The Autumn Brands cannabis farm is a leafy haven of greenhouses flourishing with weed and lady bugs. There's a constant humdrum of fans and a subtle, yet unmistakable, smell to the operation.
On Friday, April 18, farm employees enjoyed free tacos as a celebration of the upcoming weekend holiday: 4/20. And a group of curious individuals, including this reporter from the Independent, enjoyed a tour of the Carpinteria-based family business. It was a peek into the somewhat controversial cannabis industry that has flourished in this small Central Coast beach town.
Autumn Brands was the lovechild of one pioneer in the California cannabis industry, Autumn Shelton, and a former flower-farming family, the Brands, joining forces. Thus: Autumn Brands. Led by a fifth-generation farmer from Holland, Hans Brand, the family made the switch from growing cut-flowers to their new enterprise cultivating a different kind of "flower." Shelton and the Brand family, including Hans and his children, Hanna and Johnny, led the tour on Friday.
One woman, dressed in all purple, arrived with a large group of seniors. She repeatedly expressed her gratitude for the company's Muscle and Joint Cannabis Salve — a topical blend of THC, CBD, magnesium, and arnica — which she said has been indispensable in easing her shoulder pain.
Read more at The Santa Barbara Independent