With a focus on sungrown, small batch organic cannabis, Dan Bobillot, President and Director of Green Banana Ranch is sincere when he starts telling me of his company’s vision. Born and raised in Humboldt County, Dan along with his brother Alex, who oversees most of the Ranches’ cultivation, have watched the emergence and growth of the cannabis industry here and they plan to continue the ingenuity that Humboldt offers to cannabis.
Located off of Route 299 in Humboldt County, Green Banana Ranch sits at an elevation of 3,400 feet and “offers its own unique microclimate,” according to Dan. With some oceanic influence, they also get long days of sun exposure with little fog. Working with the land, they even use the red volcanic clay soil in the makeup of their light deprivation beds.
Finding innovation for the name Green Banana Ranch comes from its signature strain, Banana True. “It has a lively green banana smell,” Dan tells me. Brought over from Holland in the early 2000s, the strain was cultivated at the former Natural Selections in Long Beach, California. Dan was gifted a cut by a friend and former employee around 2008 when the dispensary was shut down, and it’s become the catalyst for the future of Green Banana Ranch.
Green Banana Ranch has also started working on their own breeding projects in order to have their own exclusive lineup of strains. Planning on using Banana True as the main cultivar, the goal is to feature a roster of banana crosses. Not just hanging onto the banana tree, they also have created the strain Cheeba, a U.K. Cheese x Pre 98 Bubba cross whose first run had just been harvested.
Something the brothers are extremely proud of is their use of natural compost teas. Dan starts to explain how the ranch is moving towards Korean Natural Farming (KNF). He goes on to tell me how they harvest mycelium from the property for the base of their teas and with other organic ingredients, it then goes through a two week fermenting process.
Beyond flower, they are only willing to offer clean, solventless hash products to the market. Green Banana Ranch has started working with Simplee Donuts to produce a Banana True Live Resin. They’ve also partnered with Terp Town Boyz to create a whole line of Rosin and Live Rosin, also featuring Banana True along with Corleone and Blockhead. With an eye on the market, a line of cannagars is also in the works.
Although Green Banana Ranch products are not yet offered in dispensaries, that is about to change as they are working on the release of an exclusive batch of Banana True through Emerald Family Farms. Dan continues, “Emerald Family Farms offered us great advice and helped make the process easy.” Green Banana Ranch also plans to have a booth at various cups, events and farmers markets up and down the California Coast.
Green Banana Ranch generously provided me with samples from their 2017 Light Deprivation of Mendo Breath, Ogre and Banana True. Also kind enough to share other strains such as DJ Shorts Blueberry, Blockhead, Corleone as well as a prototype of their yet unreleased cannagars.
Mendo Breath:
A cross of OGKB aka OGKushBreath x Mendo Montage, the bud is bright lime green with little carrot orange hairs. Shining in the light, translucent trichomes pack in densely. Sour citrus wafts out at me and I get a distinct kush aroma too. While stinky, it brings me back in for more. Orange, lime, thyme, oregano with a washed rind cow’s milk cheese and subtle green olive round out the nose.
Sour citrus overtakes me at first but then becomes more vegetal — like Pico de Gallo with tomato and jalapeno. I also get roasted carrot with a lime zest. A slightly heavy mouthfeel is laced with sourness but ends up leaving a sweet oregano on the finish. Finding my way to the couch, I feel light and relaxed with some pain relief… but man, am I hungry.
Ogre:
This particular cut of Ogre is the Sativa/skunk whose phenotype leans toward Sensi Star. Dense in structure, the bud is evenly shaded in lime and fern green with yellow chartreuse. Squash orange hairs sporadically jump out among a light frosting of amber tinged translucent trichomes.
The smell is herbal with skunk and sour citrus undertones. Thyme, rosemary, dill, oregano and mint all flow out in intervals with orange and lime peel and lemongrass. I also get a slight taste of Elmer’s Glue sitting in the background.
As I light up, I am hit with a barrage of refreshing herbal essences while a subtle skunk note tickles my tongue. Fresh picked rosemary, oregano, and basil with lemongrass, green olive and pickle filter through. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy and leaves a fresh minty exhale. I can’t help but think with all the green flavors I tasted that Ogre is very appropriately named. Stoney and relaxed, I feel some pain melt from my back and my mood turns giddy.
Banana True:
A solid shade of olive green covers large chunky buds with some pear green peeking out. The ginger orange hairs appear evenly spaced and the bud is thickly settled with tiny translucent trichomes that make it shine in the sun.
The smell is sweet and aromatic, it’s reminiscent of a ripening banana that is still a little green. A little lemon and vanilla pop out at me as well. Once I break the bud open, it becomes more sweet, almost tropical. I smell banana flavored taffy, lemon candy, banana-orange smoothie, with a hint of vanilla. Just smelling it starts to make my mouth water.
Green banana floods my palate, exactly like an unripe banana with subtle hints of vanilla and lime. Chamomile and jasmine come at me next as the smoke tingles my tongue a little. As I exhale, the banana flavor sticks around leaving a light sweetness behind. Has me feeling very stoned, a surge of happy energy starts to come over me. Focused, I decide to roll one more and share it around my local dog park to everyone’s enjoyment.
Thank you to Green Banana Ranch who can currently be found on Instagram @greenbananaranch.
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