The Emerald Spirit Botanicals story is about a family that communed with the earth, the sun and the cannabis plant itself to create award-winning medicines. Located in Northern California’s Mendocino County, founder and family matriarch, Katie Jeane, works the land alongside her sons River and Joseph Haggard, and Joseph's wife, Catherine Hutchison. The farm’s mission? To help counterbalance a world filled with overconsumption and ecological damage by utilizing cannabis as the restorative.
Using plant communication and regenerative farming techniques, the successes of their small batch, farm-bred strains Harmony Rose (1:1 CBD:THC) and award-winning Pink Boost Goddess (2:1 THC:THCV) show their plan is working.
Katie Jeane raised her family off-the-grid in Mendocino, growing their own food and plant medicines. They lived in a teepee for five years while building California's first permitted cob house, a structure made from dirt, straw, clay, sand and water gathered from the family land. Joseph, who is now thirty, said they didn’t even have power until he was twelve-years-old. “We grew up living with nature in one of the rawest forms you could in the 90s,” he said. “Not many people were raised in this limited resource lifestyle, cooking food over the fire when we came home from school and living off the land.”
Katie taught her children from birth that plants have a consciousness. About six years ago, she used plant spirit meditation to connect with the spirit of the cannabis plant.
According to Joseph, she communed with the plant itself, asking: "What is something cannabis would like to offer humanity at this time? It is in dire need of help and healing."
The plant responded: “Focus on THCV.”
With the support of her community and the plant spirits, Katie began a breeding program to discover THCV’s potential. The outcome of this breeding effort was the strain Pink Boost Goddess, which has been recognized by SC Labs for three years running as containing the highest THCV content in California.
The strain also won 1st Place at the 2021 Emerald Cup for Third Party Certified Sun Grown and Highest THCV Flower. And again in 2022 for Most Unique Cannabinoid Profile and Most Exotic Terpene Profile. Most recently, Pink Boost Goddess won Gold at the California State Fair for the Most Unique Flower in California due to its high THCV content and rare terpene profile.
According to a recent Journal of Cannabis Research study: "The uniquely diverse properties of THCV provide neuroprotection, appetite suppression, glycemic control and reduced side effects… making it a potential priority candidate for the development of clinically useful therapies in the future.” Katie and Joseph fully agree, as they have seen positive anecdotal outcomes from many patients within their network.
"We have definitely noticed some shared experiences with THCV from our observations," noted Joseph. “These include elevated mood, regulated appetite, improved focus and an energized feeling."
One of the first products released in the Chemistry x Emerald Spirit Botanicals collaboration is a Pink Boost Goddess preroll infused with full-spectrum oil from the same harvest. “We are especially fond of the plants that come forward with high THCV and other unique cannabinoids,” said Chemistry founder and CEO Paul Roethle. “This preroll allows us to provide an experience highlighting and amplifying the THCV in a way that has never been done before.”
The other product drop from Chemistry x Emerald Spirit Botanicals is a Harmony Rose (click to buy now) full-spectrum vape cartridge with a balanced CBD:THC ratio. “This vape provides a lovely low dose, non-invasive cannabis experience,” added Roethle. “It’s the perfect pocket companion to keep you balanced throughout the day.”
Harmony Rose was one of the first 1:1 strains Emerald Spirit successfully bred. And it took nine years of fine-tuning its breeding to balance and harmonize its effects. The strain has a unique floral, earthy aroma with bud structure akin to a traditional THC flower, which can be hard to find in the world of CBD.
"I describe the effects of Harmony Rose as softening the edges," said Joseph. "It helps you calm down and get centered, leaving you in a state of balance and feeling better about the day. Isn’t that what we are all looking for in life?"
Emerald Spirit Botanicals was founded in 2016 and is spread over two locations, five minutes apart. The main garden, called Ridge, faces westward and lies in the Noyo River Watershed with a coastal influence. The east-facing garden is called Spring Creek and is located in the Eel River watershed. This farm gets sun in the morning and is a bit dryer and warmer. Similar to grapes, each unique terroir affects how the cannabis plants express their cannabinoid, terpene and flavonoid profiles.
Katie Jeane's passion is breeding seeds using both spiritual and scientific perspectives. "Science helps us to understand the cannabinoid ratios and the makeup of the plants. It helps us to identify the presence of these unique cannabinoid profiles," said Joseph. "We also have to recognize that there is a spiritual life force running through the plant, and we want to honor that." For some breeding, Katie meditates and sits with the females, listening to what pollen the plant wishes to receive. Other times the breeding occurs based on the presence of unique cannabinoids the male and female plants possess.
"There is a deeper wisdom that lives beyond the mind in our spiritual breeding work that science might not be able to grasp," reflected Joseph.
Emerald Spirit Botanicals is also Sun+Earth Certified. The Sun+Earth standard builds upon the USDA organic standard, adding closed loop systems to a farm’s infrastructure, fair pay to workers, and community engagement as part of their Three Pillars: Earth Care & Cultivation + Human Empowerment + Community Engagement.
And that sounds like Emerald Spirit Botanicals. The family first lived on the land in the raw elements. They then combined plant spirituality and science to discover strains that could solve major problems for humanity. And now they’ve partnered with Chemistry as part of their Where’s Your Weed Grown? campaign to get Emerald Spirit’s story and these remarkable strains out to patients and consumers.
“We bring these plant medicines to the people so they can be better within themselves, which allows them to be better people within their communities. And then, maybe, we can all be better humans and help to heal the Earth,” offered Joseph.
The Earth in equilibrium, the plants in harmony and family in balance, joyfully. This is the Emerald Spirit way. ✌️ 🫶 🌱
Written by: Debby Goldsberry
Twitter: @debbygoldsberry
IG: @debbygoldsberry