Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/599676
7 4 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t Rooted in Heritage Napa and Sonoma are to wine as Humboldt and Mendocino are to cannabis. California's superior agricultural advantages enable these two industries to thrive and their regions to compete on a national (and even global) scale. Cannabis from various regions of the Emerald Triangle has the qualitative differentiation found when comparing a Cabernet from St. Helena in Napa to one from Alexander Valley in Sonoma. Each terroir produces a distinct style, flavor, and experience. Sophisticated cultiva- tors understand the impact of weather and soil on their crop, and how to leverage attributes of each microclimate with complementary strains and adapted growing techniques—factors especially relevant when cultivat- ing cannabis outdoors and in greenhouses, as opposed to in controlled indoor farming environments. Since the late '60s, the Emerald Triangle has been home to thousands of farmers whose families have been cultivating cannabis for multiple generations. One such farmer is Tim Blake, founder of The Emerald Cup and Healing Harvest Farms in Mendocino County. Tim has become a cultural icon of California cannabis and has elevated the conversa- tion for organic, sungrown cannabis. The Emerald Cup sets the stage (quite literally) for cultivators to showcase their product to be judged for purity, potency, and overall quality. The event attracts over 20,000 attendees and nearly a thousand applicants competing for the highly coveted Emerald Cup awards. The knowledge and expertise in this region are second to none, which is why the Emerald Triangle yields some of the biggest plants and some of the self-proclaimed best cannabis, with diverse terpene (fragrance and flavor) profiles and high concentrations of desired cannabinoids. Each known genetic strain has a cannabinoid profile (likened to the plant's DNA) indicated by specific levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabi- Tim Blake has become a cultural icon and thought leader in the California cannabis community. Leo Stone is a well-known breeder of diverse strains of seeds.