Sequim Farmers & Artisans Market
Open: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, July 18
Location: Sequim Civic Center Plaza, downtown Sequim
More info: manager@sequimmarket.com
On the web: www.sequimmarket.com
Sativa Valley Essentials, a small, family-owned botanical farm, crafts a variety of medicinal plant products to heal and enrich the lives of its customers.
This company’s reputation often sees out-of-town supporters to schedule a day trip to visit the vibrant booth at the Sequim Saturday market, where they’ll find not only the company’s renowned CBD products but also colorful displays brimming with fresh farm goods like cut flowers, eggs and produce.
Owner Sam Konovalov’s connection to plant-based healing stretches back generations. His great grandfather, born in Russia, was the village medicine doctor and beekeeper.
Konovalov’s grandmother learned from her father, who in turn taught her grandson.
“My grandma said he kept five hundred bee hives,” Konovalov says. “He used natural bee elixirs in combination with foraged botanicals to create medicine.”
Konovalov’s grandmother’s remedies had a reputation for incredible healing powers.
“My grandma had this one salve — my aunts would complain about something hurting and she’d say, ‘Oh, put some of my salve on it!’”
The family relied on this handcrafted medicine so steadily that it sparked Konovalov’s curiosity.
“I thought to myself, ‘This works so well. What is in this?’” The essential ingredient, he discovered, was cannabis.
“The recipe that my grandmother created is actually very similar to the Heritage Salve that we produce now,” Konovalov says.
Sam Konovalov harvests chamomile. Photo courtesy of Sativa Valley Essentials
Konovalov fused his family’s knowledge with a formal education and earned degrees in botany and chemistry at Peninsula College. He then returned to that magic ingredient, cannabis, to understand what exactly made his grandmother’s salves so effective.
“It’s the CBD,” he says.
Cannabis contains many cannabinoids, which together produce a high when smoked. One cannabinoid present in cannabis is called cannabidiol, or CBD, which is a is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, meaning it doesn’t produce an alteration in state of mind, or “high.”
When isolated, CBD has been said to reliably reduce symptoms of a range of pains without producing a high.
At market, guests can expect to find both isolate and broad-spectrum CBD tinctures, designed to be taken internally, as well as topical bath and body products.
“We have cannabinoid receptors at the end of our hair follicles, right where the pain is coming from,” Konovalov explains. “There are specific cannabinoid receptors for the CBD to interact with when you apply a product topically. This is how it reduces pain, we were designed for it.”
Konovalov shares that the farm is excited to be finalizing a new product to be released next year featuring another non-psychoactive cannabinoid called cannabigerol, or CBG, which has a reputation for aiding in an even wider array of health challenges including tumor reduction, Crohn’s disease, stomach and bladder issues and mood regulation.
“CBG is super exciting, because it does what CBD can do but with a much wider array of potential health benefits and with greater strength,” Konovalov says.
The company’s CBD products are primarily produced and sourced from the farm.
Sam Konovalov’s Sativa Valley Essentials is a family-run business. Photo by Emma Jane Garcia
“We’re able to control everything, it’s beautiful to see the process through from start to finish,” Konovalov says.
Throughout it all, he maintains a steady appreciation for the connection his work maintains to his family’s traditions.
“I know my grandma never would of thought that her salve would help so many people find relief from their pain,” he says
To this day, Sativa Valley Essentials is a family affair. Konovalov and business partner Jude Schweizer are at the helm of product development and distribution, with Konovalov’s brother Scott overseeing produce and orchard production. Konovalov’s mother, Nancy, grows the fresh cut flowers.
“And when it’s hemp harvesting time, the whole family’s there helping out,” Sam Konovalov says.
Sativa Valley Essentials has a devoted national following. However, Konovalov says he appreciates the opportunity to connect with his home community at Saturday markets.
“At the market, you’re really able to have a deeper connection with the products and the people who made them,” he says. “You get to know that business owner directly, their stewardship for the land, and how they carry themselves.”
Konovalov is a proud supporter of the Sequim Farmers & Artisans Market: “It’s a family, it’s a community, and we’re all working to become better together.”
Find Sativa Valley Essentials every Saturday at the Sequim Farmers & Artisans Market, located at Sequim Civic Center plaza, or visit them online at sativavalleyess.com.
This week, the market expands hours to 9 a.m.-5 p.m., for an anticipated large number of visitors to Clallam County.
Emma Jane Garcia is Marketing Manager for the Sequim Farmers & Artisans Market. See www.sequimmarket.com.
