Job Interview: Cannabis cultivator got her start by growing tomatoes with dad
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It’s been a year since cannabis was legalized in Minnesota, and at White Earth Nation cultivation and sales of the drug are in full swing. The tribe has a large grow site and dispensary.
“Over here we call all the little seedlings — we just call them the babies,” said Nahayla Londo, who works there as a post-harvest supervisor.
Nahayla Londo is a member of the Grand Portage Reservation. She landed her job at Waabigwan Mashkiki Dispensary just as cannabis was about to be legalized. Her brother, Jeremy Londo, also works there.
“I thought I was getting away from her,” he said. “Now we see each other even more.”
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Nahayla Londo has long been fascinated by cannabis. Growing up, she, her brother and her dad always kept a vegetable garden. As a young adult, she thought she might have her own cannabis crop some day. “I just imagined it was similar to tomatoes,” she said.
This conversation is a part of our Job Interview series, where we talk to everyday Minnesotans about the rewards and challenges of their work. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity. Click on the audio player for the original version.
Official title: Post-harvest supervisor
What I actually do: The cultivators harvest it and then they dry and cure it, and the trimmers have to trim off all this stems. I call it, like, a little haircut. After, it’s packaged and labeled and stickered. And then we box it up and send it out to whomever asked for delivery.
A great day at work: Once we release a new strain, we all like to [smoke] it for the first time to see if we like it or not. We’re all hounding down on it to try it finally.
A not-so-great day at work: Sometimes one dispensary will ask for so [much] and then another will ask for the same amount of the same strain. Not only do we supply other tribes but we supply our own dispensary. So we have to segregate whatever we do have.
What I’ve learned: I basically love all of it. I love just interacting with all the other technicians — having that responsibility.
