Emerald Cup Wrap-up. Mendocino perspective.

The Emerald Cup is a cannabis competition for outdoor organic grows. An event of interest to many Mendocino residents. Vital to some. The Emerald Cup refers to the area known as the Emerald Triangle consisting of Humboldt, Trinity and Mendocino counties.

Uggs, flip-flops, sandals, boots, running shoes, one pair of go-go boots and at least one horribly out of place pair of spiked heels. People from all walks of life attended the 10th annual Emerald Cup in Santa Rosa Dec 14-15. Yes but who won the flowers competition? Santa Rosa? Huh? Yes you read that right, The 2013 Emerald Cup was in Santa Rosa this year. The Emerald Cup gaining official prairie dog status. Popping its head up above ground for the first time. Emerald Cup organizers wanted to go a little more mainstream. Attract more Bay Area participants. They did that with 4000-5000 people attending the two day event. Okay cool, but who won the flowers competition?  Seemed that knowing who won the flowers competition was ultimately what mattered most. 

Drum roll. And the winner is Darin, Flower: Lemon Skunk, Genetics: DNA Lemon Skunk, Root: Clone, Location: Monterey. Wait, what? The winner is from Monterey? Puzzled looks. Cannery Row not Comptche? The Aquarium Triangle, not the Emerald Triangle? This is not the natural order of the world. The winner is from Monterey?! Prepare for the Zombie apocalypse. An Emerald Cup winner from Monterey County is harder to wrap your head around than a Wal-Mart in Philo. Actually there is a Wal-Mart in Philo, its invisible (shh don't tell), but thats besides the point. Well the damage wasn't too bad for the Mendo locals, with Mendocino grows taking 9 of the top 20 spots in the flowers division, including spots  3, 4 & 5. Mean Gene's Cherry Limeade was at #3. Consensus opinion: Its the shit! Given that there were a total of 257 flower entries from all over California, a top 3 finish is fairly impressive. 10 years ago in the inaugural Emerald Cup there were only 23 entries. Top 20 list of winners below. Note that an entry from Orange County made the top 20 list. They say it was a White Fire OG Kush. Cynical speculation was it was really an Nixon/Skunk cross. Inbreds!

Another Mendocino entry placing 3rd was Taylor from T. Beezle farms. Taylor was entered in the solventless hash (concentrates) competition. Taylor used Sour Diesel, a Mendo phenotype to make the concentrate. Placing 3rd broke Taylor's two year winning streak in the category. Taylor was philosophical, announcing his retirement from the competition in order to become a judge. For some background, solventless hash is a concentrate made without solvents. No chemicals at all. There is no solvent competition at The Emerald cup. Only solventless. Also Flowers must be from OUTDOOR, organically grown plants. No pesticides, no chemicals. Simple Emerald Cup philosophy. Organic or nothing. Much respect.
 
While the general focus was on the flowers competition, there was much more than that at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. All-star panels. Music. Hundreds of vendor booths featuring everything from trimmers to compost. Pot attorneys. A "215" smoking area for those holding medical "recs". Lab Services. Extraction machines. Advocacy/Awareness groups such as Americans for Safe Access & ProjectCBD. AVA contributor and O'Shaugnessys managing editor, Fred Gardner, was a member of at least two panels. And as a postscript to Freds last AVA story, Dennis Peron received a lifetime achievement award, then promptly married his partner of 28 years, John Entwhistle. Awww.

Despite a now above ground status, there was no perceptible law enforcement presence at the Cup. The mood was serene, blissful and at times very serious with deep discussions about treatments for medical conditions taking place. Michelle Sexton was there. Michelle is a San Diego based naturopath who helped author the very recently released American Herbal Pharmacopeia (AHP) cannabis monograph. This monograph sets definitive quality assurance standards for growers, dispensaries and labs. Something desperately needed in the opinion of this author. One microbial contaminated strain causing sickness from one lax dispensary, could set the medical marijuana industry back immeasurably. The monograph sets standards that, if followed, would make contaminated strains in the supply chain a remote possibility. AHP in conjunction with Americans for Safe Access have comprehensive certification plans in this coming year. Michelle spent considerable time sitting with Martin A Lee. Martin is a Healdsburg resident, respected author (Smoke Signals) and co-founder of ProjectCBD along with Fred Gardner. CBD is second only to the well-known THC as the most prevalent cannabinoid in marijuana. CBD is non-psychoactive and is gaining increasing medical attention. CBD is what is being given to children with severe epilepsy demonstrating spectacular results. Some kids going from 300 seizures a week to seizure free in a matter of days. CBD has a wide range of medical applications. A number of the dispensary collectives were wandering through the exhibits trying to find reliable access to CBD rich products. Even Harborside, the big big dispensary in Oakland was making discrete inquiries. You can expect that some local growers will be introducing CBD rich strains into their crops soon if they haven't already. And breeders will be looking to breed genetically stable CBD rich strains. THCV, a cousin of THC, will also be getting some attention soon due to its anti-obesity and anti-diabetic properties. Thats THCV not THC.

With all the big personalities eg. Grand Daddy Mike riding a segue, er segway, wearing a coonskin cap and Guy Fawkes mask as well as big egos floating through the Cup, one very unassuming woman known only as Brandy stood out. Really stood out. While Brandy initially appeared as just another blissful vaped out participant, it quickly became clear, she was a monster intellect. Brandy recently graduated from Johns Hopkins with a Phd in Biophysics. She has done 3d mappings of the 300 or so ion channels in the human body. Looking at ion channel functionality. Many researchers don't know how medical marijuana works on cancer, epilepsy or as an anxiolytic (anti-anxiety). THC binds to what are called CB receptors in the human body. Other cannaninoids don't bind to CB receptors, yet still have scientifically well-documented therapeutic effects. It is theorized they may be working in the human body by affecting ion channel conductance. Meaning Brandys research may provide significant breakthroughs on how medical marijuana works which will in turn optimize efficacy. There was at least one attendee at the CUP who firmly believed that Brandy could win a Nobel prize someday for her work with medical marijuana. Having met her and talked to her, it almost seems pre-ordained.

So that was the Emerald Cup. Fun. Blissful. Competitive. And often serious.  Not completely grown-up but who would attend if it was?

 
2013 - Top 20

Place: Contestant - Flower - Genetics - Root - County

1st place: Darin - Lemon Skunk - DNA Lemon Skunk - Clone - Monterey

2nd Place: Sonoma City Collective - Cherry Cola - Cherry Cola - Clone - Sonoma

3rd place: Mean Gene - Cherry Limeade #6 - xxx - Seed - Mendocino

4th place: Aficionado Seeds - Royal Sour - SD x Purple Kush x Highland Afgani - Seed - Mendocino

5th place: Kirt - Larry OG - OG Pheno Type - Clone - Mendocino

6th place: Heidi - Girl Scout Cookie - O.G. x Durban F1 - Clone - Sonoma

7th place: Emerald Triangle Seeds - Atomica OG - Pheno 3 - Haze x Blueberry x Urkle x TW x OG - Seed - Trinity

8th place: Stoney Creek Libations - Sour Strawberry - Sour Bubble x Strawberry Cough x SD - Seed - Butte

9th place: XXX - Sherbet - xxx - Clone - Mendocino

10th place: Fuzzy - Sugaree - SK5 x Blue Widdow x KC36 - Clone - Mendocino

11th place: Camp Cool Collective - Reverend Rons Goo - The Goo x Gold Rush - Clone - Mendocino

12th place: Lady Ele & Leo - Cherry Pie Kush - OG x Purple Urkle x Durban Poison - Clone - Mendocino

13th place: Emerald Triangle Seeds - Chuckfoot - Landrace Afgan x BB Haze x TW x OG x Urkle - Seed - Trinity

14th place: SoHum Concentrate - Platinum GSC - Brainstorm Haze X Chem Dawg - Clone - Humboldt

15th place: 3rd Gen Family - Girl Scout Cookie - G.S.C. - Clone - Mendocino

16th place: John C. - Angry Baby OG - Old School OG - Clone - Trinity

17th place: Bohemia Botanica - Pineapple - xxx - Clone - Mendocino

18th place: John C - Cry Baby OG - Coveted Old School OG - Clone - Trinity

19th place: NorStar Genetics - Fire OG - Original Nepali OG - Clone - Sonoma

20th place: Kush Industries - White Fire OG Kush - xxx - Clone - Orange