Here we get a farm tour to see how RJ Noble (of New Hampshire Hemp Company LLC) has approached planting his hemp. This tour leads us to cover ideas such as interplanting various crops and mushrooms, cover crops, soil amendments, and the “soil economy” – how plants trade nutrients.

RJ’s focus on community as a young farmer is especially important to note. By connecting with his community, he has been able to source free manure and obtain local mushroom substrate for interplanting.

RJ mentions that his farm is integrated. With integrated farms, farmers do not take one approach to the crop that they grow. The farmers have many strategies to 1) create financial security and resiliency for the farm and create a functional business with paid employees, 2) create biological diversity for the soil, and 3) grow crops with multiple uses that can serve the success of the overall farming system (for example, growing beans up a tall fence as a wind break or wind protection for other crops).

In addition to nourishing his soil for the plant’s benefit, RJ has a carbon sequestration system that builds carbon and biological life in the soil. Carbon sequestration, for those that are not familiar, is “the long-term removal, capture, or sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow or reverse atmospheric pollution and to mitigate or reverse climate change.”

This interview definitely got into the nitty gritty! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post them below to keep the conversation going.