The East Fork team found ourselves facing new and truly daunting challenges coming into the Fall 2020 harvest season.

Harvest is always a huge lift and very time-sensitive, but this year we were starting with less preparation than ever — immediately after narrowly surviving the devastating wildfires in our region. Our team, who had mostly been evacuated from their homes for a couple of weeks, had to leap into action immediately upon their return.

Hemp Bar is East Fork Cultivars’ new flagship retail space for high quality, accessible hemp-based goods and CBD mocktails. Hemp Bar’s mission is to improve people’s lives by developing a science-based and intentional relationship with cannabis.

We’ve partnered with Dr. Bronner's and Sun and Earth Certified to create a limited-edition cannabis-scented Bar Soap. With our cannabis terpenes added for fragrance, this bar soap offers a robust, earthy cannabis aroma (and is free of THC and CBD).

CBD Certified has expanded into Cannabis Class, both in name and in scope. The classic CBD Certified webinar will still be offered, and it will be joined by focused cannabis science educational content covering a wide spectrum of information within the categories “Plant”, “People”, “Culture,” “Products,” and “Knowledge”.

The Cultivation Classic is the most scientifically rigorous competition on Earth, and judges craft cannabis grown in Oregon.

East Fork Cultivars was honored to win Gold again this year at the 2020 Cultivation Classic.

This election cycle we met with and interviewed State Representatives and Senators from every corner of Oregon, candidates vying for a seat on the Deschutes County Commission, Statewide Offices like Secretary of State and Treasurer, members of Portland City Council, including those running to be the Mayor of Portland, as well as statewide ballot measures. Here are our 2020 Election Endorsements.

In July we launched an innovative pilot fundraising campaign with our friends and partners at Steward, the world’s first CrowdFarming platform. As a first for businesses in the United States, anyone in the country was able to invest in our organization directly and earn their money back plus a 10% return in 3 years.

As Oregon voters consider our ballots this fall, the East Fork team urges you to vote “Yes” on ballot measures 109 and 110. These two progressive reforms, in tandem, will fund comprehensive addiction treatment services and decriminalize personal possession of small amounts of drugs (Measure 110), while also creating a framework for legal psilocybin-assisted therapy to aid in healing from depression, trauma, addiction, and other mental health issues (Measure 109).

Takilma and the farm are safe. Everyone in our team is safe. Though the Slater Fire reached to within a mile of the farm, the fire lines held for the most part, and firefighting has saved most of the inner valley. On October 1, all evacuation orders were lifted for the Illinois Valley, sending our spirits soaring, and gave us the opportunity to regroup and reflect on the important lessons during this scare.

East Fork was proud to have two of our team members, CEO Mason Walker and Director of Education Anna Symonds, speak at the 2020 Cannabis Conference. Taking place over three weeks in September, the conference offered knowledge sharing and best practices primarily for canna-businesses. Each day of speakers featured a distinct theme for its talks, including Launch, Expansions, Business; Cultivation and Hemp; and Dispensary and Deal Making Summit.

It's natural that many folks are curious, or have quality concerns, regarding our hemp and cannabis being so close to wildfires this year.

In terms of the actual crop and flower, consumers and patients don’t need to be too concerned. We have a number of efforts underway to mitigate any potential impacts on the flower and ensure quality. Here's the general outline.

Rogue Ales & Spirits, the only farmer-brewer-distiller-cooper in the United States, continues to push boundaries with the launch of Rogue Recreational CBD Seltzer Water using East Fork Cultivars' craft hemp. Rogue’s newest product is a naturally flavored, gluten-free seltzer water chock full of extra goodies including 30 milligrams of nano-emulsified CBD, L-Theanine and Apple Cider Vinegar while coming in at only 20 calories.

Keera Lindenburg, Educational Director of Lightscale Labs, dives into the connection between THC and anxiety. Turns out, the regions of your brain that THC acts on to make you calm and euphoric are the same areas that can flip the switch and send you into freak-out mode. The emotional state your brain chooses is very much dependent on just how much THC is in your system.

As part of East Fork Cultivars' Farm Exchange Program, we invite farms from around the world to stay at our farm and exchange cultivation practices. Black Earth Farms visited the East Fork ranch from East Bay, California and interviewed with Ryan Hartman about their experiences.

Can cannabis and CBD have unintended interactions with pharmaceuticals or other medications?

The answer is yes. There is the chance of a drug interaction any time you consume more than one active substance, including CBD, cannabis, over-the-counter medicines, and even certain foods and beverages, including alcohol and caffeine.

When it comes to educating yourself about using cannabis therapeutically, you can learn a lot of great information through programs such as CBD Certified. However, these kinds of programs do not constitute medical advice, there may be times when you want medical advice that is specific to your personal health situation.

Idle Hands Collective took the initiative of beautifying the Foster-Powell neighborhood of Portland, Oregon with positive messages and vivid imagery. Since mid-March, Oregon businesses have remained shuttered to comply with the coronavirus response executive order, leaving many streets boarded up and tagged with graffiti. Included in Idle Hands efforts was Hemp Bar, the future home of East Fork Cultivars’ retail hemp store and new office space.

This summer, you can team up with East Fork Cultivars to contribute a bit more by purchasing one of our new PAX Era pods, created in collaboration with Buddies. $1 from every PAX pod purchased will be donated to Last Prisoner Project, which will total a donation of over $4,000 if every unit is sold.