This week on the hemp podcast, Lancaster Farming talks to Hector “Freedom” Gerardo, the first farmer to grow fiber and grain hemp in Connecticut for a very long time.
Hemp was outlawed in the U.S. for most of the 20th century, but was made a legal commodity crop by the 2018 Farm Bill.
“I started in 2021 growing for CBD, and last year again I grew for CBD, but I lost money,” he said.
He became intrigued with all of the other uses for industrial hemp, including hempcrete for construction.
In April, he attended a two-day hempcrete workshop in Berks County, Pennsylvania, with hemp builder Cameron McIntosh of Americhanvre Cast-Hemp.
The workshop focused on making pre-fab hempcrete panels.
“Oh, man, it was eye-opening experience of the things that we could do and where the industry is headed, and the things that we can accomplish if we work together,” he said about the workshop.
With his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children, he runs SEAmarron Farmstead in Danbury, Connecticut.
It’s a 3-acre farm where they do a whole lot more than just hemp.
“I love hemp, but we got to feed people. So that's the other side,” he said. “We grow all types of vegetables — a lot of garlic, a lot of tomatoes, a lot of cabbage — you know, a lot of things that people want.”
They also run a CSA on the farm and sell to restaurants.
“Because at the end of the day, we need to feed people. You know, and that's the purpose of the farm,” he said.
The farm hosts education events and community work days.
“We do a lot of work organizing with young people around food insecurity, learning how to grow your own food,” he said.
Gerardo also maintains a network of BIPOC farmers.
“We created the CTBIPOC (Connecticut Black Indigenous People of Color) Food Network, and it's a network of 77 bipoc farmers in Connecticut. That's all the bipoc farmers in Connecticut. Only 0.06% of all farmers in Connecticut are people of color,” he said.
Gerardo is optimistic that his work in hemp and community agricultural education will make a difference in the Constitution State.
“We can move Connecticut into a sustainable place because right now we're not sustainable at all,” he said.
Connect with Freedom Gerardo on the Socials:
News Nugs
The buildings constructed from cannabis
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230614-the-buildings-constructed-from-cannabis
Study finds 90% of Arizona hemp farmers failed from 2019 to 2021. Here's why (hint: it's CBD)
Shapiro Administration Awards More Than $390,000 to Grow PA Hemp Industry
https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Agriculture_details.aspx?newsid=1322
Thanks to our Sponsors:
IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/ Americhanvre Cast Hemp https://americhanvre.com/ National Hemp Association https://nationalhempassociation.org/