Photo by Melanie Hauke.
We can finally say it out loud: There are moments when there’s just nothing like a good spliff. Cannabis can be life-enhancing fun and good medicine, especially when it’s grown, harvested and cured with care by a talented farmer, and that’s what you’ll find at Back Home Dispensary in Stone Ridge, where you can get Lemon Diesel flower, Maui Wowie prerolls, and Strawberry Habanero gummies that began their journey from seed to end product right here in High Falls.
“It’s a game changer in the area!” writes a Google reviewer. “From the moment I walked in, I was greeted by a warm and knowledgeable staff who took the time to understand my needs and preferences. The atmosphere is inviting and beautifully designed, making it a comfortable space to explore.”
Both the product and the presentation are lovingly handcrafted by William Leibee, whose life in marketing and finance got completely hijacked when he fell headover- heels in love with organic farming. “I went from marketing to restaurant work, and my job was to source the produce, and I stepped onto this one local organic farm out in Jersey and that was it. I’d always loved growing stuff, but this hit hard—I fell in love with farming.”
He found an internship at Gaining Ground Farm in North Carolina and spent a couple of years working and learning, then found a job posting from Alewife Farms, a 40-acre organic veggie operation in Kingston. “I moved up to Cairo, and I was basically living in a horse pen,” he recalls. “I was that broke. I had my van that I’d lived in in North Carolina and a little trailer, so I was free to go anywhere and farm.”
After a couple of years learning the lay of the land, so to speak, Leibee began to yearn for some acreage of his own. “The business and ownership side kinda caught my eye, so I wrote to Jack Schoonmaker, the owner of Saunderskill Farms, and asked him if he knew where I could find some land.” The bold move paid off. Schoonmaker introduced him to Dan Boice, who had a 42-acre farm in High Falls that had lain fallow for two decades. “It was just sitting there falling down,” Leibee says.
“It turned out I was the person who got to sell the first-ever bag of legal weed in New York State, at the very first legal dispensary, down in New York City.” – Owner, William Leibee
Leibee says. “So Dan and I talked for a while, and he gave me the opportunity to buy the place. I rolled up here in February, with no electricity, just me and my trailer and my two dogs, and we started building from the ground up.” The farmhouse had holes in the roof; no one thought it could be saved, but Leibee didn’t care. He was Back Home, and managed to pull off his first vegetable harvest that year, pouring his earnings straight back into renovating the property, working 12-hour days seven days a week.
“The hemp bill had just passed, and we started growing hemp right away too, largely as a cover crop because hemp is really great for rejuvenating the soil,” Leibee says. “We planted three or four acres of it and hardly harvested any; it was part of turning the land certified organic.” Back Home Farm is still producing organic fruits and vegetables for local farmers markets, and Leibee recently teamed up with two other first-generation Rondout Valley farmers to purchase a 50-acre parcel from the Davenport family, land that will also be transitioning to organic production of vegetables and cannabis.
“So we grew hemp for three years, and then (psychoactive) cannabis was legalized in 2021, and as it turned out I was the person who got to sell the first-ever bag of legal weed in New York State, at the very first legal dispensary, down in New York City. It was wild. It was a 3.5-gram bag of Gorilla Glue, grown right here in High Falls, and we got to be in Rolling Stone and The New York Times.”
Three years later, there are 300 dispensaries in New York State; but back then, there were only 20, none of them in the Hudson Valley, and Leibee kept his operation up and running in time-honored farmer fashion, getting up early to hump product down to Union Square Greenmarket and other places. “I did other stuff too, like renting out the renovated farmhouse and living in a tent,” Leibee says.
“I was determined to get to the point of having a hyper-local micro-business.”
At the end of September 2024, Back Home Dispensary received its final approvals from the state. “Opening was actually very smooth,” Leibee says. “Getting the certification and dealing with the state was the part that was frustrating. Ultimately, though, I think New York’s effort to make sure everything is grown here and produced and distributed safely is a good thing.
You know you’re not getting mold or bacteria or adulterants. So, was it frustrating? Yes, sometimes. But I think New York’s rollout was really designed to protect the little guys like me against Goliaths like Curaleaf, which is huge and corporate; a lot of their funding comes from overseas.”
“We're constantly trying to be at the tip of the spear, developing new products and different strains and bringing the best quality we can.” – Owner, William Leibee
The dispensary is open seven days a week, offering 100 or more different products grown at Back Home or from other select producers Leibee knows and trusts. “We have flower and prerolls, edibles and vapes, tinctures, accessories— pretty much whatever you might desire,” he says. “And we’re constantly trying to be at the tip of the spear, developing new products and different strains and bringing the best quality we can.”
A county award for sustainable business practices hangs on the wall, as does the photo of Leibee selling that first legal bag. “I think it’s becoming accepted that we’re good guys, especially small farmers who are cherishing the land and trying to keep the agricultural tradition strong,” Leibee says.
“I think it’s becoming accepted that we’re good guys, especially small farmers who are cherishing the land and trying to keep the agricultural tradition strong,” – Owner, William Leibee
“We’re just trying to be a little better every day than we were the day before, and I think that’s the story of Rondout Valley farming, from the big multigenerational places to the first generation of the next wave. Being able to grow cannabis is helping us to be viable.” Unlike retail-only dispensaries, Back Home products are very local indeed, certified organically grown and hand-harvested, trimmed and cured. Even the other ingredients in their edibles are homegrown. “The strawberries and the blueberries and the honey and the ginger all come from the farm,” Leibee says, “and I think we’re the only dispensary that does that.
The Stone Ridge dispensary is a must-experience for any fan of Lady Mary Jane.
Plus, not having a middleman involved means we can offer pretty decent prices.” You can find Back Home’s organic produce at the High Falls Food Co-op, or sign up for a CSA share. And the Stone Ridge dispensary is a must-experience for any fan of Lady Mary Jane. “I’m happy with the quality we’re presenting; really great product all caked up and iced out with those potent trichomes,” Leibee says. “And this year we’re going to do some high-tech indoor growing, producing ultra-premium products that don’t even exist on the New York market yet.”
back home cannabis dispensary
3056 Route 213, Stone Ridge
backhomedispensary.com
