Bill would make hemp legal for research in Florida
Cory Trusty sells hemp-oil soap and shampoo bars, hemp-fiber pillows and hemp-and-cotton washcloths through her Internet business based near Daytona Beach.
She'd like to buy the hemp and finished products locally for AquarianBath.com, but Trusty must rely on China and Canada to fulfill her orders. That's because growing hemp is illegal in Florida.
A proposed law would change the status of the plant in the state, opening the door to a potential multimillion-dollar industry..... continued here
Hemp is an annual crop that can grow in a variety of climate conditions. Although it grows best when the surrounding temperatures are in the 60°F to 80°F range, hemp can handle conditions that are warmer or colder than optimum. In fact, hemp seedlings can even tolerate a little frost. Since hemp can be planted earlier than other crops, such as corn, it produces a sheltering canopy of leaves earlier, which means that weeds get shaded out sooner. This means farmers who raise industrial hemp don’t need herbicides to grow a healthy crop of hemp. The best quality hemp fiber comes from plants that receive at least four months of growing season before a killing frost. For hemp seed production, the growing season needs to extend to 5.5 months, to allow the seeds to fully mature before harvest.
Hemp plants require a good supply of moisture throughout the growing season, but especially during the early growth stage. Once the roots are developed, the plants can tolerate drier conditions, but the best quality hemp is raised in conditions with 20 to 28 inches of rain during the growing season. Drought conditions can force hemp plants to mature early, which means smaller plants.
The hemp plant can grow up to 20 feet tall. The stalk has a woody core, with a layer of bark that contains the long fibers which are found along the length of the stem. Growers have cross bred plants to make varieties of hemp that contain a high stem fiber content while at the same time having very low levels of THC.
To harvest hemp for fiber used in making ropes or fabric, the plants are cut after flowering, but before seeds mature.
The next step is retting, which is related to “rotting." Hemp stalks are allowed to decompose a bit to the point where it is easy to remove the bark. The bacteria which break down the stalks require water and which can come from the air in field retting, or the stream or pool used for water retting. Field retting is more environmentally friendly, because when retting is done under water, the bacteria consume the oxygen which is needed by fish in the streams or ponds. In small amounts it is probably not a big issue but in large amount it could make river or lake water oxygen poor. Field retting requires careful monitoring by farmers to ensure that separation of the fibers occurs without too much deterioration from excess moisture. Weather conditions during retting and baling effect the quality of the fiber. Without retting, the fibers tend to break into shorter pieces that are unusable for woven cloth. After retting, the dried hemp stalks are ready for further processing.
Kentucky's Agriculture Department received their seeds just in time for planting which happened Tuesday May 27th, 2014. Watch the historic planting on youtube.
In February 2014, Kentucky announced that it would have five pilot programs at higher learning institutions across the state this spring to research hemp production. As part of the program, the state imported 250 pounds of hemp seed, which was impounded by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). On Wednesday, May 14, The Agricultural Department for the state of Kentucky filed a lawsuit against the DEA, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Federal Justice Department to gain access to their imported seeds. The seeds were just released and will be will be planted as soon as next week after the long memorial day weekend. Other states, such as Tennessee have voted to raise hemp and the governor signed the bill into law on May 14th. On May 20, Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack
announced at a press conference in Denver that he is working out details with Attorney General Eric Holder to settle the conflict between the Farm Bill’s hemp production statement and federal drug laws. As a result of the federal prohibition on domestic production, today all hemp products used in the United States are imported from other countries, such as China, Canada, Russia, South Korea and parts of Europe. Hopefully this is about to change. The most recent U.S. Farm Bill allows for states that have passed laws making industrial hemp production legal, to begin researching hemp as a potential crop. While the Farm Bill does not make it federally legal to raise hemp in the U.S., it does protect researchers and farmers from federal government crackdown in the following 12 statesthat have already passed laws restoringhemp production legality: Kentucky, California, Oregon, North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, Utah, Vermont, Maine and West Virginia. Just because hemp cultivation has been illegal in the memory of a generation or two, does not mean it has always been this way. Hemp has been a part of the United States from colonial times until the production of any Cannabis plant was restricted in this country in 1937 by the Marijuana Tax Act.The first hemp in what is now the U.S. arrived in 1645 with the Puritans in Massachusetts. Cultivation of hemp quickly spread to other colonies, where it became an important crop for cordage, rope and sailcloth used in sailing vessels, as well as other applications. George Washington even grew hemp on his plantationaround 1765 to replace tobacco cultivation, because it was such a valued crop. Hemp was grown extensively in the US from 1940-1960 in part because of the need for rope and fabric during World War II. At one point hemp production reached 68 thousand tons. By the 1970s, the raising of any member of the Cannabis family, including hemp, was completely outlawed. Aquarian Bath supports growing this valuable crop in the U.S.A. legally. We use Canadian hemp oil for many of our shampoo bars and soaps. We use Chinese hemp textiles to make our flaxseed therapy pillows and new washcloths. We hope to someday soon to make products with USA hemp oil and USA cloth. We will be sharing more on Hemp cultivation and industrial uses for this plant in upcoming blog posts, so please subscribe to our blog if this topic interests you.
The museum is on 400 acres which was donated for the creation of the museum by Flagler county. The museum was started with a government grant. There are currently 2 employees and many volunteers who operate the museum.
On the tour we saw these short horned Florida Cracker Cattle, like this bull. We also met this talkative pig. Tessa said 'he's beautiful... very pretty momma.' That was the first time the tour guide had heard the pig described as beautiful.
These two buildings are what would have been the ranch owner's living area complete with an outdoor kitchen (left) and the living area which had 2 bedrooms.
The garden looks neat and orderly. The pig and cattle enjoy the mustard greens and volunteers take home some vegetables also.
There were some lovely chicken coops at the Museum for ducks and hens. This pen had 5 or 6 chickens including Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons. The chicken wire had a beautiful grape vine growing up it to provide shade to the birds during the hot weather.
The girls enjoyed seeing the horses. The museum also offers riding lessons and trail rides.
With continued leakage of radiation from Fukushima and burning of radioactive waste, radiation exposure is an ongoing concern. We know that radiation can travel quickly around the globe via the jet stream. Western United States are particularly vulnerable. Previously I wrote about personal care tips for avoiding radiation. Today I will share with you what I have learned about gardening to avoid radioactive contamination of produce as well as other resources on this topic.
The safest options for producing non-radioactive foods are growing in a green house, sprouting indoors, growing hydroponically indoors, and covering outdoor growing beds during rain storms to prevent exposure to rain water. However, if you plan to continue growing outside under standard conditions, there are things you can do to help protect your soil.
Use Filtered Water to Irrigate the Garden: You can use Zeolite filtered rain water or filtered tap water to water your garden. Zeolite is a mineral formed over time when volcanic ash combines with salt water. It's unique structure allows it to bind up heavy particles such as radioactive Cesium. It is used extensively in nuclear waste clean up. A filter can be made from PVC components, a scouring pad, and Sweet PDZ, which is trade name for Zeolite powder. Sweet PDZ is inexpensive and available at animal feed stores, because it used in horse stalls for reducing odors.
Feed Your Soil: The most important method for reducing soil to plant uptake of radioactive particles, as demonstrated in studies with radioactive Cesium and Strontium, is providing rich healthy organic matter to the soil. Organic gardeners with good composting habits are already a step ahead when it comes to protecting their plants. Personally, I think that the mineral rich additive such as Azomite, a volcanic ash, may also be beneficial, though I haven't found any research to confirm that. Azomite contains minerals and trace elements that improve overall soil function.
Sandy Soils Need Special Attention: Sandy soils, such as the soil we have here in Central Florida, is a factor which increases soil-to-plant uptake of radioactive particles. For this type of soil reducing the relative sand content by adding clay and organic matter is important.
Special Soil Amendments Clay, Calcium, and Zeolite: All soils that are not already rich in clay will benefit from this soil additive. Clay helps reduce soil-to-plant transfer of radioactive Cesium and Strontiun. After clay, Calcium is also important for reducing soil-to-plant transfer of radioactive Cesium and Strontium. Agriculture Lime is one option for supplementing Calcium. From what I understand it is particularly important to supplement with Calcium prior to harvest of leafy green vegetables. The addition of Clay and Calcium is most effective in soils that are low in organic matter. Adding it to healthy rich organic soils will also have some effect in reducing soil-to-plant radioactive Cesium and Strontium transfer, but not as significant as compared to undernourished soils. Zeolite is a mineral that can also be added to soils to reduce the uptake of Cesium to plants. The Japanese Government ordered farmers to add Zeolite to their rice fields after the Fukushima accident in the hopes of preventing radioactive contamination of rice. About 6 grams of Zeolite powder per 1 square foot of is what I calculated to be required after reading acreage recommendations at Acsending Star Seed. I am not sure what the acreage calculations were based on. I added powdered Zeolite to my soil in the form of Sweet PDZ using Joel Tippens' powdered donut method for applying blood meal, bone meal and cottonseed meal. I simply sprinkled the soil with a light layer of Sweet PDZ powder until it was lightly covered like a powdered donut. This soil amendment does not change the soil pH.
Inoculate your Soil with Mushroom Spores: Darkly pigmented fungus have been shown to feed on gamma radiation. Adding mushroom compost to your soil or adding spores from mature melanin pigmented mushrooms, may be able to divert radioactive particles out of your soils and away from your veggies. The area underneath a mushroom cap holds the spores. You can simply tap the tiny spores into your garden beds by patting the top of a mature brown mushroom.
If you are concerned about radiation, but are unsure if you should take preventative measures, you might want to take advantage of free radiation testing tor your home or car air filters or check out the Radiation Network for real time citizen reported radiation monitoring. I purchased a geiger counter kit last week from one of my husband's regular suppliers and we tested our Central Florida (32117) soil and rain water, Hepa filter and various foods. Thankfully there were no issues with anything we tested, but I am still very much acting with precaution.
In my next related blog post I will be sharing about a common wild flower that acts as an indicator for radioactive contamination and share some images of common herbal weeds with very strange mutations from the Northern United States. I'm very curious what you all think of the pictures and if you have seen anything like it before.
Recommendations for Organic matter, Clay, Lime, and Zeolite additives are based on research published in the following articles:
A review of literature on the effectiveness of chemica amendments in reducing the soil-to-plant transfer of radiostrontium and radiocaesium by J. Lembechts. Science of The Total Environment Vol. 137, Issues 1-3, 2-4 September 1993, pages 81-98
