Regenerative Farming with Hemp

Once upon a time in the not too distant past, the world was comprised of peoples who sought the wisdom, advice, and teachings of their elders in, well, just about everything.

In this day and age, thanks to indoctrination on every level, we have forgotten and/or lost the old teachings that worked well for centuries including taking care of our environment. There was a time when people inherently KNEW how to appreciate what the earth gave us and how to sustain it, to keep it healthy and vibrant so it could continue to provide the food and resources we needed to survive and maintain a healthy life as well. So, what happened?

Enter “The Powers that Think they Be”…..

As we’ve discussed numerous times, there are those that do everything in their power to maintain power and control over populations even to the point of decreasing the population worldwide. To them, we are “bottom feeders”. To them, we are nothing more than “cattle” that take up space and resources. Meanwhile, THEY are the ones destroying everything that is good. We have a minute population of beings that includes mad scientists having a wild time in their laboratories creating concoctions using harmful chemicals full of toxins for everything from pharmaceuticals to food and agriculture. Using humans as their unknowing lab rats…all in the name of “progress” of course!

Fortunately, we are living in such a time where people are waking up to this madness. Too many are aware that things are just not right and are questioning “the science” that somehow seems to ruin everything it touches except for the deep pockets of the few who would like to “disappear” the majority of the population. We have caught on to the fact that the “old ways” are, in fact, the best ways for survival and it all begins with our health….

We have learned to maintain our health we need to eat properly, but how can we do that when everything from our foods to the soil we grow them in is filled with toxins? Ahhh, the soil! That is where it all starts, is it not? In order to grow healthy crops, we need chemical-free, nutrient-rich soil. This is where regenerative farming comes in!

For centuries, humans grew food and fiber crops without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Farmers learned to rotate crops and regenerate the soil with microbes. Our ancestors knew this. It’s only been in the last 100 years or so that industrial agriculture has gained dominance all thanks to Big Ag (another “Big” to add to my list)!

According to Doug Fine, a hemp farmer, activist, and author, “We are in the ninth inning for humanity, two outs.”

Fine practices, and teaches, the straightforward concept used for generations by our ancestors what has become the lost art of rebuilding microbes in soil while spreading awareness of how essential it is to treat our resources as vital to maintain and rebuild. This practice is known as “regenerative farming”.

Regenerative farming is nothing more than planting crops in their native soil outdoors and regenerating the soil off-season with microbes, compost, and animal droppings from the same area or farm with very few external inputs.

By eliminating the use of pesticides, it allows things such as worms, buts, fungi, and bacteria to grow and flourish in the soil itself. In turn, this will allow us to reduce or eliminate the amount of tilling we do, which will reduce water runoff and erosion while increasing the amount of moisture that soaks into the ground. More life underground means healthy soil where plants can grow abundantly above ground drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. If the soil is vibrant and not filled with chemicals, the microbes can multiply and combine with other nutrients which will create an ecosystem known as “rich topsoil”.

So, what does this have to do with Hemp?

As we know, hemp is environmentally friendly in many well-known ways. Not only is it a regenerative food source, it can be used to make more sustainable fabrics, paper, and building materials. For some time now, scientists have also been investigating hemp’s powerful ability to clean contaminated soil and make it healthy again. Because of modern farming practices, much of our soil has become infertile. Hemp is able to help refresh depleted soil by restoring stability and nutrients to the area. Its roots grow deep very quickly, holding the soil together and protecting the area from erosion. When the plant is harvested, it leaves behind large amounts of biomass that can be left to decompose and enrich the soil. What’s even more amazing is hemp’s purported ability to absorb heavy metals and toxins left from environmental disasters and the like that would otherwise leave the soil barren and useless. For a long time now, cannabis and hemp advocates have been telling about the plant being used to mitigate the damage done by the Chernobyl disaster. Turns out, they were right. In the 90s, a team of scientists led by Ilya Raskin planted hemp in the contaminated fields and found proof hemp was able to clean the soil using a process called “phytoremediation”. This process was replicated in 2001 by German scientists by planting hemp on a plot of land that was contaminated by sewage. The team reported they were able to remove many toxins and heavy metals from the ground. With these fascinating results, researchers are currently testing this process in many devastated areas around the world.

Could this be the answer to the damage caused by years of pollution and lost knowledge? Personally, I would say yes, but time will tell, won’t it?