Crafton Classic Cannabis

03/18/2026

Writing about Cannabis: “Virginia - The Next Green Rush?”
Dateline: 3-18-26
Right now the weather in Middle Tennessee is March weather. One minute it's almost 80 degrees F and three days later it's 20 degrees F. Regardless, the Winter crop of onions and garlic are thriving and even some arugula has sprouted. Already this year’s crop looks much better than last year’s, although this might have something to do with the fact, I didn’t have anything growing at this time last year. Because of these abnormally warm temperatures, all of the plum and pear trees have bloomed and I fear, it’s much too early, because we’re scheduled to get some freezing temperatures that are going to be real. This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve lost a crop of plums and pears, and it won’t be the last. Regardless, The Old H**p Farmer is fueling up on an organic cup of hot Coffee and noshing on some Chocolate fortified with artisanal Tennessee homegrown Cannabis extract. Wag your tongue about drugs, if you want, but that combo takes the edge off of a cold morning. Anyway, today’s musings are based on a sage observation by my Tennessee homegrown partner Lee Crabtree, which was that the only window for decent profit margin in Cannabis is the first 18-22 months of legal Recreational Cannabis sales, after that the market becomes saturated and profit margins tumble. Which is kind of what corresponded with Tennessee Homegrown, (although because of an initial ambiguous regulatory environment, Tennessee homegrown had about a 30 month period of great sales) but once the plethora of “H**p” businesses arrived on the scene in Tennessee, the profit margins started to stagnate. Eventually in every legal Cannabis market, inevitably there will be too many growers, processors and retailers than the market needs and then begins the process of racing to the bottom, where all along the “Cannabinoid Food Chain” people start to produce more and sell for smaller profit margins. Which eventually leads to a race to the bottom, which increases the amount of Cannabis businesses being stressed enough to fold, especially when investors stop adding to their initial investment and start wanting a return on their money. It’s little different in Tennessee, where a lot of us are purposely being herded towards the exit with a very restricted Cannabis market and ballooning compliancy costs. Regardless, the profit margins of Tennessee based Cannabis Companies are slim or none. Which leads back to the keen thoughts of Mr. Crabtree, “keep moving to a new Cannabis market or get use to long hours and low pay”.
Echoing those sentiments, if The Old H**p Farmer was The Young H**p Farmer, I’d head East to Virginia. You see, on January 1st, 2027, Recreational Cannabis sales will begin in Virginia. The Recreational Cannabis market in Virginia for the foreseeable future looks bright enough to wear shades. Although once Recreational sales begin, Virginia will be a more and more competitive market, the state has the power of place. A lot of people really don’t pay that much attention to geography but in this case, it means a much larger Recreational Cannabis market. Presently, Virginia is blessed to have almost a thousand miles of borders with states that don’t have Recreational Cannabis sales. The Old H**p Farmer is going to gaze into his Cannabis Crystal Ball and predict that some of the most profitable Recreational Cannabis Retailers will be lined up on the borders of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. And it appears that several of the states that have a border with Virginia, aren’t in any hurry to legalize Recreational Cannabis in the near future. Yup, Virginia that’s where we would be headed to, and we know exactly where we'd start and what type of Cannabis Business L'Tanya Bell and I would form but that's another story. Anyway, I’m sure there are countless others that are thinking exactly the same thing and making plans accordingly to stake out their claim to the Virginia’s “Green Rush”. As usual, the profit margins of Virginia’s Cannabis Companies will eventually taper off and start to be squeezed because of competition but until then, “le bon temps roule”, yes, let the good times roll. It will be curious to see how many of my fellow Cannabis professionals will be headed to Virginia for the new “Green Rush”? Anyway, H**p Dawgs and H**p Puppies keep one eye on the weather and the other eye on the Politicians.
Visit our Web sites to try our great products, while you can:
The Old H**p Farmer's Wife: https://www.theoldhempfarmerswife.com
Tennessee homegrown:
https://www.tnhomegrown.com

03/15/2026

We're almost giving it away!

01/09/2026

Your skin is the largest organ. Nourish it with The Old H**p Farmer's Wife's Natural Healing Balms and Soaps! You will be glad you did! We appreciate your business! GOD BLESS www.theoldhempfarmerswife.com

12/19/2025

Writing about Cannabis: “Deja Vu, All Over Again”
Dateline: 12-19-25
It’s been cold, combine that with short days make this time of the year, truly depressing. The Old H**p Farmer loves 18 hours of Sun for vegging and 12 hours of Sun for flowering, if you know what I mean. When you only have 9 hours of Sunlight a day and it’s cold, there’s very little motivation to garden, although there’s going to be couple warmer days on the horizon. If it warms up a bit, I can plant some more garlic and do so more mulching. One thing that Tennessee homegrown practiced from the beginning was feed the soil and do w**d control with mulching. If you are organically gardening, mulching is your best friend. Regardless, yours truly is nursing a wonderful cup of organic coffee and munching on a bit of superb Costa Rican Cacao laced with Tennessee homegrown Cannabis extract. On a cold Winter morning, the combination of Cacao, Cannabis and Coffee works quite well in stirring up those creative juices enough to pontificate about the wacky world of Cannabis and trust me, it’s wacky. Presently the Cannabis Industry is all atwitter about the fact that Trump has once again hinted that Ma*****na would be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III. Excuse me if I feel like I’ve seen this movie a couple times and it always ends the same way with hero tragically dying in the arms of the only woman, he ever truly loved. So please excuse me for being just a little bit jaded about this time, the Federal Government making any reality based Cannabis reforms. Starting in 1976, President Carter hinted about decriminalizing Ma*****na and there was some real dialogue with groups like NORML that were pushing for full legalization but would have settled for rescheduling ma*****na from Schedule I to Schedule II so that Ma*****na could be prescribed for medical use but the Culture Wars that started in the 1960’s, killed that opportunity. And although starting in the 1990’s, multiple States started legalizing Medical Ma*****na, there was no real pressure at the Federal level to reform Ma*****na laws. That all started to change when the majority of States had legalized Medical Ma*****na with more than a dozen having Recreation Ma*****na, the sheer size forced the Federal Government to realize that keeping ma*****na at Schedule I was untenable and reality need to be heeded. So in 2022, Biden recommended to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that they reschedule Ma*****na from Schedule I to Schedule III, this stirred a huge amount of excitement with Publicly traded Cannabis company stock prices soaring, for a bit, then reality sunk in that the DEA and Conservative Republicans were going to slow walk this process and after a bit, Schedule III Ma*****na faded slowly into the night. Then came Trump, the performance artist turned President, who has consistently been both pro-cannabis and anti-cannabis, depending on the audience or the donors, he’s courting. A large amount of Cannabis folks thought that when Trump got elected, he would be pushing for legal Recreational Cannabis from the start, but it never happened nor did a repeal of 280e or the advent of common sense Banking laws. What did happen was Trump’s full court press on Tariffs and immigrants, and once again Cannabis sort of faded into the background. But a funny thing happened, Tariffs and rounding up Abuelas wasn’t that popular combine that with prices that haven’t come down like promised, and Trump’s popularity has reached an all time low. So what is markedly more popular than Democrats or Republicans? W**d. 80% of the adult population believes that Medical Ma*****na should be legal. Those are the sort of numbers that a politician with sagging pole numbers can wrap their arms around and maybe deflect from pesky things like the Epstein Files or the fact that electricity prices are rising. So what does Trump have to lose by doing a glorified photo-op about Cannabis, that really is Cannabis Prohibition with fancy packaging? Nothing, because if the Cannabis Rescheduling doesn’t actually happen, Trump can blame the usual suspects like the DEA, Conservative House Republicans and the other anti-cannabis groups. So please excuse The Old H**p Farmer, if he doesn’t jump for joy about this announcement. If there’s anything I’ve learned about the Cannabis Business, that Press Releases and Photo-ops don’t mean anything, you got to give me some meat on the bone. So Cannabis Folks take a deep breath before getting too excited because even if Trump follows up on this, this is a process that could take as much as a couple years before it become law. Or in the immortal words of Yogi Berra, this could be “Deja Vu All Over Again”. Anyway, H**p Dawgs and H**p Puppies keep one eye on the weather and the other eye on the Politicians.
Visit our Web sites to try our great products:
The Old H**p Farmer's Wife: https://www.theoldhempfarmerswife.com
Tennessee homegrown:
https://www.tnhomegrown.com

09/25/2025

Writing about Cannabis: “Going Full Circle.”
Dateline: 9-25-25
We are officially in Fall and fortunately we have been getting more Autumn-like weather but it's still warm enough to truck around in shorts, also it seems that the leaves are starting to change color. Normally on Thursday’s I head to the farm but because it rained last and will rain again today, The Old H**p Farmer is staying home at the factory/warehouse, to sip some extra strength organic coffee, nibble on Tennessee homegrown chocolate packed with a fair amount of THC, take a deep breath and let forth a stream of consciousness about Cannabis. After thinking about this for a couple of weeks, The Old H**p Farmer has come to the conclusion that any individual that is thinking about getting into the Cannabis Business, should look at the people buying vineyards. Despite knowing nothing about the wine business, people often buy vineyards for the allure and to have a tangible passion project that eventually turns a profit after a few years. The "vineyard dream” where people are drawn to the romantic idea of owning a wine estate, imagining a serene, rural life filled with good wine and beautiful scenery. But unlike Randy Marsh that expected that his Recreational Cannabis company Tegridy Farms would have a revenue stream almost instantly, new vineyard owners are usually wealthy enough that they don’t need immediate return of investment. People at the beginning know it might take years to get the vines to produce the best wine possible. Another big difference from Cannabis is that after the romance of owning a vineyard wears off and the demanding agricultural and business realities become apparent, the vineyards that survive, override their ego and hire the best professionals possible and pay them. Which was one of the reasons that Tegridy Farms failed, is that Randy Marsh wanted to be the “guy” and really wasn’t that good at running a Cannabis business. Another lesson that the Cannabis Business can still learn from the wine business, it’s about having a long game and realizing longevity is the virtue of being able to learn from your mistakes. Sadly, a lot of Cannabis Businesses run out of money about the same time they start getting their “chops”. Which is sad, because if you lost a lot of other people’s money, finding financing for another Cannabis company gets real tough. Which means there are a lot of highly skilled Cannabis professionals that are sitting on the sideline waiting for an opportunity to get some stable long term employment in Cannabis. There's a lot of reasons why Cannabis Businesses go belly up but with Tennessee homegrown (the company Lee Crabtree and I started) it's because of a bad law. When we started our H**p Derived Cannabinoid business we knew the job was dangerous when we took it but never saw being forced out because of a very flawed law. Tennessee homegrown is a 10 year old Cannabis company, which in the world of H**p Derived Cannabinoids, makes us ancient, so we have been blessed. So if the new Tennessee HDC rules shuts us down Tennessee homegrown, so be it. The Old H**p Farmer is working on a new Cannabis company in a Recreational state with a 25 year Cannabis Professional, Brad Crafton. Me and Brad have been fortunate to have made enough money in Cannabis to start another company, where we can grow Cannabis for the love of it, instead of having to make “fat stacks”. The reason, Brad and I got into Cannabis, decades ago, in the first place was that we loved the plant. So after all trials and tribulations in professional Cannabis, hopefully, Mr. Crafton and I can go full circle and somehow get back to why we started this journey in the first place. Anyway, H**p Dawgs and H**p Puppies keep one eye on the weather and the other eye on the market.
Visit Tennessee homegrown web site to try our great products: https://www.tnhomegrown.com
The Old H**p Farmer's Wife web site: https://www.theoldhempfarmerswife.com
Our Podcast - Full Contact Cannabis: https://fullcontactcannabis.podbean.com

09/21/2025

Separating seeds from the chaff, the old fashioned way, just how we like it, at Crafton Classic Cannabis. I do believe this season's breeding project is Pure Platinum Auto X G Tooth, and if I got the notes there were phenotypes and this was the short bushy one. The other Pure Platinum Auto X G Tooth phenotype is a more classic "Christmans Tree".

09/19/2025

An interview with Brad Crafton of Crafton Classic Cannabis.
https://fullcontactcannabis.podbean.com/e/cannabis-professional-brad-crafton-returns-to-full-contact-cannabis-to-talk-recreational-cannabis-in-michigan

08/13/2025

Writing about Cannabis: “Can Recreational THC Be Saved?”
Dateline: 8-13-25
Last night, we got some much needed rain and nature has responded with the vegetation looking great. The rain didn’t come too soon, because after this respite, Middle Tennessee will return to some killer Heat. Literally, cause when the temperatures reach the upper 90’s Degrees F with 90 percent humidity, it can lay you low. Because of the high temperatures and no rain, the soil had become much too dry for the seeds but the Cannabis Lee Crabtree planted, looks great (deep roots). The Old H**p Farmers has started a bunch of Arugula, Beets and Kale seeds in starter cubes. Because we had a decent rain, those hardy looking little plants will get transplanted into soil. Normally, I would never try to start a Beet root crop in starter cubes, but Farming in general is a risk, so we will see. Regardless, I’m taking a break to listen to some Blues, sip on some organic coffee and nibble on some Tennessee homegrown chocolate bar infused with the right amount of THC to spark a few observations about the Cannabis Industry that I’ve been somewhat hesitant to write about because they’re depressing. I’ve had a sneaking suspicion for a couple years that the present day system of Legal Recreational Cannabis makes it almost impossible to be profitable. Because of shrinking profit margins, the best and most experienced Cannabis professionals across the nation are leaving the business in droves. It’s a bad sign when the people that have the most knowledge about growing and processing Legal Cannabis are leaving in growing numbers because they don’t see the business getting any better.
Business in general is tough right now, but if you sell cheeseburgers you don’t have to worry about the rules and regulations being changed constantly or your excise taxes being raised. Oh that’s right you don’t have to pay Excise Tax on burgers because they don’t see the burger business as a “Cash Cow”. A perfect example of this is Delaware, their first weekend of Recreational Sales brought in approximate $625,000 USD of sales from the first 10 stores. For the right of being one of the first 10 Delaware “Rec" stores, they paid $100,000 USD for the privilege. But in the near future, as more and more Recreational Cannabis stores in Delaware come online, the glow of the opening weekend will start to fade. The Old H**p Farmer has high hopes for the Delaware Recreational program because they have tried to do it right but will that overcome the onerous IRS statute 280e and compliancy costs? Federal and State laws are a pain but where Cannabis companies get worn out is at the local level and right now a lot of Delaware doesn’t want Recreational Cannabis. A lot of folks don’t realize that a huge amount of the continuing hurdles that Cannabis Businesses face across the nation are local and county zoning or ordinances. A city council can wreck a Cannabis Business quicker than about anything. Because of these Federal, State and Local hurdles, a majority of the legal Recreational Cannabis and H**p Derived Cannabinoid Industry will remain on the brink of insolvency.
So can Recreational THC be saved? Of course, but not as we know it now. Because right now, Recreational Cannabis and H**p Derived Cannabinoids Industry is a totally artificial business environment that encourages bad decisions by Federal, State and local politicians because there always seems to be someone willing to get into the Recreational Cannabis business, so the revenue seems endless. Until politicians stop looking at Cannabis as a vice that society needs to be protected from by needless regulations and taxes the THC Industry will continue to be an extremely high risk business. Want to change that dynamic? It’s as simple as electing state and local officials that don’t view Cannabis as a part of the Culture War. Until then, the legal THC Industry will be a high wire act with no net. Pundits say all politics is local and nothing is more apparent of that than Cannabis. Anyway as always, H**p Dawgs and H**p Puppies keep one eye on the weather and the other eye on the market.
Visit Tennessee homegrown web site to try our great products: https://www.tnhomegrown.com
The Old H**p Farmer's Wife web site: https://www.theoldhempfarmerswife.com
Our Podcast - Full Contact Cannabis: https://fullcontactcannabis.podbean.com

07/19/2025

Writing about Cannabis: “Recreational Coming to Delaware”
Dateline: 7-19-25
The Old H**p Farmer just checked and it’s still hot here in Middle Tennessee and next week, the temperatures will creep near 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Which is challenging, when the Wife and I don’t use A/C. In a Quixotic attempt to reduce our carbon footprint, we decided that we could drive cars or forego air conditioning, we chose cars. And since the majority of the World doesn’t have A/C, it’s a great way to relate to how most people on the planet, actually live. So this morning, The Old H**p Farmer sits in front of a fan as I sip on some organic Ice Coffee and nibble on a Tennessee homegrown Chocolate bar laced with our fine Cannabis extract (kept in the freezer) and try to foster enough energy to pen another stream of Cannabis consciousness. The last blurb was hijacked by the totally out of left field, veto by the Texas governor of a very restrictive H**p Bill that would have totally wrecked the industry. Later this month, various H**p Derived Cannabinoid groups from across the nation, will head to Austin, to battle for Lone Star State HDC supremacy. While that stew simmers in Texas, yours truly, wants to get back to Recreational Cannabis in New England, because it’s time. The Old H**p Farmer’s first couple jobs in Legal Cannabis were in the first two states (Washington & Colorado) to legalize Recreational Cannabis. So I really never thought about East Coast Cannabis because seven years ago when Tennessee homegrown (the company, Lee Crabtree and I started) began to crank up, the center of the Cannabis World seemed to be on the West Coast. That all started to change, when L’Tanya Bell (owner and founder of The Old H**p Farmer’s Wife) started selling more and more of her topicals on the East Coast. As The Old H**p Farmer’s Wife sales continued, L’Tanya started making trips to New England and The Old H**p Farmer has tagged along to check out the Recreational Cannabis scene. And after a couple of trips up East, I can tell you that the Recreational Cannabis in New England is way more interesting to me than what’s happening in West Coast Cannabis. One of the big differences between East and West Coast Recreational, Cannabis, is that most of the states in the West obtained Recreational Cannabis at the ballot box, while on the East Coast, it has been done by elected officials. The more I see how New England has rolled out their Recreational Cannabis programs, the more I like it. Don’t get me wrong, what most politicians know about Cannabis wouldn’t fill a coffee cup but the process isn’t thrust upon state legislators when the people voted in this law and now they have to handle it. When a Recreational Cannabis law is passed in the Statehouse, legislators can’t complain about a Cannabis Law they didn’t want because they passed it. And in New England, the states that legalized through legislation, seemed to study what worked and what didn’t in the Recreational Cannabis States west of the Mississippi. Granted because of this, the rollouts in these East Coast Recreational states have been slower which has re****ed the usual plethora of Producer, Processor and Retail licenses and that's a good thing. Too much Cannabis flower production and too many Retail stores result in profit margins that are razor thin, which is why there are a boatload o Cannabis businesses for sale all over the country. A perfect example of a slow but deliberate New England style Recreational Cannabis Rollout, is Delaware. The Blue Hen state begins its Recreational Cannabis sales in less than two weeks time on August 1st, 2025 after legalizing in 2023. So in the next column, The Old H**p Farmer will go into why Delaware might be the template for Recreational Cannabis Rollouts in future. Anyway as always, H**p Dawgs and H**p Puppies keep one eye on the weather and the other eye on the market.
Visit Tennessee homegrown web site to try our great products: https://www.tnhomegrown.com
The Old H**p Farmer's Wife web site: https://www.theoldhempfarmerswife.com
Our Podcast - Full Contact Cannabis: https://fullcontactcannabis.podbean.com

05/30/2025

Writing about Cannabis: “The Art of the Sale.”
Dateline: 5-30-25
For me its been way too moist for too long here in Middle Tennessee but it doesn’t seem to faze the fauna and flora, which seems to be in a full tilt growth mode, especially the w**ds. Lately it seems that the fields are muddy almost all of the time, this has made w**ding the vegetables especially trying. But being muddy seems to be worth it because we are eating huge amounts of Beets, Kale and Spinach with enough to share with others. This morning, once again the rains have returned, so The Old H**p Farmer has a bit of time to sit, drink organic coffee, munch on a little Tennessee homegrown Chocolate fortified with just the right amount of our Cannabis extract, and lean into more musings about the contemporary Cannabis Industry. Lately, I’ve been writing about all of the adverse conditions that exist in the Recreational and H**p Derived Cannabinoid Industry, things like onerous IRS statute 280e or no banking laws, compliancy costs, etc. make the W**d Business a hard way to make an easy living. Even with the harsh realities of legal Cannabis, the prevailing myth continues that selling W**d is an easy way to make a lot of money. The Old H**p Farmer wishes oh so much that it were true but after 10 years in the legal Cannabis trade, yours truly can tell you that the fantasy is much better than the reality. Although there have been moments at our Cannabis company (Tennessee homegrown) that have given Lee Crabtree and I, the ability to grow good Cannabis, a good income and some recognition, it has also been fraught with continuous changing regulations and more cutthroat competition that one could ever imagine, all while “working without a net”. Yes, if you want to start a Cannabis Business be forewarned that you’re not going to find too many financial institutions and local officials that will be welcoming you with open arms, in fact you might find that your state is trying to shut down your business out right. While at Tennessee homegrown we just want to survive, people continue to try and get into the Cannabis business embracing the fantasy of the “Green Rush”. Yet with all the headwinds there are people making money in the Cannabis, but who are they? Well one thing its not the same people that were making money selling Legal W**d 10 years ago, when the Cannabis market wasn’t saturated with Flower, the growers were the “Big Dogs” that held sway in the market place but its not 2015 its 2025, where before it was the Growers that were supplying the Flower that were making serious “Bank” now its the Merchants and Wholesalers. It’s the Cannabis businesses that sell directly to the public that have the best margins. Being a great Merchant or Shopkeepers has never held that much sway but in the Cannabis Industry, but right now, they’re the “Big Dogs” because they know how to sell things. Currently it’s much easier to grow and make Cannabis products, than it is to sell those items. This is where things like inventory control, knowing customers likes and dislikes, knowing where to put your stores, things like “POP” and how to drive continuous “Foot Traffic” means the difference between making decent money in Cannabis or folding in 18 months. These marketing skills that are learned which explains why some of the most successful Cannabis Wholesalers or Retailers are second and third generation merchants. I have seen Cannabis businesses in prime locations fail but when a group of experienced merchants take over the location, they’re profitable. Why, the location is the same? The answer is that the store is now being by experienced merchants. Which explains why the Liquor Industry, in a short period of time, has taken over a large part of the Cannabis Industry. Think about it, with decades of experience selling both Retail and Wholesale, the Liquor Industry is well suited with sales people, warehouses and deliver services all while being situated in thousands of stores all over the United States. Presently the Cannabis Industry doesn’t have the experience, infrastructure or distribution network to compete with the Liquor Industry. Now that the Liquor Industry has found a revenue stream that continues to grow, they will continue to expand the presence in Cannabis. Because of this, the question quickly becomes can the Cannabis Industry learn “The Art of The Sale” with enough urgency not to be marginalized? Anyway as always, H**p Dawgs and H**p Puppies keep one eye on the weather and the other eye on the market.
Visit Tennessee homegrown web site to try our great products: https://www.tnhomegrown.com
The Old H**p Farmer's Wife web site: https://www.theoldhempfarmerswife.com
Our Podcast - Full Contact Cannabis: https://fullcontactcannabis.podbean.com

04/26/2025

Full Contact Cannabis- Mark Stepp and Harold Jarboe talk about the dire situation of Recreational and H**p Derived Cannabis Business in America and how the Liquor Industry is trying to move in and dominate an industry they formerly despised. https://fullcontactcannabis.podbean.com

Full Contact Cannabis- Mark Stepp and Harold Jarboe talk about the dire situation of Recreational and H**p Derived Cannabis Business in America and how the Liquor Industry is trying to move in and dominate an industry they formerly despised.
https://fullcontactcannabis.podbean.com

02/11/2025