Ridgeline Farms is a second-generation, owner-operated cannabis farm in the hills of Southern Humboldt, run by Jason Gellman. It sits above the winding Eel River with the King Range in view, and the flower that comes off it has been taking California's biggest cannabis trophies for years.
About the farm
The farm is named for its panoramic view of the sprawling King Range, and Gellman has never wanted to be anywhere else. He grew up in Southern Humboldt and started his cannabis career at fifteen, working his dad's construction crew by day and planting seed plants out in the backcountry wherever there was water.
He watched the whole arc from there — hidden grows in the forest, the Green Rush that flooded the Emerald Triangle with out-of-staters, then legalization. Ridgeline came through all of it as a family operation, and it still runs on quality over quantity rather than acreage.
What they grow
Everything is grown with natural sunlight using natural and organic techniques, on ground that looks out over ancient redwoods, rolling oak forests and the river below. Gellman's pitch is simple: the farm is small enough that he knows every plant and exactly what he feeds it.
Lantz is the house strain and most of the catalog is built on it — Ridgeline Rose, Ridgelion, Ridgeline Rebel, Plantz, Throbber and Lamboz are all Lantz crosses. Alongside them sit Green Lantern, Ridgeline Runtz, Blackberry Caviar and Blueberry Caviar.
Green Lantern is the one that made the name. It is an indica-leaning hybrid whose exact genetics are still a mystery — extremely gassy, dominated by Sour Diesel with sweet cherry-pie notes underneath, and it has tested as high as 35.1% THC.
The trophy shelf
Green Lantern took the Emerald Cup in 2018, and the farm kept coming back. At the 19th Emerald Cup in May 2023, Lantz won first place in Mixed Light and first in the Mixed Light Breeder's Cup, and Ridgeline also placed 13th and 17th in the sungrown category.
The Breeder's Cup was the one that mattered most to Gellman — Lantz took him and his father four-plus years of crossing strains to land. That same year Lantz picked up a third-place Best Tasting finish at Zalympix, a competition where the voting is done by consumers.
The High Rise take
What makes Ridgeline worth paying attention to is that Gellman is loud about the part of this industry that is hurting. As corporate money pours in and prices crater, he keeps pointing back at small farms — buy from one and the money actually stays in the community.
That is the trade here. You are getting flower from a farm small enough that one person knows every plant, and a name that has been earned one competition at a time. Ridgeline gear ships out of the same operation, and the flower turns up at The Country Club, Redwood Herbal Alliance and Proper Wellness.