At the end of a skinny dirt road in Western Massachusetts just south of the Vermont line, Deb Bix readied cannabis seedlings for planting season. She cut the bottom of the stems in two and snipped leaves from the "clones," letting them drop into an orange Home Depot bucket. This spring, the branchlets will be sowed into the dirt at Tree House Craft Cannabis, left to sprout 10 feet toward the sky — all greens and purples before being harvested, dried, weighed, packaged, and, eventually, smoked.
Bix can already envision that future, a hint of giddiness swirling in her voice. "Once they're in the ground," she said, "they're off."
Massachusetts cannabis is traditionally cultivated indoors, and skepticism abounds over whether outdoor farming is viable or even possible in the Bay State. Weed thrives in balmy, subtropical climates, not the frosty winters, unpredictable storms, and increasingly rainy summers here. But a growing group of regional cultivators are willing to invest in open-air cultivation, convinced that cannabis nurtured outdoors is better for the grower, the consumer, and the environment, too.
Twenty-two outdoor cannabis farms, including Tree House, now operate in the state, up from just one in 2019; around two dozen more have received provisional licenses to open in the near future, according to the state Cannabis Control Commission. Today, outdoor farming comprises nearly 40% of the 3.8 million square feet licensed for cannabis cultivation statewide.
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