The Homestead Dispensary, Durango’s latest recreational marijuana outlet, which opened Nov. 23, is selling marijuana it grows at a related farm in Saguache County.
Kwinn Varney, marketing director for Homestead, said Mammoth Farms in Saguache County had previously been wholesaling the farm’s marijuana, but it is now using its crop to stock Homestead, Durango’s 11th recreational marijuana dispensary.
Both Homestead and Mammoth Farms are owned by Justin Trouard of Saguache.
Mammoth Farms is 600 acres, but in 2018, it grew marijuana on only 8 of those acres. For 2019, the farm intends to cultivate 20 acres of marijuana, and Mammoth may resume wholesaling some of its marijuana in addition to supplying Homestead at 927 Colorado Highway 3.
“The recreational marijuana is started in a greenhouse but is grown outdoors. We never had to use pesticides. Most marijuana is grown in greenhouses and you have to worry about molds and mites. We just let nature take its course. We had lady bugs that showed up out of the blue,” Varney said.
Mammoth Farms had been looking to open a dispensary, and when The Delta 9 Depot, a recreational marijuana shop that had occupied the same location, closed, Mammoth Farms moved into the space.
So far, The Homestead is Mammoth Farms’ only recreational marijuana dispensary, but it may open others around Colorado, Varney said.
Marijuana grown at Mammoth Farms is sold for $80 an ounce at The Homestead. It also sells joints for $4 and concentrates for $15 a gram.
In addition, the dispensary offers marijuana strains grown by other growers as well as edibles, beverages, concentrates, salves, lotions and bath balms. The store also sells glassware.
Varney said marijuana-infused products and concentrates come from other marijuana suppliers, but Mammoth Farms, which is about 1½ years old, plans to enter the marijuana-infused products market.
Homestead, which has five employees, is planning to expand its dispensary, which is currently at 700 square feet, by about 400 square feet with retail space available next to the shop.
“We have two kiosks now, but many days, we’re backed up,” Varney said.
parmijo@durangherald.com