Learn More About 502 Producer Lilac City Gardens

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Ravens are the most referenced bird in all of Shakespear’s works and are referenced in cultures all around the world for their mischevious ways. Now animal cognition researchers from Sweden have proved their abilities at pre-planning tasks and gratification delay are as good or better than human children and great apes, National Geographic reports. These clever,  multi-faceted birds have become the symbol of Lilac City Gardens, a recreational cannabis producer in the outskirts of Spokane, Washington.  The team behind Lilac City Gardens chose the raven as their mascot because it’s a problem-solving messenger bird that everyone can relate to in a different way. Their slogan “give em the bird,” embodies the bird’s and cannabis plants rebellious nature.  

Lilac City is the official nickname for Spokane and is a fitting name for the setting of the Airway Heights foothills around the Spokane Intl. Airport. Eastern Washington’s beauty is thrown in your face on the drive to their facility. The facility is surrounded by farmland and open fields, you can see Spokane in the distance, look West and you can make out the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

The facility itself looks like a two-story shop/house combo. The groundskeeper was edging the grass with a weed-wacker under a bright sun. The Rhymesayers hip-hop group Atmosphere was knocking their facility sound system. Hearing one of my favorite artists over the speakers put a smile on my face and a groove in my step before I saw a single cannabis plant.

I was greeted by Libby, Rocky, Chris and Devin, several members of Lilac City Gardens. Libby, Rocky, and Chris also happen to be siblings. Three weeks ago, Libby quit her job in pet retail to work as Team Lilac’s full-time Social Media Manager. Chris started around a year ago and is one of the lead Artisan Growers, Rocky is a team veteran who handles all of the daily operations and Devin has been the Processing Manager for over two years and the team designated “Queen Chiefer,” according to her co-workers. Team chemistry is important to Lilac City Gardens and as Rocky signs every invoice as Team Lilac to signal this.

Lilac City Gardens Comes Correct With Their Indoor Grown Cannabis

Far Left: Rocky, Far Right: Chris, Second To Far Right: Libby, Third To Far Right, Devin

Lilac City Gardens is an official 502 sponsor of the Spokane Knitting Factory. Music is a definite side passion of Team Lilac’s and their taste in underground hip-hop made that apparent. During work, Devin likes listening to The Notorious B.I.G. and Atmosphere while Libby prefers math rock and queer punk.

Lilac City Gardens cut their first clones in Washington’s medical marijuana industry. When they obtained a recreational license in Nov. 2014, the goals didn’t change much. Growing “high caliber” medical marijuana for recreational customers using their tier-two license, Rocky said. Sticking closely to their medical grow techniques helped Lilac City Gardens stay alive in the early stages of their switch to recreational. Keeping each room sparsely populated leaving space for each plant to be cared for individually was and still is key to their success.

Since they’re only producing around 50 pounds of cannabis per month, Team Lilac makes sure every single plant gets ample amounts of attention by keeping their grow rooms well below capacity. There is a walking path to goes to every plant, and this keeps plants and employees happy. The plants love the extra attention and caring for the plants is what makes this job worthwhile for the growers.

Lilac City Gardens Comes Correct With Their Indoor Grown Cannabis

” I like happy plants,” Chris said. Each plant’s happy life begins as an aeroponically grown clone that is chopped from one of their mother plants. Many of their strains are created in-house through extensive phenotype hunts. Lilac City Gardens’ has created an original lineup that has fan favorites, industry staples, and original creations.  Epoxy, Glueberry #1, Sour Berry, Montana Silver Tip, Cherry Cookie, God’s Gift, Blue Dream, Big Sky Blueberry, L.A. Confidential, Granddaddy Purple and UW Purple have all been rotated through their garden.

Once the root systems are fully developed in the aeroponics, the plants are transferred into Roots Organic soil. This soil is comprised of all organic materials like bat guano, premium earthworm castings, fish bone meal, feather meal, green sand, mycorrhizae, glacial rock dust, soybean meal and humic acid. Once in the soil, the plant begins its eight-week growing cycle. Each room has a specific climate controlled atmosphere depending on the strains housed inside. Eventually, each room will house a single strain so the strain-specific climate controls can be assigned to every single room. 

While growing the plants can become fairly standard busy work, strain selection, breeding, and phenohunts are what keeps the team hungry. The search for that next strain and “creating things that only exist here” is where the real passion lies, Rocky says.

Some of these creations include Glueberry #1, a new take on a GG strain. Glueberry is a cross between Epoxy (GG5) and Berry White. Phenotype #1 was chosen because it smells like sour spices with grape juice and retained both parents potent qualities. Team Lilac is also working on a UW Purp and Face Off OG cross and a Cherry Cookie cross that is coming out sometime in the future.

Lilac City Gardens Comes Correct With Their Indoor Grown Cannabis Phenohunts are an arduous process can take up to a year and then the strain has to be worked into the menu.  The strain menu is one of the hardest things to capture, and much of it based on sales. Some strains develop cult followings and require consistent batches, and rotating in new strains is carefully considered. Lilac would much rather create their own strains rather than compete with the trends.

Sour Berry and Montana Silver Tip are two strains that captured audiences for different reasons. Sour Berry is a Blueberry and NYC Diesel cross. It’s a flavorful and mellow hybrid. Montana Silver Tip produces big beautiful flowers that have indigo colors and high THC numbers, with tests reaching over 25 percent cannabinoids.  The Cherry Cookie strain was introduced to the menu because Team Lilac wanted to give fans their take on a Cookies (GSC) strain. The sour cherry terpenes are sharp and the sativa qualities snap your brain awake, even though testing numbers are low. Each strain has its own defining traits and brings plays a unique role in the lineup.

“Lilac is my home away from home my second family. I get to wake up every morning and work with some of my best friends and my favorite flower. It’s always sunny and 70 degrees so I’m in a good mood. We all have each other’s backs. And we really are a family. It’s important to get up and do what you love every day and I get to do that working for Lilac City Garden,” Devin

Lilac City Gardens Comes Correct With Their Indoor Grown Cannabis The UW Purp strain’s backstory is one of urban legend. The lore of UW Purp starts at the University of Washington’s medical marijuana research lab sometime between the 1970’s and 1990’s. A clone was taken from one of the plants in the lab and spread amongst the people. The colors of the flower reflect the name and is a relaxing indica. Rocky isn’t sure if the UW Purp lore is true, but it’s fun and exciting to believe so. This strain is a definite fan favorite and  Chris’ favorite.

Epoxy is Team Lilac’s counter-punch to the GG #4 saturation. It’s created from two strong Glue phenotypes and provides powerful relaxing qualities. Epoxy is Libby and Devin’s favorite strain in the garden. The combination of the smell and relaxing effects make it a First-Team All-Star. Burning through bong bowls of Epoxy and listening to podcasts is something they both have in common. Devin also likes packing what she calls a “dessert bowl,” which consists of one-part flower, one-part oil and one-part kief stacked on top of each other like a three-tier wedding cake.

Even wildly varying musical tastes don’t dim the team chemistry. While there is a definite chain of command within the facility, everyone on Team Lilac is equal. When someone needs help trimming, packaging, moving plants, etc. another member steps up to get the job done. When everyone clicks we “feel unstoppable,” they said.

Learn More About 502 Producer Lilac City Gardens

The Best Pot Shop in Everett!

KushMart opened in November 2014 and has been a top-ranked recreational pot shop since day 1. We’re located at 6309 Evergreen Way STE C minutes off of Interstate 5. With ample parking, you will be in and out in no time and with our amazing selection and best prices you will have a smile on your face.

Adults 21 and over can purchase up to one ounce of usable cannabis flower, 16 ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, 72 ounces of cannabis drinkables, and 7 grams of cannabis concentrates.

If you’re a registered medical cannabis patient, the limits are:

Three ounces of usable cannabis flower, forty-eight ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, two hundred sixteen ounces of cannabis drinkables, and twenty-one grams of cannabis concentrates, per the Washington State Department of Health.

ORDER LILAC CITY GARDENS  ONLINE NOW   USING KUSHMART’S ONLINE MENU SYSTEM. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR CART

Learn More About Western Cultured Cannabis And How It’s Grown

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Western Cultured cannabis was cultivated to elevate these moments, to help you regain part of your primal connection while you’re traipsing through the Pacific Northwest and its many different landforms, whether its the sagebrush deserts of the Columbia Basin, or the soaked wetlands of the Olympic Peninsula.

Your legs are burning as you crest the top of a steep hill.  You can feel sweat pooling between your backpack and your shirt as you slide off your pack and set it on the ground. Stopping for a break, the surrounding setting is something to behold. Tall pine trees surround you and stretch into the grey sky and sway slightly with the breeze. Greenery stretches out on all sides, as far as the eye can see.  When you kneel down to pull out a head-stash and pipe for a smoke break, dew from the leaves high above drips down your neck.

A squirrel runs across the trail in front you and scrurries up one the great trees. Once the bowl is loaded and fire is put to flower, time seems to slow down. The beautiful scenery becomes more apparent as the smoke leaves your lungs through your nostrils. Western Cultured cannabis was cultivated to elevate these moments, to help you regain part of your primal connection while you’re traipsing through the Pacific Northwest and its many different landforms.

 

Western Cultured Cannabis Is Grown For The Avid Outdoorsman

Western Cultured is a cannabis producer that is located  Arlington. Arlington is in the northern quadrant of Snohomish County and defined by open farmlands and the Cascade Mountains standing tall in the backdrop. Western Cultured has a small facility tucked away in a discreet industrial complex. Discreet until you pull up and smell dank plants, the smell that enveloped the entire parking lot.

Matt Gaffin, an owner of Western Cultured welcomed us and explained that through the brand’s quick growth, they’ve remained completely hands-on with their growing process. From mixing special nutrient concoctions to watering clones and trimming cured flowers before they’re packaged, these flowers get love until they’re shipped to retail. They’re producing 100 pounds of cannabis per month, impressive considering their team is only six members strong: Gaffin, Ben, Kirby, Phillip, Rori, and Randy. Growing cannabis is a passion project and nobody has any problem staying late or coming in extra days to “just get the job done.” Incubating team chemistry is crucial to their success. Gaffin believes they wouldn’t be this successful if the team wasn’t bonded as they are.

Team Western Cultured starting from the left: Phillip, Kirby, Rori, Matt (kneeling) Randy, and Ben

“Worry about the people. not the plants, Gaffin said.”

Western Cultured harvests on a weekly basis. Each member on the team is assigned to a specific part of the cycle they’re “not allowed out of the room,” Gaffin said with a wily grin on his face. The operation flows sort of like a restaurant line. The strains in those rooms are based mainly on two things, sales, and the flavor wheel.

Western Cultured cannabis is all centered around their terpene flavor wheel.  A color-coordinated wheel that associates commonly found terpenes to four common cannabis flavor profiles: earthy is green, sour is yellow, spicy is red, and sweet is blue. All of their strains coordinate with their primary flavor. For example, Dutch Treat is sour, PermaFrost is spicy, Island Breeze is sweet and Jurassic OG is earthy. Each flavor/color has six commonly associated terpenes. The website lists each strains main terpenes as well.

All of their strains are cared for slightly different to keep them all happy.  Cannabis strains have different attributes when it comes to looks, flavor, smell, and effect. Bringing out each strains specific flavors and effects to the fullest requires special attention. This even includes pruning every strain in a specific way. Gaffin believes trimming is a step many people can over-look or under-appreciate. Trimming strains in a specific way push nutrients to other parts of the plant, increasing root size, branch size, density, and other attributes. Trimming correctly also allows light to travel down below the canopy, which dramatically increases the trunk/base of each plant and lets the lower flowers develop like the flowers at the top of the plant.

Western Cultured’s strain lineup has an adventurous feel to it. Seatown Lemon Haze, Jurassic OGK, Cascade Connie, Island Breeze, PermaFrost and Kraken Black Pepper are many of their staple northwest themed strains. Seatown Lemon Haze is their cut of Super Lemon Haze and it has captured a strong audience. Seatown Lemon Haze has energetic effects that stimulate creativity and motivation. This strain is great for beginners because it’s not going to put the user to sleep and they can enjoy and practice navigating reality while under the influence of cannabis.

The team “lives and breaths” to take care of these strains and deliver them to the public. There are several more strain on the way that the team is excited about. Cinex is one of them, it’s a tall and vibrant purple flower that stands out in the garden. Citrus Pez is another exciting creation that was one of the team’s pet projects, it’s Lemon Meringue crossed with Pez, which is descendant from Afghani and Pakistani genetics. Citrus Pez’s terpene profile is quite memorable. Another strain that is waiting to accompany you and aid your next Washinton adventure.

The strain that keeps on giving. 🍋 #LightUpTheMoment

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The Best Pot Shop in Everett!

KushMart opened in November 2014 and has been a top-ranked recreational pot shop since day 1. We’re located at 6309 Evergreen Way STE C minutes off of Interstate 5. With ample parking, you will be in and out in no time and with our amazing selection and best prices you will have a smile on your face.

Adults 21 and over can purchase up to one ounce of usable cannabis flower, 16 ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, 72 ounces of cannabis drinkables, and 7 grams of cannabis concentrates.

If you’re a registered medical cannabis patient, the limits are:

Three ounces of usable cannabis flower, forty-eight ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, two hundred sixteen ounces of cannabis drinkables, and twenty-one grams of cannabis concentrates, per the Washington State Department of Health.

ORDER WESTERN CULTURED CANNABIS ONLINE NOW   USING KUSHMART’S ONLINE MENU SYSTEM. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR CART

The Orgrow Farm In Moxee Washington Made Me Feel Like A Kid Again

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The hop industry has been an integral part of the Moxee Valley for over 85 years, it took off when alcohol prohibition ended in 1933. Many hop operations are third or fourth generation family owned. Orgrow, one of the states largest cannabis producers has been operating since 2014. Their business has created a culture that honors Moxee’s hop farming history. The team at Orgrow is growing cannabis, post-prohibition, just like the OG hop farmers of the 1930’s.

Moxee, Washington is a small town located in Yakima County in spacious Central Washington. The area is little known to most but is a vital agricultural ground zero for the beer industry. Moxee is known as the hop capital of the world, the area produces around one-third of the world’s hop supply.

Orgrow’s facility is at the end of a dirt road, surrounded by hop farms and spacious parcels of land. The facility itself was once a flower processing facility for the retail giant Costco. It’s a large, unassuming building with triangular roofs and huge garage doors on the front, and the main entrance is similar to an office building.  After signing in, our tour host Mario Gonzales, head of Orgrow’s sales and media,  walked us upstairs through a door, the view behind that door is something that I will never forget.

The Orgrow Farm In Moxee Washington Made Me Feel Like A Kid Again

When I walked into Orgrow’s main bay, I felt like James Franco’s character Sal from “Pineapple Express,” who just stumbled onto stoner El Dorado. With over 300 lights in the main room alone, the facility also houses 5 additional flowering rooms, a towering curing bay with flower strung up on pulley systems, reaching up 20-foot tall ceilings. A concentrate laboratory, pheno-hunt/experiment bay and an outdoor grow with 900 plants in the ground. There’s even a full-size basketball hoop in one of the empty bays, a callback to Gonzalez’s days spent stoned, draining three’s during basketball practice.

Gonzalez took his first bong rip out of a six-foot bong before high-school basketball practice (and he remembers having a great practice.) Gonzales knew cannabis was for him from the jump. At the risk of sounding corny, Gonzalez told me he started willing his cannabis career into existence when he was eighteen-years-old. Gonzalez told his mother that cannabis would be legal in the future and that they should invest in that future.

Gonzalez now helps run an operation that produces anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds of cannabis every week and has major ambitions of capturing the attention of the Hispanic market to help destroy a negative stigma around cannabis that religion, politics, and propaganda have propped up for years.

(For the record, I don’t think that’s corny at all.)

As massive as this operation is, there’s still plenty of unused space that they want to fill. Gonzalez talked about plans for eight more flowering rooms. I asked Paul, one of the owners of Orgrow, what the monthly electricity bill was.

“Oh, about $33,000 a month,” he said.

Orgrow has too many strains to talk about, there’s 41 total in their starting lineup, but there were a few Gonzalez mentioned on the tour that stood out. Orglue and Ace of Spades are two of their flagship strains. Ace of Spades is a purple indica that with large spade-shaped buds. Orgrow is one of the few people offering this strain. Orglue is their rebranded GG#4, a strain Gonzalez believes is on the way out because of its oversaturation. Lemon Meringue, Afghan Cookies, and Space Candy are some of the new strains Orgrow has on deck that Gonzalez seemed excited about. Lemon Meringue is one of my favorite strains and it had all the skunky citrus and terpinolene goodness I expect from it. Look for these strains in brand new glass packaging this June.

The Orgrow Farm In Moxee Washington Made Me Feel Like A Kid Again

Each strain starts as a hydroponically grown clone. Once the root systems are mature, they’re transferred into a cocoa growing medium for the rest of their lifetime. Every strain has specific requirements that the growers tweak and perfect over time. They had to use cocoa with the outdoor plants as well because the soil conditions were nowhere near suitable for healthy outdoor cannabis plants.

The size of Orgrow’s facility didn’t hide its family-like atmosphere, something Gonzalez was quick to point out as well. Many of the workers have been in the area for over thirty years, they love the community of Moxee and are eager to do whatever they can to help the business succeed. Everyone helps where help is needed, whether it’s trimming or re-potting plants, nobody is above any task, and job titles are extremely loose. The goal is about constant and steady improvement on every level, however, they have to do it.

It was Orgrow’s culture of improvement that led them to find a new extraction artist. The last person heading their operation was putting out poor products and it quickly soured Orgrow’s name on the 502 market. They knew a change had to made, and they found a gentleman by the name of Able Guevara who has completely changed their culture around concentrates.

“I was on the hunt for good oil,” Guevara said.

Guevara started running his own oil after he started dabbing and it was all gross. He started pressing his own rosin and open blasting, experimenting with methods and techniques. Like many great inventions, (penicillin for example,) some of Guevara’s best discoveries were by accident. Guevara extracts the oil he wants to smoke, and never wants to hear a bad product review get back to him.

Orgrow knows their concentrates weren’t acceptable at one point, but have since corrected course. They now produce eye-popping shatters, sugars, crumbles, and sauces that come in colors ranging from highlighter yellow to translucent amber.

Guevara and Orgrow want to help reverse the negative stigma around ethanol-based extractions and increase consumer education around the correct use of EHO products. Ethanol-based extractions have completely different profiles than hydrocarbon-based extractions because of the differing cannabinoid and terpene profiles left behind after the extraction process. This results in different looks, aromas, flavors, effects, and even how it burns when it touches the nail.

Guevara lamented about YouTube cannabis reviewers dabbing Orgrow EHO on red-hot nails that are covered in a black crust, then complaining about the taste or quality. Low-temperature dabbing and cleaning your nail in between uses are essential for experiencing the full potential of any concentrate.

Walking through Orgrow’s facility and meeting the humble staff made me fee like a kid again. It reminded me of my Grandpa’s potato farm. I spent many days as a young child with my grandpa driving all over the state to check on his various plots of farmland. Sometimes he would simply check up on things. Other times he was helping fix machinery, running to grab parts, and driving the equipment himself with me on his lap in the cab. My grandpa is still friends with many of his farm hands to this day. He visits with them over coffee on a regular basis and gives them vegetables from his garden every summer.

Orgrow is looking forward to a large product release at Kush 21 in Burien this upcoming week, as well as future products such as cannagars, infused joints, and cannabis-derived terpene vape cartridges. Orgrow fully understands the mistakes they’ve made and is excited to change peoples minds going forward with a vastly improved product line, honesty, and transparency.

Orgrow Gallery

The Best Pot Shop in Everett!

KushMart opened in November 2014 and has been a top-ranked recreational pot shop since day 1. We’re located at 6309 Evergreen Way STE C minutes off of Interstate 5. With ample parking, you will be in and out in no time and with our amazing selection and best prices you will have a smile on your face.

Adults 21 and over can purchase up to one ounce of usable cannabis flower, 16 ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, 72 ounces of cannabis drinkables, and 7 grams of cannabis concentrates.

If you’re a registered medical cannabis patient, the limits are:

Three ounces of usable cannabis flower, forty-eight ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, two hundred sixteen ounces of cannabis drinkables, and twenty-one grams of cannabis concentrates, per the Washington State Department of Health.

ORDER ONLINE NOW USING KUSHMART’S ONLINE MENU SYSTEM. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR CART!

 

Behind The Scenes At Honu Inc. In Longview Washington

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Longview is a community built on the backs of loggers and mill workers. An edible cannabis producer is far from the lumber and logging, but their hard work is in the same spirit of the loggers and mill workers past and present. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that another meaning for Honu in Hawaiian is “the spirit within.” The Honu Inc facility is modest like the community it’s in. It’s tucked away in an industrial park on the banks of the Columbia River in Longview, Washington. A city that hugs the Oregon border, Longview was founded around timber and logging industries, as the river was used to transport lumber up and down the Pacific Northwest.

Honu’s facility is one of the largest I’ve been in. It’s been repurposed several times. Through trial and error, they’re still trying new ways to utilize their space and are aiming to grow flower that they’re proud of. While they’re still dialing in cultivation practices, it’s Honu’s edible kitchen that has brought in the awards and industry-wide attention.

Behind The Scenes At Honu Inc. In Longview Washington

The edible kitchen is filled with focused humans and is the prettiest room onsite. Most of the workers had headphones on, dialed into the task directly in front of them. All the candies are handcrafted. I know that word is overused in the cannabis industry, but each one of Honu’s edibles is made by a human being. We saw them mixing cookies and cream batter, scooping chocolate servings into cupcake trays, rolling marshmallows in liquid chocolate and meticulously assembling turtles. If you don’t know, a turtle consists of three layers: chocolate, caramel, and a pecan topper.

Behind The Scenes At Honu Inc. In Longview Washington

Turtle’s are one of their most popular treats, not surprising for a company that rocks a sea turtle as their mascot. Along with the award-winning coconut snowballs and peanut butter cups, these three treats make up the Triforce of their edible lineup and can be purchased year-round. Honu rotates seasonal select treats, for Summer, it’s s’mores season!

Behind The Scenes At Honu Inc. In Longview Washington

Honu let us sample new flavors of hard candies hitting the shelves next year. The blue candies tasted like blueberry Jolly Ranchers. It’s hard to imagine these don’t eat into the market share of other hard candies on the market. After the tour of the kitchens, we stopped by their topical and concentrate portions of the facility.

Honu has rebranded their topicals to give them an “at home spa” feel. Honu Naturals is a line of products that pamper and don’t even look like cannabis products to nosy relatives and children. There were stacks of freshly scented bath bombs ready to be packaged and shipped out.

Behind The Scenes At Honu Inc. In Longview Washington

The last stop on the tour was their concentrate lab. We saw them in the process of making distillate and all kinds of golden slabs of concentrates. Be on the lookout for newcomers,  Shellshock and Ubana Rama which registers at 67.97 percent  THC and 4.39 percent terpenes.

The Honu Inc facility isn’t going to win any beauty contests, but it doesn’t need too. It’s filled with hard-working individuals that envoke the spirits of the original trappers, loggers, and pioneers that settled in Washington and built the community of Longview many years ago.

Behind The Scenes At Honu Inc. In Longview Washington

Freshly packaged Coconut Snowballs

The Best Pot Shop in Everett!

KushMart opened in November 2014 and has been a top-ranked recreational pot shop since day 1. We’re located at 6309 Evergreen Way STE C minutes off of Interstate 5. With ample parking, you will be in and out in no time and with our amazing selection and best prices you will have a smile on your face.

Adults 21 and over can purchase up to one ounce of usable cannabis flower, 16 ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, 72 ounces of cannabis drinkables, and 7 grams of cannabis concentrates.

If you’re a registered medical cannabis patient, the limits are:

Three ounces of usable cannabis flower, forty-eight ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, two hundred sixteen ounces of cannabis drinkables, and twenty-one grams of cannabis concentrates, per the Washington State Department of Health.

ORDER HONU INC ONLINE NOW USING KUSHMART’S ONLINE MENU SYSTEM. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR CART!