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Keeping your community covered. We're committed to producing high-quality, fact-based news and information that gives you the facts in this community we call home. If our work has helped you stay informed, take action, or feel more connected to Windham County – please give now to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
Industrial hemp is a 12- to 15-foot-high, bamboo-like plant, a member of the cannabis species. It has no value as a recreational drug whatsoever. It has huge value, however, as a means to remedy global pollution and global warming.
It grows in large fields, very densely, 250 plants per square yard. It has a very deep root system. These two qualities create benefits for the next crop in rotation, creating a 10-percent higher yield, since the weeds have been choked out and the soil aerated.
The hemp plant produces a strong fiber and a woody inner core, known as the “shiv” or the “hurd.” The fibers are used for multiple purposes, including in the panels of cars for the Lotus and Mercedes lines. The fibers are also used for home and other kinds of insulation.
The inner core of the plant is mixed with limestone to create a product used for bricks or walls that insulate and breathe. The hemp industry has been growing for decades in Europe, led by the French. In Europe, they are building homes, by the thousands, out of industrial hemp and lime.
