Ripening indoors
Cannabis flowers about two weeks before harvest at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Trained team
Co-founder and CEO Eric Battuello shows how and why stems are trimmed at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Go time
Production supervisor Joshua Ramos trims marijuana plants in a flowering nursery at ButterBrand farms in San Francisco, California, on Friday, Oct. 28, 2016.
En route
Supervisor Dale Ramos moves buds from the processing room to the dry room at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Hang time
Supervisor Dale Romas gets buds from Massiel Picado in the processing room at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Pass it
Trimmer Massiel Picado (left) hangs marijuana plants to dry as processor Brian Ramos (right) prepares plant for hanging at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Critical inspection
Co-founder and CEO Eric Battuello smells buds in the dry room at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif..
Tight fit
Supervisor Dale Ramos places buds in the dry room at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Machine assist
Processor Calvin Lee works a trimming machine at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. A machine trimmer removes the biggest leaves.
Like clockwork
The five-person trim crew processes up to 20 pounds per day. A single high-quality pound can wholesale for $2,000.
Before and after
Processor Calvin Lee shows a regular dried bud (left) and one trimmed by a trimming machine (right) as he works a trimming machine at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Touch-up
Bud trimmer Ausar Allah-El works on a bud at Butterbrand Farms on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Humans needed
Bud trimmer Ausar Allah-El works on a bud at Butterbrand Farms on August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
Regeneration
Vegetative specialist Lavorisa McGary carries a marijuana plant through a flowering nursery at ButterBrand farms in San Francisco, California, on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016.
Replanting
GreenState file photo
Never-ending
Co-founderCristian Ramos in the nursery at Butterbrand Farms where they propagate plants from the mother plants on Friday, August 18, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif.
San Francisco’s boutique, high-quality cannabis cultivators run year-round in specialized warehouses scattered around town. In the following photo essay, we go inside Butterbrand, which produces top-shelf flower and extracts for the medical market, and has its eye trained on recreational sales in 2018. Butterbrand employs limited automation in the processing of its cannabis, and even though the indoor farm is considered “large-scale” for cannabis — it’s still very hand-crafted and artisanal by traditional agricultural standards. Let’s head inside.
How to buy high-quality cannabis produce
