A Humboldt Man Sells Marijuana at a Farmer’s Market

Photo taken of manicured marijuana in August 2010

Modern Farmer, a print as well as online magazine, today published an informative piece by David Downs on a farmer’s market that sells only medical marijuana.  According to Downs,

The bazaar operates out of a hulking, purple warehouse set back on an asphalt parking lot in an industrial zone of unincorporated Sonoma County. Still federally illegal, of course, such markets are legal under California state law, provided vendors and customers join a collective with a valid doctor’s recommendation for pot and a state ID – a free process that takes about 15 minutes.

The article is well worth reading in its entirety but one intriguing point Downs presents is that

Indoor-grown pot has dominated stores for about a decade, because it tends to be more potent, pretty, and fragrant, while outdoor weed is reputedly weaker, weathered and less pungent. But outdoor growers and certain dispensaries have rebranded it, offering “sungrown” cuts that compete with indoor, if not on looks, then on price, potency and carbon footprint.

Perhaps of most interest though to Humboldt growers struggling to find a place to sell their buds is that the most popular vendor is a man who claims to be from Humboldt.

But, like at any farmers’ markets, there are stand-out vendors. Today, it’s a late-50ish white guy wearing a smile and latex gloves, who mans a table covered in plastic bins full of almost a dozen strains.

The fragrant, resin-filled flower tops of the cannabis plant are what users smoke, and this guy waves his huge flower tops around while grinning. One lumpy, pale green stick is as thick as a child’s arm—his outdoor grown Blue Dream, he says. A thick hub of people politely vie to get closer to his table.

Outdoor growers can specialize in rare, giant sativas that take too long to flower and grow too big to be economical indoors. This guy doesn’t disappoint, offering rare sativas like Pineapple Thai and a Super Mango he said reached 15 feet tall.

The idea of a farmer’s market here in Humboldt is certainly intriguing but if we build it, will folks from out of the area come?  Because, here, in this marijuana saturated area, would there be any buyers? And, under the current laws, how many growers are willing to bring their product to market over roadways manned by law enforcement encouraged to arrest them?