Sweet Dirt Announces Maine’s First Certified Clean Adult Use Cannabis
Company sees growing demand for more sustainable, organically grown cannabis

ELIOT, Maine, June 22, 2021. Sweet Dirt, a Maine-based, vertically integrated cannabis company, today announced Maine’s first harvest of third-party certified clean Adult Use cannabis. Grown in the State’s largest cannabis greenhouse, this harvest is the first in the State to garner the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Certified Clean Cannabis (MC3) designation for Adult Use Cannabis.

The coveted ‘MC3’ MOFGA seal certifies cannabis cultivators that farm using organic methods. To be certified by MOFGA, growers must meet strict requirements proving the purity of ingredients and ensuring no synthetic pesticides, irradiation, or other unnatural forms of pest control, sterilization, or preservation are used. Sweet Dirt has been growing MOFGA certified clean cannabis for the medical market for several years, but this latest harvest is the company’s first Adult Use harvest to be certified clean.

Sweet Dirt Organically Grown in Living SoilStudies have shown that consumers are deeply concerned with the use of pesticides, chemicals, and other fertilizers in cannabis cultivation. Second only to the overall efficacy of cannabis, consumers ranked cultivation practices as a critical purchasing consideration and, increasingly, buyers are asking “who grew this cannabis and how was it grown?” Sweet Dirt flower is greenhouse grown in living soil with organic growing practices. Cultivating a ‘clean’ cannabis harvest can be more costly and labor-intensive than other growing methods, but the company believes it’s the right path forward.

“Sweet Dirt was founded out of a belief that good soil and clean water yields plants that present superior taste, aroma and effect,” said Sweet Dirt Founder and Head Grower, Hughes Pope. “And, healthy, cleanly-grown plants are less susceptible to disease and also yield higher, more fully developed cannabinoids and terpenes.”      

“There’s a lot of hydroponic production out there, but it’s never certified by MOFGA because organic agriculture is built around the belief that you feed the soil, not the plant,” said Chris Grigsby, director of MOFGA Certification Services LLC. “You can tell the difference [between soil-grown and hydroponic-grown cannabis]. It’s really kind of tremendous when you do a side by side.”

“Mainers and those visiting Maine have long had an appreciation for craft industries, artisan goods, and organically and locally produced products,” says Jim Henry, CEO of Sweet Dirt. “The successful harvest of our first certified clean adult use cannabis crop – in a new facility and one of this scale and complexity – is a major milestone for us and is something our customers have been clamoring for.”

Sweet Dirt’s first Adult Use harvest includes strains such as Dream Star (Santa Cruz Blue Dream x Stardawg 2), Darlin’s Net (GG4 x DMT Kush) and Dosi Kush Cleaner (Do-si-dos x Jacks Cleaner). These and other heirloom strains will be available at Sweet Dirt’s Portland and Waterville recreational cannabis stores and select cannabis retailers starting early Summer 2021 and beyond.