Onda Wellness Hemp Harvest at Casad Family Farms

About a year ago, I began research for a documentary about sustainable cannabis/hemp farms. Initially I was interested in women owned operations, however, as is the case with most documentaries, you don’t actually know where your questions will lead.

Naturally, the first person I called is the matriarch of @rancho_organics, the currently leader of three generations of sustainably focused central Californian cannabis hemp farmers. She shared that Cate Havstad Casad @havstadhatco and her family @casadfamilyfarms have a biodynamic farm growing cannabis hemp for @onda.wellness. That was all the info I needed to send me off on a trajectory made possible by @iamstephensmith, the founder of Onda Wellness. I am so grateful to Stephen for allowing us to bond so quickly around the excitement of this once a year harvest and inviting me to capture it all with my camera.

Within a week an a half, I was on a pandemic empty Alaska Airlines flight to Portland with all my trusty Canon C100 and favorite lenses jammed into my little Pelican case, double masked, and having no idea what I’d be shooting for three days. From experience I did know that it would probably involve very little sleep because I’d want many shots as the sun rose and set. And the sky would be that eerily dreamy orange pink due to the wildfires surrounding this rural, tight knit farming community just an hour north of Bend. The thought of shooting plants in that light excited me to no end.

A huge thank you to @onda.wellness and @casadfamilyfarms for allowing me to embed (literally - laying the truck bed was one of my favorite shots) with your crew during these nonstop 3 days before the rain came. I dream of going back someday to explore more and rekindle the harvest love affair.

Music by @toddhannigan