Nestled atop Pickens Mountain in rural Eastern Washington, up a bumpy road and far away from the electrical grid, Brian Knopf’s recreational cannabis farm is surrounded by some of the Pacific Northwest’s most beautiful scenery.
The pristine rural landscape inspires Knopf to think often about the future.
He values sustainability and studies alternative energy sources. In 2012, he purchased a 20-acre mountainside plot in Okanogan County, where his closest neighbors are a curious herd of bighorn sheep, and UFO sightings are a regular occurrence. He wanted to escape the grasp of the power companies and oil companies of corporate America.
“I had the motivation to go off the grid and unplug from the matrix,” Knopf says. “Everybody gets concerned about the way of the world. Everything’s so crazy. You want a getaway place if something goes down.”
Knopf’s hideout has been transformed into the first — and possibly the only — off-grid, sun-fueled cannabis grow for Washington’s recreational market. It’s a model for a more sustainable method of cannabis production.
Pickens Mountain uses 16 solar panels, a wind turbine and a gas generator to supply the entire farm’s electricity needs.
The Pickens Approach: Off-Grid
In the beginning, Knopf planned to build an off-grid home on the Pickens Mountain property. He began collecting solar panels, inverters, batteries and wind turbines.
Then, just as Initiative 502 began shaking up Washington’s marijuana laws, Knopf and his wife divorced. He cashed out his savings from his eco-conscious Seattle plumbing company, applied for a producer/processor license and went hard at the recreational cannabis market.
“I wouldn’t have gone for it if I’d still been married. It wouldn’t have worked out,” Knopf says. “One door closed and another door opened. It was a synchronistic situation.”
In many ways, Knopf already had a leg up on many aspiring growers. He started growing marijuana as a teenager and had accumulated an impressive seed collection.
“I started archiving seeds quite a few years ago, and once I knew this was coming I started scrambling for genetics,” he says. “My friend in Seattle provided dispensaries with seed stock, so I pulled 60 strains from him and grew them all via a medical operation prior to getting licensed with this.”
When other growers boast of their energy-saving LED lights, Knopf can’t help but smile; his sunlight is free. A self-proclaimed deal hunter, he acquired the Pickens Mountain property for just $12,000. The previous owner had installed a well, a septic tank and a 2,500-gallon water storage tank. Knopf added six more water tanks, one turbine, 16 solar panels and a generator to power the water pump.
By September 2014, with a Tier 3 producer/processor license in hand, Pickens Mountain Cannabis was in business. Knopf tested the waters with a small crop in 2014, then spent the first half of 2015 building, irrigating and excavating. He dug down to the blue clay water table, erected buildings with wood stoves for the crop to dry and tilled the soil.
“We’re using soil that’s been untouched for thousands of years,” Knopf says.
Solar panels help power Knopf’s off-grid grow operation.
Test results from the farm’s glacial till show an abundance of nitrogen and potassium.
Knopf planted his 1,000-plant full-season crop in tidy rows distributed over three tiers. He plans to double his output during his next go-around, by having a light deprivation crop followed by a full-season crop. Even then, he’ll still be harvesting far less than his indoor counterparts. By comparison, producer Cip Paulsen says his company, GrowState, harvests six crops each year in its Spokane warehouse.
Still, the advantages of growing outdoors are many. Outdoor marijuana can be produced for a fraction of what it costs to grow indoors. Knopf believes the low overhead of his off-grid grow operation will allow him to offer some of the lowest wholesale prices in the state.
Knopf is one of the many licensed cannabis growers to take advantage of Eastern Washington’s excellent growing conditions.
David Rice, of the Washington Sungrowers Industry Association, says Knopf’s off-grid operation is unique. Pickens Mountain Cannabis is the first true off-grid licensed production operation he’s heard of.
“I’m a big proponent of using fewer resources,” Rice says. “We see that the people who are more forward-thinking and some of the best farmers and growers choose to grow outdoors.”
As retail customers become more aware of — and concerned with — factors such as pesticides and sustainability, grows like Knopf’s may become more common. His cannabis is organic and pesticide-free — the sun deters the pests and mold that plague many growers, he says.
When it comes to quality, Knopf and other sun-growers stand behind their product. Knopf and Rice say the common belief that outdoor cannabis is of lower quality is a myth.
“The quality is as good or better,” Rice says of sun-grown marijuana in general. “There’s only one full-spectrum light and that’s the sun. All plants have evolved to utilize full-spectrum light.”
Knopf expects his product to improve each year as he becomes more familiar with his site and soil. His comprehensive seed collection includes more than 100 varieties of cannabis; last year he grew 40 different strains. He has everything from the well-known Purple Haze and Raspberry Kush to his exclusive Mount Pickens hybrid.
“There’s potential I’ve acquired extraterrestrial cannabis genetics,” Knopf hints. “But I won’t say anything more about that.”
Sun-grown and pesticide-free is the name of the game at Pickens Mountain.
Different perspective
When you’re cut off from the outside world, perched 2,600 feet above sea level on the side of a mountain, the elements take on a new significance. Wind, sun, fire, rain and unpredictable weather have been Knopf’s greatest foes, but he says he mastered the art of staying calm long ago.
“I’m a practitioner of Wing Chun kung fu, which focuses on the redirection of energy,” Knopf says, adding that the elements are as essential to his company’s success as they are potentially detrimental. “Wind powers my turbine motor, which gives me power; the sun charges my batteries via my solar panels; gravity from my water tanks buried high on the mountainside drip-feeds my plants.”
So far, Knopf’s cannabis kung fu has paid off. As he and his two employees hung the last of his 2015 harvest in late October, he estimated his total haul at more than 1,000 pounds — far more than the 500 pounds he originally anticipated. Most of the harvest has been shipped to retail stores where it’s sold under Knopf’s Pickens Mountain label.
At the end of the day, Knopf says he’s in the marijuana business for the future benefit of his two teenage sons. During the off-season, he enjoyed spending some quality time with friends and family, before diving back into operation in February.
“There’s never a dull moment on Pickens Mountain,” he says. “Each go-around I’ll be more prepared.”