Progress Report: 6.24.22
Grasshopper Family,
This is the LAST update of June! Well, we will have June dates included next week. BUT, it will be sent out on July 1st!
And I can not wait to share this update with you all.
Let's start with something happening RIGHT NOW. I wanted to push to get this update out because Adam is doing another vendor day at Wayne Relief right now! He also just presented the next Green Ticket! Kody is SO EXCITED!
Some activities end up happening behind the scenes. Check out Brad mowing the grass and spreading grass seeds in some of our newly leveled areas. Bret and Matt came up with an idea to make a filter while one is on order....for...Sir Mix A Lot!! Bret fired it up and got it ready to mix about 300 pots for our R&D plants.
Education is part of our DNA. We are always learning. That is part of the meaning behind the grasshopper in Grasshopper Farms. The team was outside doing a class on plant science and how we will continue to raise the bar of our game. We have been doing these classes once a week or two weeks for the last two months and will continue until harvest. The team is really happy with the new knowledge and it is instilling confidence in our goals for this season.
Did I mention the entire field is planted? Yup.
Caroline is assessing the hoop house where we have our R&D plants. All clear! Matt and I went and reviewed the work our excavator did to clean out our storm culvert. He did an amazing job! You might remember some of the flooding we experienced last year. This should help a TON. Lukas took a ride in the back of a truck to see all of the progress and how much the plants are growing. The plants are so happy. And the sunrises are gorgeous.
Shawn, Lukas and the team have done an amazing job getting the indoor plants organized and ready for their turn. The mother room got cleaned up and the three grow rooms are organized for an indoor harvest. I have not been able to find any Michigan growers who have grown the same strain (from the same mother plant) inside and outside at the same time. I believe this will really help us with our indoor-outdoor quality conversation.
Why an exit sign? Please note the letters and lights have been changed to green. The green lights do not interfere with the plants when they are in their flower phase. Those lenses were not easy to source!
We have a Grasshopper Farms biker gang!
Paul lives next door and his daughters were happy to bike over and supervise the operation. They are so happy to be on the farm and we are so grateful for their energy!
We have a variety of "office" pictures this round. Why? Because this farm requires a lot of office work. More than most realize. Jason also updated his hat...nice handywork, Jason! My office pic is while I was working with the state on our annual audit/inspection. The process was smooth and resulted in (them saying) we passed with flying colors. It was fantastic feedback and only happened because of all of the hard work the team puts in each and every day to ensure we are not just compliant...but exceeding expectations.
Adam had a LONG day yesterday and was happy to use a cooler as a seat while he did the dishes after lunch. Thanks, Adam!
Quality control is still in full force...and almost done! Adam, Victor, Matt, and Austin also fired up the pre-roll machine and started getting that dialed in. More on that soon!
Von spends a lot of time in Room 1 of Building 2. He has a wonderful workspace. I happened upon some great drawings which I was so happy to discover that Andrew did in a matter of less than a minute. We have an artist in the family!
Our second well was finalized this week! This second well and pump house are going to take watering evolutions from 18 hours down to eight hours...or less. So much more efficient!
As we round out the week we find some outdoor plant care taking place. The first picture of Von near the plant he transplanted is from Monday and the second is from today. I am absolutely baffled with how much these plants have grown this week alone! They are SO happy and healthy! I walked out to see the plants on Monday and it was so clear (with absolutely no measuring) that they plants had grown so much by Wednesday and again by today!
We had more industry partner visitors this week. I also had a FaceTime call with the founder of Los Suenos Farms, an amazing farm in Colorado hailed as one of the best in the country. The consensus....we are doing things better than any other outdoor farm they have seen and our team is absolutely incredible. I know, I know. You might find yourself thinking that I am just highlighting the positive aspects of the visitors (and other things) this week. Fair. But, it is the truth. No sugar coating. No editing anything negative or challenging.
This is for real.
And you are on this ride.
With us.
We end with some drone shots Matt captured, a sunrise picture from this morning, and a drink from Shawn to remind all of us to celebrate each moment of each day we are blessed to enjoy on this third spinning rock from the sun.
We are blessed.
You. Me. All of us.
Have an amazing final June weekend!!
