opted to send my husband home for rehabilitation instead since he would have lots of help and access to family members in the nursing field. We then began the long road for his recovery as it would be several months before he could get out of bed on in his own, and several months more before he could walk without aid. He was fortunate to have an amazing surgeon, he now walks better than I do most of the time.
My husband finished his outpatient therapy in April of 2021 as he continued to work on strengthening at home, learned how to accommodate his new limitations, and return to some of his military obligations. I began preparations to start growing for 2022. We bought a little 54 Allis Chalmers WD45 for the field work last August. I actually submitted my applications for the grow year and all the business stuff last fall, which was early this time. Now you know the entire journey from patient to producer and are current to the 2022 grow year, which if you follow on Facebook or Instagram you will find it was filled with its own triumphs and heart breaks. From getting a bad batch of soil and only 1/3 of our seeds surviving, to growing some really amazing plants but then not having testing labs and loosing a few strains. It's been a crazy year and we are looking forward to the next one.
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When I'm not with the plants I'm pretty busy being a mom to four ferally awesome (pun intended) teenagers, that we homeschool. I'm a military spouse, and soon a veteran's spouse as my husband is being retired due to his injury. I dabble in home renovations, vehicle, and home appliance repairs. I do still help moderate a few medical cannabis groups on Facebook and binge read cannabis studies when I can't sleep. If there is anytime left over for myself you can find me rescuing damsels, or saving the universe (playing videogames). I also enjoy watching anime with my family, Asian dramas, and British murder mysteries.
