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May 2, 2022

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Safety Meeting: Cool People, Doing Cool Sh*t, featuring Brian Malin

Welcome back to #SafetyMeetings, our new-ish series where we talk to cool people doing cool shit. This week we have Brian Malin, founder and CEO of Vital Garden supply, @theemeraldcup extract judge, legacy grower, guardian of NorCal’s grassroots cannabis culture, and all-around #coolpersondoingcoolshit.

Brian Malin

You’re a cool person doing cool shit. What’s your name and where are you located?

I’m Brian Malin and I live in Nevada City. Vital Garden Supply is in Nevada City and Colusa, and then we have Vital Distribution and that’s in Ukiah.

Nice! You just touched on it: what kind of cool shit are you doing? What’s your title?

I am CEO and founder of Vital Garden Supply Co-Founder of Vital Distro.

How did you get into that?

I started Vital Garden back in 2006. I was a grower and passionate about organics. Grew a lot of my own food, and had a farm – I just wasn’t happy with the products that were available. One day I bought a bottle of Botanicare Pure Blend Pro, actually read the label and found out that that product was far from organic. I was under the impression that it was [organic]. I realized a lot of the hydro industry was a bunch of companies trying to paint the picture that it was a clean, organic, safe product when it was really just calcium nitrate, ammonia nitrate or other synthetics. I wasn’t interested in supporting those types of companies. I felt like people needed to know what’s in what they’re using, just like when you go to the grocery store and find out what’s in the products you eat. Because what you put into your body is important.

So Vital Garden Supply basically came from your mission to provide the organic plant food you couldn’t find.

Absolutely.

What is one piece of advice that you would give your younger self starting this business?

Trust your intuition and slow and steady wins the race.

Hell yeah. So a little bird told us that you’re also an Emerald Cup judge?

Yes, that is true.

What’s your favorite part about judging?

It’s exciting to see what people are doing! I usually judge extract, so I’m always curious to see what new terps are out there and how it’s evolved from the year prior. It’s funny being so entrenched in the industry then coming at it from the consumer side – it gives me really good insight. I also like the camaraderie of it. All the judges share ideas and information about products. I feel like it’s the grassroots event for our industry. And I’m glad it’s still there because there is very little of grassroots anything left. It brings me back to how it used to be, and how it should be. That culture is disappearing and the Blake’s are doing a really good job of preserving that and I want to hold on to that for as long as I can.

They are some of the only OG’s out there that have managed to have one hand in this new legal landscape and one in legacy lifestyle.

Yep, I agree. I feel like I have too [laughs]

Definitely!

I work with the biggest companies and the smallest backyard trap growers and I give them equal love, support, and information.

Follow Brian and Vital Garden Supply, where you can gawk at gorgeous farms, ask about that 2 lighter you have in your garage in the comments, or simply compliment his gardening skills.

Brian Malin on an organic cannabis farm