Meghan Miller
Vice president of cultivation and brand strategy
Chalice Farms
Portland, OR
I am proud to announce the newest edition to our Chalice Farms family: our new greenhouse grow operation, Bald Peak. We’re fortunate to see this labor of love come to fruition, and we look to our new Bald Peak signature flower line as our North Star. Sitting atop the highest point of the Chehalem Mountains in Oregon, Bald Peak embodies everything that we want to focus on as a company and cultivator: quality, intention, transparency and perseverance. The location was selected by Chalice Farms founder William Simpson with a specific vision in mind: It is a sacred location with sweeping views of the Willamette Valley and Mount Hood, representative of all the things we take pride in and love about Oregon.
Bald Peak represents lofty goals from us as a company — to create the best flower in Oregon — and we understand that we’re up against some of the greatest in this industry. We recently hired our new director of cultivation, Derek Rayhorn, who has helped reinvigorate this project. Derek is a true artist. He has deep and meaningful relationships with both the plant and with the people on our cultivation team, which is extremely difficult to find in this industry and truly a differentiator for us.
Our breathtaking location comes with some unique challenges for production, most significantly that the weather on top of the mountain keeps us on our toes. We are a newly formed team in our first year of growing here, and with every season we are learning something new. Winter has brought an onslaught of concerns about temperature control, humidity control and how we will move plants between houses. With spring and summer comes concerns about preventing cross-pollination from nearby outdoor gardens, heat concerns, wildfire season and constant back-to-back drastic weather changes.
Our greenhouses allow us to be just one step away from an outdoor grow, which is where the plant comes from and provides a synergy with nature. We are able to bring the plants into our greenhouses to help protect them from the natural elements, while still benefitting from pure sunshine. Not only do they allow us to control the elements, but it also allows us to grow year-round and ensure product consistency and accessibility to our customers.
We’re hyper-focused on our strain selection now and are experimenting to find out what cultivars respond best to our environment and greenhouse. It is a ton of heartache paired with some triumph. I hope at this time next year, I can confidently speak to 12 signature strains that we’re known for and best represent the plant we love so much.