Posted by Dave on March 7, 2010
It is probably not a new revelation to most of you that hemp once grew tall and proud throughout many regions of the United States. Before bored advocated of Prohibition teamed up with politicians and others seeking to push mostly Mexican immigrants back South of the Border during the rise toward the Great Depression and eventually leading to the “Reefer Madness” era, hemp was widely grown and used for dozens of applications in the U.S. including paints, cosmetics, fabrics and foods.
It seems, after many years of difficult struggle, groups such as the Hemp Industries Association and Vote Hemp might finally be gathering the momentum to bring hemp back into the mainstream of American society. These two organizations are teaming up this Spring to bring us Hemp History Week, May 17th-23rd. This is not the same thing as, “Smoke a Doobie, Attention Deficit Day,” or “Bake a Ganja Brownie for your Favorite Earth Sprite Day.” WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on September 29, 2009
America’s farmland has long been under siege by suburban development. This is nothing new. What is new is that a cease-fire has been called in most parts of the nation. And a conversation is developing about how to move into this new window of opportunity in a manner that not only restores the balance between urban demand and farm supply, but also helps to reenergize our failing economy heavily dependent on the construction industry.
This summer, Reburbia, a suburban design competition, was held by Inhabitat and Dwell Magazine. The competition set out to gather creative and imaginative ideas on how to go about re-visioning the American suburban sprawl that will almost certainly become our suburban wasteland without intervention. Several of the ideas were great, but one in particular caught my eye. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on July 18, 2009
Coop has just come closer to home for those in the SLC downtown area. And I, for one, feel it is a happy trend. Urban and fringe agricultural areas all over the U.S. have been seeing an increase in small artisan farming operations teaming up with each other to provide convenient store fronts to locals. Salt Lake City has now joined in the game.
Rico Locals has opened up on 800 S. and 500 E., SLC. The founding vendors include empanadas, cheese, beef, a goat dairy, eggs, lamb, and Rico Brand mexican stuffs. Not too shabby. And I have to say that I really hope this sort of Urban farming and cooperative trend takes off. I sometimes wake in a cold sweat thinking about small, artisan farms being gobbled up by large, industrialized tenant farming outfits. I just don’t think that anyone can care better for the sustainability of farm lands than a small generational farm supported by local customers and a local market. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on July 1, 2009
There are urban farmers, guerilla gardeners and tree-strip ripping going on like crazy all over the U.S. (or at least mention of it on the blogosphere). But is all of this edible green mayhem really helping us become more sustainable?
How many gardens out there end up being weed factories full of overripe and splitting produce, sipping on wasted water and allowing moisture to evaporate away into the ether? In other words, are most of us into gardening more in spirit than in actuality? And if so, do the spiritual benefits of readjusting our Chi with a spade in our hand really worth the waste of time, energy, soil nutrients and water?
Let’s look at some plus and minuses. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on June 6, 2009
Although bland at first glance, hemp’s most important role may very well end up as a part of our diet. Hemp is a monster when it comes to proteins and essential fatty acids (EFA’s). These two things are the reason we should all be growing hemp in our backyard gardens. (Note to DEA: I don’t have hemp in my backyard garden. I don’t even garden, or have a yard. I promise.)
Many may disagree about whether the earth is in the midst of a food crisis or overall shortage. If we all played nice, mabye everyone could have enough (fat chance). We do know that in the U.S. we are losing farms, farmers and farm land. But, there is much less disagreement that we suffer globally from a food distribution crisis. Certainly portions of the earth surface lack sufficient food stuffs to feed the people that live there. And seeing how lack of vital resources like food can cause mayhem and destruction of life that ultimately reaches even us lazy Americans on our couches, we should probably care that others lack food. Enter hemp, stage right.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on May 21, 2009
You might have heard it by now, but cotton is the devil. I know, I know. I am one of cotton’s evil minions. I am wearing the touch and feel of cotton right now! It is the fabric of our lives. I know.
But that doesn’t make it right. I am in the process of trying to cut my steady dependance on the stuff even thought I come from a family of cotton farmers (on the one side. But don’t worry, we’ve moved on to petroleum products for our fortune. Oh crap! That’s tomorrow’s blog.) WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on May 20, 2009
Farmers have had a rough row to hoe for a while now, and unfortunately the economic downturn is not helping them. Another 90,000 farmers are expected to sell the farm during the next decade at a time when we need to be producing more food than ever. Many are promoting new genetically altered and engineered crops and larger industrialized farm conglomerates as the answer to step up the world’s food supplies. Pardon my lack of French, but this seems like a dumbass solution to me. Past attempts to step up industrialized farming without appropriate wisdom and sense has lead to such smash hits as “Welcome to the Dust Bowl.” WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on May 19, 2009
So what makes hemp just so wonderful on the one hand and feared on the other? The magic number for hemp is its percentage of cellulose, which is as high as 77%. This makes it the number one producer of biomass on earth. Wood from most trees registers around 60% cellulose and obviously takes much longer to mature. Hemp can grow from germination to maturity in 3 to 4 months and produces around 5 tons of dry fiber stalk and 10 tons of biomass per acre. The last smoking gun is that hemp can be grown over vast portions of the earth’s land surfaces. It can grow anywhere from China’s temperate forested mountains to Mexico’s arid deserts to Canada’s cool farmland. (It grows best in warm, humid areas with over 25 inches of rain but only requires a bare minimum of 10 inches and a temperate climate.) WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on May 18, 2009
Damn you Reefer Madness, William Randolph Hearst, Dupont and racist American government of the 1930’s! Over 70 years later and we in the U.S. are still suffering the ill effects of banning marijuana and all its associates during a period of economic rebound that encouraged greed, paranoia, racism and lax political oversight. (Sound familiar?)
Industrial hemp was going strong throughout the 1920’s. It found uses in everything from paint to cosmetics to food. It is even rumored that the first pair of Levi jeans were made from Hemp in the mid-1800’s. (The evidence was destroyed in the great San Francisco fire.) People have long derided prohibition as one of the stupider achievements of American history, blaming it for (among other things) giving rise to organized crime. Well, if prohibition was stupid you have to lump reefer madness into the same category of dumb. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on April 26, 2009
Homes never smell like vinegar baths anymore. When I was a wee one there was an informal holiday around my house that I guess could have been remembered as “Canning 
Day.” Much of this holiday’s kitchen rituals remained a mystery to me, but the days leading up to the “great pot” were like Easter and a safari combined. It was my job to roam the hills or the draws harvesting anything from wild plums to mustang grapes. Then, through a vinegar haze, these wild gems somehow became jam.
These efforts at gathering in the wild crops from the creek and bramble are only one branch of the redneck supported agricultural tree (which has now become endangered). The second, and more important, is gleaning. Some today might call this stealing, but come on.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »