Faces in the Field: Bryon Fortin of Best Friend Farms

BY E.P. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW BOURGEOIS

Mercer, Maine-born farmer, second-generation cannabis farmer, founder and owner of Best Friend Farms (BFF) Bryon Fortin is bringing back classic full-melt hash. On his search for six-star hash, Bryon has created art through cannabis with world-class genetics, which he has bred between East and West Coast genetics, producing the Best Friend Flower that has made a name for itself. These flowers are placed into production to make the classic Best Friend Farms fullmelt hash.

Bryon’s connection to the cannabis plant started early on, leading him to the calling of healing through cannabis. His aim is finding the true essence of the cannabis plant and continuously searching for new ways to express the beauty he sees. Starting at 16-years old, Bryon grew his first three seeds in a cut out, out back of his parents’ home in Mercer, Maine, with the only surviving seed being a male. “Fortunately, it was a dude! (LOL) This showed me that the cannabis plant was not only female. I had to grow from seedlings because no one wanted to give a clone to a 16-year-old kid, haha!” Knowing what a male plant looked like enabled Bryon to distinguish between male and female cannabis plants, as well as learning that although males did not produce smokable flower, they did provide pollen. With pollen and a calling, the world of genetics opened up to him. Being a multi-generational farmer, Bryon’s veins run green. He gives each plant their necessary needs and meets their desires, allowing them to grow in conditions suited to their native terroir. ‘Terroir’ is a term used to describe the microenvironment and its contents and the effects this has on the growth of plants as well as the role this plays in bringing out the unique characteristics of each strain. Bryon has worked for over 25 years through research and development, breeding strains from the East and West coasts for the last 11 years, and he now holds a designer genetic library.

While completing his degree in English at the University of Southern Maine, Bryon continued seeking out top-shelf genetics and strains, gaining knowledge and wisdom by traveling and sharing clean, quality medicine with his elders. Cannabis took on the role of his ‘best friend’ as he continued to open himself up to his calling, experiencing healing through

cannabis as a patient himself, with breeding being a beautiful artistic expression of Bryon’s journey with this healer. After completing his degree, Bryon made the decision to follow his heart and calling as a healer through cannabis. Before heading out west for 11 years, the last five spent in Humboldt County, Bryon proved he had the “Midas Touch” with his earliest bred strains created in Maine: Quick Miss Diesel, a cross between Kali Mist x Mighty Mite x ECSDBx1, and Sour Blueberry Haze, a mix of NL#5/Blueberry x Super Silver Haze x ECSDBx2, which are still retained by fellow caregivers 25 years later, the genetics still breeding fire.

Moving to California for 11 years and allowing cannabis and the message he carried to guide him, Bryon went on a journey of self-discovery as he grew with cannabis. It was a journey of a deeper understanding and love not only for cannabis but also for regenerative living. He discovered himself in valleys, deserts, and while moving along rocky narrow roads; he had to duck at bullets flying while being lightly brushed by death on the shoulder; and he found the strength and courage to gain healing by creating art that heals. It is said that to share a meal prepared by someone is to see their heart; when you experience medicine grown at Best Friend Farms, you experience the heart of the farmer.

Deciding three years ago that home, the foothills of Maine, would be the ideal place to ground Best Friend Farms’ home farm, Bryon built on his 70+ acres from dirt to homestead, personally assembled his greenhouse while camping out on his land, and embedded his greater purpose in each foundation laid and seed planted. Maintaining the Best Friend Farms standard of living organically his first year in, Bryon sourced local compost, manure, and heirloom vegetable seeds from local farms, one of those farms being MOFGA-certified. Over the next two years, Bryon recycled and composted, going beyond organic living and moving towards regenerative soil and living. Well water from a well on the farm is pumped and used daily, and Bryon has found that even the simplest thing like water can make a difference in the growth and flower of plants and all living things. Last but not least, Bryon’s love for creating medicine and his deep desire to heal, along with a respect for the cannabis plant, is reflected in each seed, plant, flower, and full-melt hash. Similar to the farm itself, the full-melt hash production started from bucket up. Bryon taught Best Friend Farms’ Hashishin Thomas Gee how to create the noted Best Friend Farms’ full-melt hash balls with a five-gallon bucket, wooden spoon, Bubbleman bubble bags, and ice. Each ball is handrolled, hand-packaged, and vaulted before going out to dispensaries for patients. Close attention is paid to each strain of hash produced, and in the words of Bryon, “We are always searching for the highest quality full-melt.”

Bryon has spent the last 20 years designing strains to be fashioned to the liking of discerning, like-minded, cannabisfriendly folks and creating partnerships that uphold one of the core values of Best Friend Farms: “gold in, gold out” medicine. Their first forging of the year has been a strain collaboration with music group Organically Good Trio. These Organically Good Friends presented their strain — “OGTangie,” a cross between a West Coast Tangie and BFF’s Angel Food Cake (Angels ‘Tangie x GSC/Tangie’) and a budding friendship flowered into healing with music and medicine.

Known for their quality and standards, Best Friend Farms has joined forces with Portland’s finest artisan edible company, Pot and Pan, to create terp-specific candy bars, providing patients with yet another way to enjoy the Best Friend standard of excellence. 2020 is proving to be the year Best Friend Farms and friends build their ‘little fort’ of healing with regenerative medicine.