Potcast 98: Brotherly Love
Find a new appreciation for the preroll with Steven and Charles Menken of Brotherly Love Organics.
I love a good story, and this one is a tale of two brothers and their relationship with each other, cannabis, and cultivation in Trinity County. Enjoy learning more about the realities of growing in the Emerald Triangle and navigating the legal cannabis framework in California.
‘After the Show’ Notes
Brotherly Love Organics in the Casually Baked studio (L-to-R): Jo, Charles, Steven
Connect on Social: @brotherlyloveorganics on IG | @BLOrganics on Twitter
A Story of Brotherly Love
by Steven Menken
We are two brothers from Philly.
I left home to go to college, while my brother Charles left home to serve in Afghanistan as a Marine. We spent several years on separate journeys until our love for cannabis brought us together on the other side of the country. We now call Trinity County home...2,900 miles from the City of Brotherly Love where we started, and as different as you could imagine from the home of our childhood.
But we love it.
My path was simpler: I got into cannabis when I was at the University of Vermont, and when I graduated I looked for a traditional corporate job to help me get out from under the ton of student debt that I had accrued. After an unsuccessful job hunt, I got an invitation to a trim camp in California. With my dog, Buckham, at my side, I drove my van out to the famous Emerald Triangle to find my future...and hopefully pay my student loan bills.
Around this same time, my brother Charles was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. His path coming back from war and navigating PTSD was more complex than mine, and he can tell you how cannabis brought him home more safely than handfuls of pharmaceuticals from the VA.
With both of us in California, we started talking about a dream of having a cannabis farm and cultivating the finest craft cannabis. After numerous trials and tribulations, we found a farm in Trinity County, the forgotten redheaded step-sister of the Emerald Triangle. We chose our little valley because we found a farm with a special microclimate that is similar to the Hindu Kush mountains.
In these foothills of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, we had an opportunity to learn about cultivation and develop our skills as biodynamic, regenerative farmers. We would sit around after a long day’s work and enjoy a preroll and divide up tasks for tomorrow’s challenges on the farm. We also talked about how we loved pre-rolls and wished that we could get a preroll with no shake, no trim, no pesticides and great flower at a fair price. Well, after much discussion, we decided that was the product we wanted to offer the world.
Since that time we have spent everyday growing the best quality flower we can imagine and packaging it with love into organic hemp paper cones for Californians everywhere. Brotherly Love is a perfectly fitting name for our brand since we are two brothers from Philly, and this partnership could not exist without a tremendous amount of love.
To give back some of the love we have received and show our commitment to social equality, for every pack we sell we donate $0.25 to various charities around California. It’s been this way since the first pack. The charities we are currently working with are the Bay Area Mural Program, Planting Justice, Operation EVAC, and the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA.
Our journey with Brotherly Love has taken me and Charles all over this country with many crazy stories, but we’ve come to realize that for us home is wherever we are that night, smoking a preroll at the end of the day and reflecting on our crazy journey together.
We hope our pre-rolls will give you a taste of being home, together with the ones you love.
Where Can You Find Brotherly Love Organics in California?
In San Francisco, stop by Moe Greens, Barbary Coast, Grass Roots, the Harvest Shops, Mission Organic Center, or SPARC
In the East Bay, Vallejo Holistic Healing Center, East Bay Therapuetics, and 7 Stars Holistic Healing Center
In the North Bay, Red Door Remedies, SPARC, Sonoma Patient Group, and Mercy Wellness of Cotati
In Sacramento, All About Wellness
In Monterey, Reef
In San Diego, Mankind and A Green Alternative
In Los Angeles, Erba Markets on Pico Blvd.
Book Recommendations from Steven
BE A CANNABIS PIONEER
We all have a unique story to tell and when it comes to our journey with cannabis and other misunderstood plant medicines, I believe sharing that story is one of the most powerful things we can do to help normalize the culture. If you’re inspired to share your story with me and the casually baked tribe, you can message me here.
Kumbaya and Cannabis,
Jo