Fire Ridge Farms

In an era of oils, shatter and all things dabbable there are countless budding entrepreneurs attempting to ply their craft in this bustling new market. While recreational and medicinal users alike enjoy the advantages of concentrated cannabis, recent headlines quickly raise fire safety and health concerns. Using a hell of a lot of butane means a high risk and concerns for environmental impact as well. Thankfully, Fire Ridge Farms is the green-minded, socially conscious producer so many are looking for.

Matt Brown is the proprietor of Fire Ridge Farms, which is located in the remote mountains of Butte County. He has been producing medicinal cannabis for over a decade and finds compliance to be one of the most challenging aspects of growing medicine. While the farm’s internet presence is limited, their instagram account is an active showcase of all Fire Ridge has to offer with volumes of photos and a handful of videos.

Politics and opinions aside, their photos speak for themselves. The end results are appetizing shades of crystalline amber and gold. Their instagram account contains videos of their full melt in action and their glorious garden. With over a decade of experience, it is unsurprising that concentrates of this caliber come from Fire Ridge, or that their Tommyknocker strain tests into the upper twenties for THC content. Cup winners have tipped their caps to Fire Ridge in the past though they themselves never felt the compulsion to compete.

In addition to this clearly stellar product, Fire Ridge believes in organic farming.  “I’ve always stayed away from bottled nutes,” Matt says “we use a custom soil mix.” The Farm has used OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) caterpillar spray in the past, but 2015 was a “no-spray” year. Perhaps out of appreciation, caterpillar losses were minimal. Mainly, Fire Ridge likes to keep it simple with worm castings and extensive top dressing.

Fire Ridge is simply non-BHO. They recognize that clean and safe concentrates can be produced with BHO, but the concept disagrees with their ideals. “It goes against everything I believe in as far as medicine.” All those delectable looking dabs are the product of responsible extraction methods. They note that many people are just trying to make quick cash, and have no qualms about selling poison infused, butane saturated products. Fire Ridge Farm aims to produce safe, healthy and organic medicine for those who need it. This is a touchy issue. Fire Ridge recognizes that BHO has a place in the cannabis community and that there are responsible and safe producers using this method, though few and far between. They hope to see a shift towards solvent-less techniques in the future.

Best of all, Fire Ridge Farms is single-source. Every product, every bud with their name on it is theirs from ground to grinder. The full-melts are made from the same strains they’d grown that year, leading to a delicious rotation in options and flavors. Their products are available in Butte County and areas in Southern California.

Fire Ridge Farms is, and should be, proud of the business they have established. They take great photos and were more than happy to give me some of their vacation time for an interview, were affable and pleasant to speak with. They provide high-grade, organic medicine to better people’s lives. If they’ve had celebrity clients, they were scrupulously tight-lipped to my questioning. I will be watching Fire Ridge Farms to see what gorgeous green and gold they grow next.