Visiting a Craft Cannabis Hemp farm in Northern Illinois
A beautiful autumn light shows through a diffusion of a thin cloud cover, guiding me across familiar land. Petals are fallen from the prairie flowers and the crowns of the maple trees are starting to turn from the green-blue-red, bottom to the top. The creek seems to be moving high and fast through the fading oak savanna as I cross the bridge and follow the road along its western shore. I grew up here, in Kane County, Illinois.
This area, like much of Illinois, is heavily agrarian. Agriculture dominates in the form of corn, soy, landscape nurseries with thousands of neatly ordered trees and shrubs, and as I turn onto the gravel driveway and drive a few hundred yards, I can begin to make out lush plots of huge, healthy, budding Cannabis hemp.
I park my truck facing a huge, open barn, full of drying plants. Immediately I’m greeted by a smiling Kevin Blomberg. He is soft spoken and reserved, yet eager to answer my questions, the first of which “What beautiful piece of land!” I exclaimed, was answered with the proud type of smile of acknowledgement and a shallow nod that was nothing but humble.
“This land belongs to my business partner, Rob” Kevin tells me. “This is about 100 acres of USDA certified organic land, most of it being native species prairie we’ve spent tens of thousands to plant and maintain.”
Kevin and Rob are partners in a new company called The Illinois Hemp Project. Before this visit I learned from Kevin that they are aiming at growing hemp for CBD in a very intensive and hands on way, with an aim for hand-crafted, organic quality.
Looking around I take it all in, being out in the prairie like this brings back vivid memories of youth, and adolescence full of exploration and maybe a few attempts at growing my own ‘prairie flowers’.
“How has your season been going?” I ask.
“Oh, so so, you know? This spring, it was wet. I’m sure you know that part though.” Kevin tells me. “We weren’t able to put the plants in the ground until late June.”
From May 2018-April 2019 the United States experienced the wettest 12 months in history. May 2019 experienced the 2nd wettest month in recorded US history. This means that planting was delayed, and when planting was finally able to reasonably begin rain and storms continued to bring some trouble.
Kevin, though, does not seem to be to distraught over the matter. As he began explaining he almost seemed more pleased with the trials he was engaged in.
Finding The Proper Genetics
Walking towards a large greenhouse adjacent to a number of 7-8 foot tall hoop houses Kevin explains to me, “This year is more of a test for us. With these genetics being untested in this soil and climate, we couldn’t be totally sure we would have any harvest at all, let alone a harvest of quality flower.”
“This year has been primarily genetic sifting, we started out with a few hundred seeds, sourced from some of the most reputable seed producers in the US right now, ran them indoors, stress tested all of them under different variables, randomly changing these variables to pretty extreme conditions, and took note,” he says as he guides me into the first hoop house. “Here’s a few of our Cherry Wine selections, these are fire.”
As soon as we obtained our license I began the pheno hunt on very pure lines of Berry Blossom and cherry wine which were created by kaya creations, I ran 140 seeds of each strain. i then eliminated any weaklings right away, then moved on to stress test.
Exposing the plants to high heat and humidity one day then cold dry temperatures the next, off and on for 10 days and eliminated any plants that showed signs of stress. Then I began taking cuts for clones and I made sure to take a cut off each plant each day for a week straight. I was then able to eliminate a few more that didn’t bounce back right away. After that, it was off to flower where I continued to stress them out by breaking branches and making Cuts here and there so I could weave any phenotypes that displayed hermaphrodite traits.
Then went on further into flower and slowly eliminated any plants that displayed too much of a hemp characteristic… kept going and tested at day 42 and then again at 8 weeks! I took into account test results ( plants that tested under 0.399 total THC) along with CBD:THC ratios, stem thickness, bud structure and terp profiles. what I had sorted out at the end where my four best cherry wine all with 55 or 60:1 ratios with no detectable Delta 9 and 4 best Berry blossoms which where very high in CBD but tested between .4 and .7 percent THCA and no detectable Delta 9.
We made two Rounds of cuts off of the original clones we took of those 8 phenos and planted them in sections in our field so that we could put them up to the real test… The Great Outdoors! Which is our final step in the elimination process. We also ran a small section of Umpqua and created some seeds stock for further purification later.
Umpqua looked good and smells just like Hindu Kush but its a very unstable strain and needs to be refined a little more! Three very different phenotypes in the batch in the photoperiod category Alone… some went into flower early almost like an Autoflower, others flipped and flowered really quick starting around August 8th, and some are just starting to flower now!
Kevin, from the Illinois Hemp Project shared a wealth of info on his selection process.
Ideally Non-Ideal
Being the first year for hemp planting to take place in decades in Illinois farmers are using genetics that have been worked for a number of years out west, mainly in Oregon and Colorado. While people with deep and vast knowledge in plant breeding and large scale cultivation are doing some great work in bringing stable genetics to market, they are still untested in the wet, hot, humid, and often windy Illinois climate.
“We made multiple selections from each set of seeds we sprouted, narrowing down from hundreds to only a few after we had finished an indoor grow.” Kevin told me as I gazed through my viewfinder to a beautifully sativa looking Cherry Wine. “Its funny, though, what seemed to perform best inside is performing less than ideal out here, and visa versa.”
“So everything out here is grown from clone?” I ask as we walk towards a lone plant standing next to a flag one might wave at an Independence Day parade.
“Yep. This one little guy we are walking up to is our favorite Umpqua phenotype. It was pollinated nearly two months ago and it is the last one standing, we’re just waiting for seeds to ripen as they take a bit longer to mature than usable flower without the seeds.” Kevin tells me.
Mixed feelings go in and out of my mind as I look upon the plant next to the flag. A history of violent enforcement against this plant and the people that grow it, and the present time leading us to a future full of hope and optimism.
“So have you had any issues with the local law enforcement or any rudeness from the neighbors or municipality?” I ask him, with imagery of an American cannabis utopia darting across my minds eye not infrequently.
“Nah, I don’t think so…” He pauses and jogs his memory, “…I might have seen a sheriff drive by kind of slow, maybe? I don’t know, but nah, no issues”
This, to me, is incredible. It is a sign of the times. The thought brings me comfort, the thought brings an odd form of contentment. We are witnessing a beautiful shift moving faster than plant speed and it feels so good.
Walking across the field to more plots of hundreds of plants, I begin to realize that these things are some absolute units. These massive hemp plants are looking vibrant and healthy, pushing into their final week or two of life. The aroma wafts and flows, that great green olfactory hue. These plants were put in the ground in late may and it showed.
“So what, would you say, were your biggest issues this year?” I asked Kevin.
“Hemp borers and a few aphids early on were the only pest we experienced. They weren’t too bad, though thanks to the organic controls we put in place” Kevin told me in regards to pests. “We don’t spray while the plants are flowering so we focused on deploying ladybugs and green lacewing as a bio-control on a regular basis, those lacewing are voracious and keep soft bodied pests in check very well. They are very effective but the don’t get each one. The worms that slip past bore into the flowers and the stems and usually that will mean the better part of that flower is compromised and unsalable due to the insect damage and subsequent botrytis infection.”
“Our other biggest issue was wind, and of course all the water.” Kevin explained while walking me towards a couple of other plants. “See this one, wind totally knocked it down.” he says while pointing out a plant that almost seemed to be growing along the ground like some sort of running plant.
“And this one, the wind and the water just really stressed out the root system.” He points to a plant that looks to have ALL the deficiencies. “I really wanted to show you this one because it may be useful to other farmers as they try to diagnose deficiencies in a plant while in reality all the cold, wind, and rain just never let this plant catch up. It can really be a headache to diagnose this issue.”
We take several long moments to take in the scenery, and breathe in the fresh air. I take time to look at all the variations in phenotypes and cultivars, noting the morphology and subtle differences in all the plants. We glance to one another, occasionally trading smiles and a laugh or two, and that slight head nod of affirmation that this is something truly special to be here right now, watching an American tradition become resurrected and continued after nearly a century of oppression. A history nearly squashed comes alive, again.
Working With Nature, Using Organics
With a slight reluctance on my part due to the favorable scenery, we head back to the large barn where Kevin’s kind and hard working crew are processing their recently harvested Umpqua. Plants are hung to dry and then only the most premium top flowers are saved to be slow dried in a walk-in cooler. These buds will be trimmed only once the product is ordered, and then sold for use in at-home extractions or for smoking. The rest of the more undesirable parts of the plant are stripped from the stem and sold as bulk bio-mass to processors.
On the walk back I inquire about the inputs they used on the farm this year. Nutrients, amendments, etc.
Kevin is adamant about keeping this farm 100% organic, knowing that product quality and shelf life hinge on using organic inputs, telling me ” We kept it simple as far as feeding goes. We went with OMRI listed Botanicare Pure Grow granular and Pure Bloom granular which cost a little bit more than most but was totally worth it. We filled the hole with it when we planted and then fed every 3 weeks till September and then stopped feeding.”
One of his favorite products has been Regalia from Marone BioInnovations. “We used Regalia as a root drench. They actually have a product that is already labeled for use on hemp which is hard to find at this time and it worked great for keeping fungus and mold at bay and improving overall plant vitality” With all the risk of pythium, fusarium, botrytis, and powdery mildew, I can also attest that Regalia will really help safeguard your crop.
Proper Smoke
Once we reach the barn I get a chance talk with Rob and the rest of the crew for a little bit, laughing and enjoying the beautiful day and before too long Kevin pops back out with a big ol’ cone of rolled up Umpqua.
“This one’s that bubblegum, spark it up.” Kevin hands me the cone.
It lights well and burns great. Super smooth smoke and a wonderful, full, robust flavor and mouthfeel. I pass it to my left and ask Kevin if he has any words of advice for other farmers growing hemp.
“Genetics. Don’t slack on genetics. Get good seeds. There are a lot of fly-by-night seed makers out there. Do your research, and invest in good beans. While a dollar a seed may seem great, there is good reason why some genetics cost four, five, even six dollars a seed. Invest in good genetics and spend lots of time in the garden.” He tells me as he hands me a beautiful, healthy, green bud labeled ‘CBD Umpqua’, “Try this with some of your medical cannabis from the dispensary, let me know what you think.”
With a sly smile and a handshake he sends me on my way.
I must say that mixing organic hemp flower grown in Illinois along with my medicinal and recreational cannabis may become one of my favorite new things, as after getting home I gave myself a little bit of time to twist up a J of some Chemdog x C99 with some Umpqua and found the experience to be top notch. It left me thinking that being able to mix your CBD rich flowers with your THC rich flowers is such a great way to find new effects and mixtures that may really work best for each individual. It led me to ponder on the types of blends creative heads could really find joy in exploring, and it helped me once again realize how vast and promising these future days ahead of us may be.
Keep on the lookout for flower from this years crop at Illinois Hemp Project, as well as keep close watch for genetics to be made available by Illinois Hemp Project to other licensed hemp farmers.
To reach Kevin at The Illinois Hemp Project email-cannabinoidsbydesign@yahoo.com
To find out how to more about the state of Illinois’ very easy to navigate hemp program, visit https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/agr/Plants/Pages/Industrial-Hemp.aspx
