Swap seeds, breed new weeds, and feed the needs
By Shannon Perkins | Photograph by Black Label Images
Humboldt’s Full Sun Farms, also known as Sunnabis, is becoming as well known for body love as for unique terpene profiles. Cannabis Body Decadence, the Miracle Salve line, and “F* Cancer” are part Sunnabis’ health and beauty collection. The “F* Cancer” products are high in THCa, CBDa, THC, and CBD. Claiming First Place for “Most Innovative Product” at Emerald Cup, the Sunnabis throat spray is a blend of cannabis-infused raw honey, colloidal silver, and essential oils like peppermint.
The throat spray is the latest product crafted by Sunnabis owner and operator Wendy Kornberg, who created the spray after talking herself hoarse from hundreds of conversations at networking events and festivals. “I really needed some kind of lubricating throat spray,” she said, recounting how her sore throat turned into an award-winning product. “It would need to be anti-inflammatory… so, obviously it would need to have cannabis,” stated Kornberg during our phone interview post Emerald Cup, her voice sultry and strong.
In southern Humboldt County, she and longtime partner Doug Cook are organic, outdoor farmers. They use permaculture techniques like cover crops, companion plants, and living soils to make truly remarkable cannabis.
“Wendy selects her genetics carefully,” confirmed Stefan Johnson of Fable Rosin, a concentrates company focused on craft cannabis. “She does swapping exercises [and] cultivates things over years to get certain terpene profiles,” Johnson explained, “we take a lot of care of that material. We get it tested, study the terpene profile, and then create products based on the unique character of that cannabis.” Terpenes are basically chemical compounds found in all plants, from cannabis to chamomile, and contribute to flavor and aroma. Cannabinoids like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are also chemical compounds in cannabis.
Adding science to the love story, recent studies and clinical trials support the entourage effect. In a 2016 article called “Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research,” Ethan Russo, MD, poetically described the entourage effect like this:
“It is akin to a symphony, in which many musicians support and harmonize with the melody provided by the soloists. The same analogy fits well with the synergistic phenomena observed in cannabis, whose various components boost and compliment those of its better known ones, THC and CBD.”
Dr. Russo, a board-certified neurologist and psychopharmacology researcher, is currently focused on cannabis and its effects on the body, specifically the endocannabinoid system. He notes that the concept of herbal synergy in cannabis, “was first espoused by doctors Mechoulam and Ben-Shabat more than 15 years ago to explain how certain components of the endocannabinoid system boost the therapeutic effects of its main players, anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol.”
The US National Library of Medicine published the article by Daniele Piomelli, in which Russo also mentions that “CBD is a versatile anti-inflammatory analgesic through numerous distinct mechanisms, and various other minor cannabinoids and terpenoids in cannabis certainly may contribute notably to the therapeutic profile of cannabis […],” he said, “We are only seeing the very beginnings of the therapeutic potential of this plant!
Russo champions cannabis research, and Kornberg is keen to grow cannabis strains with varied cannabinoid and terpene profiles, for love and for science. “A perfect example is the terpinolene [in] her Orange Fruity Pebbles strain,” said Johnson, dubbed by Kornberg as THE rosin artist. They’re getting over 3 percent concentrations of it, and Johnson attests that most other rosins and concentrates have no trace of terpinolene at all. Why do Sunnabis plants have rare terpene profiles? More research is required for the answer to that question; so, in the meantime, Kornberg continues her cannabis love affair by conducting her own experiments.
“We revamped one of our garden sites […] and we’re calling it “The Proving Grounds,”” Kornberg wrote in an email, describing how they rehabilitated the area back to native soils and are working to improve the soil each year. This test garden will have three rows of fungal dominant soil, three rows of bacterial dominant soil, and three rows with traditional salt-based nutrients.
A second generation cannabis cultivator, Kornberg is a self-proclaimed genetics junkie, “I love crossing and stabilizing strains and chasing genetics.”
Sunnabis revived genetics from a few older strains last year, including their Mango Mountain, which Kornberg noted, “was stabilized from a cross of Mango from Nirvana Seed Bank and K2, both of which were brought back from Amsterdam in the early 80s.” They have another strain with European genetics called ICEd POG, a cross of ICE (Indica Crystal Explosion) and POG (Pot of Gold).
Here’s Kornberg describing one of her favorite strains, Popsicle, and the genetic journey to make the strain: “It started with our strain ICEd POG. Some seeds were sent to a grower in Oregon, who crossed it with Cinex, sent seeds back, backcrossed to the ICEd POG again, sent back to the grower who recrossed with Cinex, and then backcrossed to itself a few more times,” she said. “This one still has a few phenotypes, but overall is a beautiful sativa dominant plant that’s super mellow in flavor, nose, and effects; a beautiful, functional cannabis for the day smoker.”
Kornberg’s passion for the plant continues to grow. “Every year I encounter new strains that I fall immensely in love with and create new F1’s to play with,” she admits, adding that she fell hard for Pineapple Fields from Dynasty genetics this past year. “It’s a 1:2 THC:CBD ratio and just drips with trichomes. Super flavorful, and “terpy” enough that it almost gives me a headache when I’m trimming it. I crossed that with a few different males this year,” she wrote wistfully.
Then the stem rub talk started. “I also fell in love with a Huckleberry Skunk male from Dynasty,” she said, “He had a stem rub like I’ve never encountered before, and I crossed it with a bunch of different ladies.” That’s right, a bunch of different ladies. Spread that seed! Kornberg is also working with the Blueberry Muffin #10 from Humboldt Seed Company, whose own genetic selection process is carefully calculated and charted for the same reasons as Sunnabis: good genes.
From flowers to fresh breath, Sunnabis has the genes and terpenes of dreams. Go ahead, get dirty to get clean with their Cannabis Body Decadence, Miracle Salve, and F* Cancer products. When it comes to sex, people and plants want a piece of Sunnabis.
For more information, visit Sunnabis.com
The salve is grwat!!! Both me n my husband use. Wehave disk issues in our backs. It also helps thise arthritic nights when the shoulder wanna hurt n u can’t sleep. Great stuff keep on keeping on….