Company profile: Kush Comfort Farms

Northwestern growers utilize new and old technology

By Patrick Wagner

SPOKANE, Wash. — Not many producers in the cannabis industry are incorporating 19th century French agriculture techniques into their business plans. Daniel Harrington and Josh Zaretsky, the owners of Kush Comfort Farms, are doing just that to produce their own brand of sun-grown cannabis in Spokane, Washington.

Harrington planted the Shark’s Breath seeds in late winter of 2014. Using the cloche, combined with a small solar light and fertilizer, the strain grew to dwarf other plants on the farm.

“She sprouted on Feb. 18 (2015), and grew to be taller than anybody I have ever met,” Harrington said.

Kush Comfort Farms plans to apply the antiquated growing technique as a solution to off-season outdoor growing.

“The cloche method — allowing us to plant earlier in the season — is definitely an extreme benefit,” Harrington said. “We’ll definitely be implementing it more and I am hoping that we can innovate and provide a design that other people in the community can use also.”

Harrington and Zaretsky have somewhat unconventional approaches to other facets of the industry, as well. They see advantages in crowdsourcing and take full advantage of community-based interactions to build their team and brand. Kush Comfort Farms’ label was designed through an online contest where designers submitted different layouts, before the owners selected a winner. In a similar fashion, the company has turned to job fairs for seasonal and full-time employees.

While Kush Comfort Farms takes an alternative approach to off-season growing, brand design and employee recruitment, the owners retain more old-fashioned policies when it comes time to harvest. “The old-school method of a slow cure, I think, is really important,” Harrington said. “What you put in is what you get out.”