A Look At Mt. Baker Gardens
Mt. Baker Gardens is the grower behind some of Washington’s favorite strains, including the 2014 Dope Award People’s Choice winner Baked Cookies. Higher Leaf took a trip up north to visit their infamous farm in the shadow of beautiful Mt. Baker. Despite the farm's proximity to the mountain, the company actually had its name before they had a location locked down. You could say it was meant to be and the company now proudly brands their products with the silhouette of the nearby peak.
The first thing we noticed were vast swaths of outdoor plants followed by the greenhouses and buildings protecting indoor plants from the uncertainty of the elements. By diversifying their crops, the grower is able to harvest the power of natural sunshine as well as grow cannabis in highly controlled temperature settings. This dual system allows growers to experiment with different strains in different environments to suit any customer’s preference. It was a surreal experience to walk through the plants and see Alien Kush and Baked Cookies, some of our Budtender's favorite strains, in all the different stages of their grow cycle.
Inside one of those buildings is carefully engineered vertical grow marijuana system perfected by the Mt. Baker Gardens staff. Each hexagon cage houses over 150 individual plants surrounding 360 degrees of grow lights to offer the optimum environment for the young marijuana. The sight of the glowing structures was eerie and beautiful in the otherwise unlit warehouse. The potential yield of each structure is staggering once we calculated that the contents of the warehouse will one day equal several hundred pounds of premium marijuana at harvest.
Across the property were a row of greenhouses, full of plants just nearing harvest and others already stripped of their buds. Each greenhouse structure had its own unique smell depending on the strains living inside and we almost couldn't bear to leave the area. The scents ranged from musky and sweet to piney and citrusy. Plants about to be harvested looked healthy and vibrant in their cozy home, but their buds would soon be delicately hand picked to protect the trichomes and brought to another building for curing.
Our senses were assaulted with the smell and taste of curing cannabis on the tongue the moment we entered the drying room. Ropes of recently harvested buds filled the warehouse in all stages of drying. Team members at the farm will hand trim the fully cured bud in the upstairs trimming room. Luckily for us the room was empty for our tour and bag after bag of bud sat waiting for trimming or processing. Other bins included packaged bags of product ready for delivery, including Grape God, another favorite of the Higher Leaf staff. After meeting their team and getting an inside look at their farm it's easy to see that everyone at Mt. Baker Gardens is dedicated to their craft and will continue to provide premium bud to the Washington market year round.
