EQUINOX FARM
the insider issue
PROFILE
Ted Dobson | horticulturalist, general manager & farmer-in-chief
30
IN LEAFMAGAZINES.COM
a black market birthed by hippies and outlaws that matured into an industry run by businessmen and investors, one man who’s stood the test of time is Ted Dobson of Equinox Farm. Dobson has been cultivating natural, sungrown Cannabis in Western Massachusetts since the ‘80s, and today he’s the first legal outdoor farmer on the East Coast. “I always had a fetish for greens,” Dobson tells me after a sip of his kombucha. At the moment, he is not talking about a fresh bowl pack, but mesclun and arugula. He is reflecting on his time as a young farmer in Berkshire County – it was 1980 and Ted had just returned home from studying Agroecology at U.C. Santa Cruz, where he learned the organic, “French intensive/biodiversity” farming method under Master Gardener Alan Chadwick. Dobson bought some land and got to work, finding early success in the farm-to-table movement, selling less common salads and greens to restaurateurs in Boston and New York. He established himself as an influential figure in the Northeast culinary scene by applying what he learned out west to his new plot in the Berkshires.
EQUINOXFARMBERKSHIRES.COM
ocT. 2021
Of course, Ted’s West Coast education “It was a dream of mine, but I didn’t extended beyond the classrooms and think it was possible,” he says of his gardens at UCSC, and he left the Goldinitial reluctance. But following a lot of en State with more than a degree. “I had research, legal advice (money), meetings met a number of Cannabis growers from with the Joint Committee on Marijuana Santa Cruz up through Mendocino and in Boston, a complicated caveat and Humboldt,” Dobson says. “And I moved cooperation from local officials, Dobson back home with a really interesting selecreceived approval to grow on the farm. tion of seeds.” Ted met with local start-up Theory Ted planted those seeds in the rugged Wellness, as the two parties had somewoods between the Berkshires in Massathing the other was looking for. The chusetts and the Taconics in New York, young company had the capital Dobson employing the same techniques for his needed to prep Equinox for a compliant marijuana that he did for his greens. And marijuana grow. while the quality of the first harvest exOn the other hand, the Theory team ceeded what was readily available at the knew working with Ted could significantly time, it was difficult to grow in the region. reduce their carbon footprint as legaliza“The weed was used to such a dry tion increased demand. climate,” says Dobson. “I had mold and “Ted’s approach to farming really mildew issues with the California indica aligned with our goal of creating a more strains. I was fortunate to meet a guy in sustainable industry,” says Thomas WinConnecticut who had been growing satistanley, V.P. of Marketing at Theory. vas that had incredible mold and mildew And he’s right. Dobson’s farm doesn’t resistance … it just wasn’t very strong.” waste energy on grow lights or climate Dobson bred the strains and found control, and it doesn’t pollute the ecosysthe results to be hearty, potent flowers. tem with synthetic nutrients or pesticides At the time, high quality marijuana – organic farming enriches the soil and was in greater demand than lettuce or surrounding environment. baby greens. It was also Winstanley, a Berkshire the target of tough law County native, grew up “TED’S APPROACH enforcement measures unfamiliar with Dobson’s TO FARMING REALLY der then-President Ronald work. He says the team ALIGNED WITH OUR Reagan. Ted even averted jumped at the opportunity GOAL OF CREATING A prison in the late ‘80s with to work together. “Ted is MORE SUSTAINABLE the help of kind-hearted prolific,” he says. INDUSTRY.” thieves that ransacked the The first fully licensed -THOMAS WINSTANLEY, V.P. grow days before a police grow at Equinox preOF MARKETING, THEORY. raid. The evidence still sented difficulties you threatened legal repercussions, but the don’t see at indoor facilities. Mother charges were eventually dropped. Still, Nature tested Dobson’s experience with he chose to downsize to avoid attention. heavy storms and pests, but experience Over the next 30 years, Dobson prevailed. continued to farm his greens for the October’s harvest surpassed expecrestaurants, and buds on a smaller tations and introduced natural, sustainscale. He maintained his favored strains, ably-grown Cannabis to the region for bred others, and traded harvests with the first time. like-minded folks in the area. In the early It is important to note that while the 2000s, he relocated from Great Barsoil and methods Ted uses are organic, rington to Sheffield with the help of the the FDA will not recognize Cannabis as Massachusetts Department of Agriculture organic due to federal prohibition. and the Sheffield Land Trust. Science The natural weed from Equinox is baland technology continued to advance, anced and uplifting. The wide spectrum but Ted stuck to the old-world organic of cannabinoids hits in a way sometimes methods he learned in Santa Cruz. lost with high-test indoor strains, and When Massachusetts voted to legalize rarely resorts in couch-lock. It’s the stuff in 2016, Dobson began researching the you can smoke any time, any place, but possibilities of attaining a license to grow some people say it’s best enjoyed under at Equinox. the sun – just like it was grown.
STORY by JON SCHMITT for NORTHEAST LEAF | PHOTO by TOMMY STEPHENS
