Medical marijuana plants go through an entire cultivation process before they reach the patient as finished flower. Each step is crucial for growing high quality product, but the trim can often get overlooked. After the flower gets harvested and goes through dry cure it needs to be trimmed—the excess stems and leaves shaped off the nug before it goes into the package. Trimming is typically the last step for growers, and if done all by hand one of the most tedious and labor-intensive jobs in the grow.
Some growers choose to cut out the trim room—opting for a machine to do the work to speed up the process and save time and money. For Parea Biosciences, doing it by hand is the only way. Every Parea strain—no matter the weight it’s packaged in—gets hand-trimmed at the grow facility in Shamokin, Pennsylvania before it goes to PA patients.
Video Courtesy of Parea Biosciences
The Parea trim room prides itself on preserving the essence of the flower that cultivation provides. Trimming with care to maintain the structure of the bud and deliver undisturbed flower to patients. Each nug gets the individual attention it deserves from trimmers—paying close attention to the characteristics of the strain in their bin.
At Parea, the plant is assessed and given what it needs through all the steps of the process and that includes trim. Every batch of every strain is different. Instead of dictating the rules to the plant, Parea is guided by what the plant needs. The biggest rule is striving to deliver quality, medical grade product on a consistent basis.
“Quality and consistency are the pillars of the trim department. Take quality product and be consistent with it.” Liz Boylan—Trim/Packaging Manager
To get medical grade quality, the other pillar has to be cleanliness. Parea strives for sincere cleanliness in the trim room to give the flower the integrity it deserves as a medical grade product. Their flower is handled with a level of care and an attention to detail through every step, and hand-trimming and hand-packaging each flower unit lets Parea get one last QC before it's out of their hands and to the patient.
Every bud gets an extra set of eyes on it while on the trim table and then another look when it’s packaged by hand in their window mylar bags—dropping at least one big bud in each bag.
Open a bag of Parea flower and you might start to notice the difference between hand-trimmed and machine-trimmed flower. Even as trim machines evolve, they would destroy the structure on some of Parea’s genetics and the automated blade can never match the beauty of a well-manicured bud from a skilled trimmer.
The reality is anybody can trim weed—all it takes is trim scissors and a lot of time—but not everyone is cut out for the work and not everyone is willing to pay someone to do it. In Parea’s trim room you need to be quick enough to get through upwards of 800 grams in a day depending on the strain, and meticulously shape each bud to produce consistent results that highlight the unique qualities of each genetic.
It’s monotonous work, but it’s also an entry-level job in the grow. Any cultivator out there has trimmed weed at some point and might have got their start on a farm doing just that. This holds true for Parea. Members of their trim team have gone on to be in cultivation and extraction in the Shamokin facility. The biggest requirement is being passionate about the plant and the goal of delivering consistent, quality product for patients in Pennsylvania.
Whether that’s an eighth of OG Kush, a quarter of GMO x Legend OG, or a half of ICC x Kush Mintz—at Parea it’s always hand-trimmed with love.
“This product is such a craft, it’s hard for me to be proud of automating or skipping on any step in the process. The care that has to go into each step is all extra quality control and it’s just a different level of care when you are hand-trimming the bud and hand-packaging it to make sure there is a good size bud in each bag for patients.” Patrick Sprout—Director of Cultivation
