“Rocky Mountain High: A Tale of Boom and Bust in the New Wild West”

c.2023, W.W. Norton & Company, $27.95, 220 pages

The dirt that’s in your garden is like a bed in a fairy tale: not too hard, not too soft, just right. Yep, now’s a good time to put that dirt to use by setting plants in the ground – but planting isn’t the only part of a successful harvest. There’ll be ongoing maintenance to do. As in the new book “ Rocky Mountain High” by Finn Murphy, you’ll also need to be weed-ing.

Fifteen years after ending his gig as a long-haul mover, Finn Murphy was living in Colorado and thinking about something exciting: growing hemp was newly legal there, supported by research and the Colorado Department of Agriculture. By just knowing this, he had a very good chance of “making some serious dough.”

Even better: Land was relatively cheap and he had funds available.

“Hemp,” says Murphy, “is Mother Earth’s super-plant…” with what experts say has 25,000 different uses. One in particular is legal in some states and offers reduced levels of THC. It’s used as medicinal “smokable flower” and CBD.

That kind of crop, he says, was the plan. Alas, though the government seemed eager to offer support, paperwork delays made him miss the planting deadline in his very first year.

This made Murphy angry but not too much; an entrepreneur from way back, he knew that in any boom, there are other opportunities. While he waited to spot one, he spent time learning about “the Hemp Space”– and that was when he saw it: Hemp farmers were anticipating high yields in the fall, but they had no way to process the harvest.

Seizing the moment, Murphy had to find somewhere to construct three gigantic hoop buildings, find certain kinds of workers and purchase the equipment to do the harvesting. He hired his godson as foreman and a fellow gig-worker to act as supervisor. Then he watched his bank account leak money, as the work increased and time ran out.

The payout: possibly “almost $2 million” for “weedwhackers.” For Murphy, quite a different number… Well, another day, another dollar. That kind of shrug comes through plainly inside “Rocky Mountain High,” and that makes this a highly unusual book.

Let’s say you’ve (ahem) done hemp farmer on a small scale. If you’re thinking about buying land and trying to legally go big, there’s lots to learn and author Finn Murphy tells it plain. He shares his experience here, some process, some pitfalls, problems, prices, and the big picture in detail. Often, despite the number$, that comes with a wink and an aura of eyebrow-raising calm that wavers only sometimes.

Readers might be a little surprised that this book on hemp farming can feel like it belongs on a business shelf. It’s filled with workplace advice, and Murphy’s philosophy on hiring and second chances is worth a read for anyone in a supervisory position. Even if you’ve never smoked in your life, even if you don’t inhale, even if you have a brown thumb, that makes “Rocky Mountain High” a winner.

You’ll really dig it.

— The Bookworm Sez