Moon Valley Cannabis is a Santa Rosa microbusiness in Sonoma County, run by founder Eli Buffalo as Moon Valley Organics Inc. under California license C12-0000314-LIC. It grows small-batch indoor flower in no-till living soil and makes solventless hash, live rosin, joints and rosin vapes.
Neon Panther had a big summer. At the 2026 California Cannabis Awards, held at the California State Fair on July 18, it took gold and a Golden Bear twice.
Eli Buffalo, from motorcycle mechanic to soil farmer
Buffalo came to cannabis through engines and vineyards. A former motorcycle mechanic, he worked as the mechanic at Benziger Winery, where owner Mike Benziger let him help make biodynamic preparations. He also worked for Sonoma viticulturist Phil Coturri, whom Cannabis Business Times calls a pioneer of biodynamic grape growing.
His first garden was a 10-light barn room in 2005, run with Josh Weigleitner, who is now head cultivator. That room shut down in 2017. Buffalo took on the Santa Rosa facility in 2018, and licensed sales started in 2021. He has practiced Korean Natural Farming since 2013 and set out to show that indoor flower can be better for the planet.
Two licenses, 350 lights and a ten-person crew
The operation is small by design. Moon Valley runs two licensed grow locations, held by Moon Valley Organics Inc. and Moon Valley Pharms LLC, with 350 lights between them. Ten employees cover the whole chain from cloning to compliance, and the rooms turn out 60 to 80 pounds of dried, cured flower a month.
The footprint matters to the pitch. On its Weedmaps listing, Moon Valley says it runs on 100% renewable energy from Sonoma Clean Power, recycles all facility water and makes its inputs onsite. The site carries the Dragonfly Earth Medicine Conscious Indoor certification.
No-till beds, ferments and roly-polies
The rooms run on thick no-till soil beds. Cover crops keep the beds alive, and worms, nematodes and beneficial insect predators live in them. The Korean Natural Farming ferments break down organic matter into plant-available nutrients, and the team has had them tested for nutrient content.
Some fixes stay low-tech. To manage roly-polies, the crew sets small pieces of fruit through the beds as traps, then carries the bugs outside. Buffalo is blunt about the tradeoff: "It's very difficult to scale living soil the proper way." Moon Valley makes its own compost and ferments, and he figures a bigger version needs an acre of non-cannabis land beside the greenhouses.
Jars over bulk
Moon Valley eighths sell for about $40 at retail. Buffalo started out at $25 wholesale and changed course. He told Cannabis Business Times in May 2026 that he would rather shave the flower price a little, sell more volume in jars and stay out of the bulk market altogether. He also admitted the number is not where he wants it.
Neon Panther, Grape Gas and the solventless shelf
The menu splits between flower and hash. Weedmaps lists Moon Valley buds and smalls, joints, live rosin, cold cure badder and half-gram disposables.
- Neon Panther half-gram disposable.
- Grape Gas Gummiez live rosin cold cure badder, one gram at $60.
- Strawberry Hash Burger Big Buds, 3.5 grams at $40.
- Watermelon Z one-gram joint at $15.
Distribution reaches beyond the farm gate. The High Seas Class of 420 catalog for April 2026 featured Moon Valley's Zoap Sour Lime, a hybrid flower. The catalog billed the company as a Sonoma County micro-business making small-batch indoor cannabis in no-till living soil. It ran a 30% discount on April 12 and April 20, 2026.
Emerald Cup wins in 2022 and 2024
Emerald Cup recognition came first. It took first place in Environmentally Conscious Indoor at the 2022 Emerald Cup.
The 2024 Emerald Cup was a pile-up. Per the winners list on Leafly, Grape Gas won non-infused pre-rolls and Hash Burger took third in the same category. Panther Candy dual-consistency rosin placed second in live rosin, behind Have Hash and Royal Budline. Neon Panther finished third in infused pre-rolls and fourth in solventless hash.
The 2026 State Fair run for Neon Panther
At the 2026 California Cannabis Awards, Neon Panther Ice Water Hash won gold and a Golden Bear in solventless hash. Master Makers took silver with its Makers Reserve Purple Papaya. The Neon Panther Live Rosin All-in-One won gold and a Golden Bear in solventless cartridges, ahead of Arcata Fire and its Sangria #10 T1 in silver.
Flower got its turn too. Strawberry Hashburger took silver in the CBDa indoor flower category at the same awards.
Where Moon Valley sells in 2026
Moon Valley reaches shoppers through licensed California dispensaries. Its site at moonvalleycannabis.org runs a store locator and an events and demos calendar.
For adults 21 and over.