Gina Gramenz
G
WORDS PEBBLES TRIPPET
ina Gramenz Areas is a rare flower in the
with a herd of wild deer growing plants.
cannabis garden, distinguished for her generosity of spirit and skilled oil-making shared with those
PT: You have been referred to as the Mother
in need. Her small business GreenGoddessGardens
Theresa of Weed. Is it your generosity and
with Jay Plantspeaker enables her day to day work.
kindness that people are referring to? GG: My reputation amongst the medical cannabis community
PT: Thank you, Gina, for being available for this
for helping patients evolved from the onset of our state’s
interview, sharing your decades of knowledge
Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP). I was fortunate
and experience. Can you tell us about your
in that I was able to establish a niche, so to speak. I began
businesses and the projects you’re involved in?
a process of connecting state-carded medical patients to
GG: My boyfriend and I grow organically for ourselves on my
state qualified grow sites. The no-hassle system that I
farm, known as GreenGoddessGardens. We are fortunate in that
developed continually evolved until state recreational
we are able to share and teach organic cannabis growing and
laws came in and took over, leaving what was previously
general gardening tips to people all around the world, thanks to
a healthy and thriving medical program in shambles.
the internet and social media specifically. See Jay’s Instagram page @jay_plantspeaker_ and GreenGoddessGardens along with
PT: Have you always been so helpful?
my website Plantspeaker.com. These are some of the tools we
GG: Yes, of course. I was able to give medicine to people who a)
use to get the word out. I started a business, Plantspeaker LLC,
lived in places where it was unavailable or b) could not afford
in December of 2020. This year we brought a new product to the
access. I’ve always been that way with things, really. If I had
growing industry in collaboration with the Buildasoil Company
something and someone needed it, I’d do everything in my
out of Montrose, Colorado, the premiere growing supply store
power to help. That probably comes from the way things were
in the US. The product is Quillaja extract powder (JayPsQP).
growing up. We didn’t always have a lot, rarely, in fact. So I
All in all, this keeps me pretty busy. I own, manage and run
know what it feels like to need. I’ve also learned of the love
the businesses while raising and caring for my son Justin, who
that comes from providing, from making an impact in someone’s
has downs syndrome. Jay is Jay. He spends all his time outside
life who really needed it, that feeling of making a difference.
FALL 2 021
