The Sisters of the Valley are expanding into Oregon, partnering with long-time growers Emily Gogol and Ryan Burns, to produce the Sisters’ first Oregon-grown cannabis crop for the state’s licensed dispensary market.
The partnership grew out of a relationship that began more than a year ago, when Sisters attended one of Gogol's public classes on home cultivation in Los Angeles. Gogol later lectured at UC Merced, where the Sisters reconnected with her and invited her to visit their Central Valley farm. That visit eventually brought Gogol and her husband, Ryan, back to the Sisters’ farm and opened a conversation about what the two farming operations might accomplish together.
The Oregon partnership gives the Sisters something they have long wanted: access to a farm licensed to grow both hemp and high-THC cannabis, allowing their ceremonial cultivation practices to extend into Oregon’s regulated dispensary market. Those practices are part of what the Sisters call kosher cannabis — cannabis grown in clean soil, under the sun, subjected to ceremonial blessings throughout the growing season, lab tested as flower, and handled intentionally during packaging.
For the Sisters, the word blessing has a particular meaning. Their ceremonies are not intended to bless the land or the plants, which they regard as already pure and inherently sacred. Instead, the ceremonies place Mother Earth at the center and acknowledge that it is the people who are blessed — by the land, by the plants, and by the gifts they provide. The ceremonies are acts of gratitude.
In August, four Sisters traveled to Southern Oregon to formally begin the relationship, gathering at sunset to give thanks for the land and returning at sunrise to welcome and give thanks for the growing crop. During the visit, the Sisters also spent several days learning how Oregon growers and dispensaries operate. The Sisters were a bit surprised to learn that Oregon dispensaries still commonly sell flower deli-style from jars, alongside prepackaged products. Retail economics are relatively straightforward, and on the farm, Emily and Ryan have combined carefully developed genetics with tools and systems designed to reduce the labor traditionally associated with cultivation and harvest.
The Sisters will return to Southern Oregon in September for additional ceremonies as harvest approaches. Their first Oregon products are planned for dispensary shelves in November, including three strains of flower Sacred Grove, First Fire, and Returning Light. Their flower will be offered in prepackaged half-ounce and one-ounce formats, deli-style flower, and five-packs of king-cone pre-rolls.
Diamond Cannabis and Budz Superstore, with five locations in Southern Oregon, have already committed to carrying the Sisters’ Oregon products, with additional dispensary relationships now being developed.
