In the lush lands just outside Portland, Betsy Ingraham-Marineau lives in a cozy cabin tucked below the home where she grew up. She was raised on a 4.3-acre patch of land where her parents — both potters — encouraged creativity and self-expression, sowing roots deep in the Oregon soil and seasonal rhythms of a PNW lifestyle.
“My mom was a professional chef and baker,” Betsy says. “So I grew up loving food and cooking.” Their big backyard garden and an orchard full of fruit trees fertilized the early seeds of her passion for all things green. Her connection to the earth has always been hands-on: gardening, making pottery, cooking from scratch, and now crafting intentional Cannabis remedies.
Healing on Her Terms
Betsy’s relationship with this particular plant had to grow over the years. “When I was younger, I was traumatized by my dad’s negative experience with Cannabis,” she shares, explaining that her father was incarcerated during the war on drugs. “Despite this hardship, my older brother has been a steadfast influence, serving both as a mentor and close friend.” He helped guide her through a painful time that initially made her hesitant to engage with the plant. But that changed when she began exploring it on her own terms and found healing in the process.
Years later, Cannabis would take on another new role, helping Betsy through an eating disorder after a doctor prescribed it as an appetite stimulant. From that point on, life would continue hurling health hurdles her way, but the plant would remain a steady sprout in the storm, always there to help her rise and re-root.
Plant-Powered with Purpose
These days, she and her husband Buck grow organic flower and press their own hash rosin to use in small-batch edibles, salves and infused oils. Oregonian to the core, Betsy gravitates toward cultivars like Mount Hood Magic, which she says is “uplifting without being overwhelming and provides a comfortable body high.”
Making her own medicine is more than a creative outlet; it’s a form of empowerment. “It gives me a great sense of safety and confidence as I control the entire process from cultivation to consumption,” she says. Along the way, Cannabis has also reshaped her sense of wellness. “It has reinforced the concept that there is no single solution for life’s challenges. It has encouraged me to build a personalized, holistic approach to wellness — a patchwork of support that makes me feel truly cared for.”
Looking ahead, Betsy dreams of building a Walipini greenhouse to grow her own food year-round and becoming a more active part of Oregon’s recreational Cannabis industry. Her goals remain grounded in gratitude and generosity: “I want to continue creating products that help others and contribute meaningfully to my community … and support my parents financially as they age, especially considering the sacrifices they’ve made for me.”
With a focus on community care, seasonal wellness and slowing down enough to savor what she grows, Betsy’s journey isn’t about trends or quick fixes. It’s about building a balanced life, plant by plant, step by step. When asked to sum it all up in one word, she doesn’t hesitate: “Fated.”
