Hemp, often also called cannabis, is one of the oldest useful plants on earth. Humans have been using this valuable crop plant in countless areas for over 10,000 years. Hemp is robust, grows particularly quickly and can be cultivated around the globe. That is why cannabis has been one of the most important cultivated plants used for agriculture over the last millennia. Hemp is mostly an annual plant and can reach a height of over four metres under ideal conditions.
Overview
Like hops, the cannabis plant belongs to the hemp family, although there are both male and female plants. Both sexes are used for the production of hemp fibres and dried leaves. The seeds, flowers and resin are obtained exclusively from the female hemp plant. The seeds develop after pollination by the pollen of the male plants. In addition, hermaphrodite plants can also develop under certain circumstances in response to a lack of male plants.
Among other things, hemp is considered a particularly robust crop due to its dense and deep roots. Moreover, weeds only rarely interfere with the growth of the cannabis plant.. In addition, hemp is particularly well suited as a preceding crop for other crops. This is due to the previously mentioned dense and deep roots, which remove pollutants from the soil and loosen the soil. Furthermore, according to previous observations, infestation by pests has no influence on the yield and quality of the harvest. Due to the strong roots, the plant's nutrient uptake is also very good, which makes artificial fertilisers superfluous.
In the case of hemp, a distinction is made between three different families, from which thousands of different varieties have now developed:
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Cannabis Sativa or also commercial hemp
Cannabis Sativa plants have the largest growth height and are the most commonly cultivated hemp variety. In 1989, the European Commission established a regulation providing for the legalisation of 25 varieties of industrial hemp for cultivation in all Member States. This so-called "EU catalogue of varieties" only contains industrial hemp with a THC content of less than 0.2%. We therefore only use sativa plants from the EU catalogue of varieties.
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Cannabis Indica
Cannabis Indica strains grow smaller and more compact than Cannabis Sativa plants. Indica plants usually have a higher THC content and originate from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.
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Cannabis Ruderalis or wild hemp
Wild hemp has the smallest growth height of all cannabis species and originates from Russia. This makes it particularly robust and cultivation is also possible in colder regions. However, the yield and medicinal effect of this cannabis species are meaningless for use.
Which hemp do we process?
Our hemp products come exclusively from Cannabis Sativa plants. These comply with the legal regulations and can therefore be purchased and consumed without hesitation.
The basic products of the hemp harvest
- Hemp seeds or also called hemp nuts have many valuable ingredients. Unhulled hemp seeds are the basis for countless foods.
- Hemp fibres and hemp hurds, which are obtained from the stalks of the plant. Hemp fibres are particularly tear-resistant and have been used for thousands of years in the production of textiles and ropes. The woody part of the plant, the hemp hurds, are also the basis for environmentally friendly heating and insulation material as well as animal bedding.
- Hemp flowers are particularly suitable for medicinal purposes due to the high content of cannabinoids. In addition, the flowers contain a high concentration of Cannabidiol (CBD) highest.
- Hemp leaves are mainly used as a basis for Hemp tea and other foods such as hemp leaf powder are very popular.
Sources:
Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, 1996
Klaus Ofner, Einfluss der Sorte und des Standortes bei Hanf in der Ganzpflanzennutzung im semiariden Produktionsgebiet, 2014.
