“Trying to fight the stigma, Seeger plans to use the Canyon Creek Collective to show her kids that it’s a legitimate business.”
In the lush hills between the Trinity River and Canyon Creek, a small farm is growing. Canyon Creek Collective is a 50 acre organic farm in Trinity County, created by Allie Seeger and Chris Adkins in 2015.
“Our main goal is to provide quality organic cannabis for patients,” Seeger said.
Although Canyon Creek Collective is still a “very small” operation, Seeger says that isn’t too bad of a situation for them to be in. “Big farms can’t give the love and attention to each plant like we can.”
“We don’t use any gnarly chemicals,” Adkins said. “We compost, don’t use any salts, and focus on the soil. We feed the soil, not the plants.”
Adkins, who’s lived in the Emerald Triangle for nine years, acquired the land five years ago. “I really fell in love with the area,” Adkins said. “It had great sunlight and was perfect for growing.”
Seeger moved to Humboldt County eight years ago from South Carolina. Before that, she lived in Colorado where she worked in the state’s emerging cannabis industry.
“I knew a lot of people out here in Humboldt,” Seeger said. “I knew what I was getting myself into.”
Seeger and her boyfriend Adkins, who met through the industry, have both worked with cannabis for many years and had wanted to start their own farm.
“I saw the changes that were happening in the industry and saw the opportunity,” Seeger said.
With only four full-time workers at the Collective (Adkins and Seeger being two of them), Canyon Creek Collective is very much an early-stage personal endeavor.
“It’s been pretty difficult,” Adkins said. “You have to learn to take the good when it comes and fix all of the problems as well.”
“Doing this ourselves has been pretty fun, but a little nerve-wracking,” Seeger said. “While the farm is the majority of the work, there is also paperwork and permitting that needs to be done along with marketing our product. We are trying to build a business and make a name for ourselves which is a big job in itself.”
Canyon Creek Collective’s current long-term goal is to obtain a state license in 2018. There are multiple steps in doing so, such as building a house on the property, which Adkins and Seeger are in the process of.
“It’s all baby steps,” Seeger said.
Being a mother, Seeger is faced with additional challenges in the cannabis industry. “I feel like being a mom in this industry has been especially hard,” Seeger said. “For instance a parent from my kid’s school might see my face in an article.”
Trying to fight the stigma, Seeger plans to use the Canyon Creek Collective to show her kids that it’s a legitimate business.
“There’s nothing to hide,” Seeger said. “I want them to see that this industry is real, and something they can take over when they’re older. But only if they want to, I wouldn’t force it on them. If they did want to take over, I’d want them to go to college and major in horticulture or business or marketing. Of course if they’d rather be a doctor, that’s fine, haha.”
“You definitely have to separate work and family life,” Adkins said. “It’s harder to get work done when the kids are around, but that’s just part of being responsible.”
While the Canyon Creek Collective is still small, they are managing to spread their wares; Adkins and Seeger have been generating interest at farmers markets, they are part of the Sun Growers Guild and have also attended the Emerald Magazine’s own Pot Pairing meetups.
“Altogether it’s been really awesome,” Seeger said. “I’ve been turning my dream into a reality.”
Written by Jeff Gardner
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