Granny Trude loves nothing more than having her family to visit at Christmas. Her house was full of children and grandchildren. There were presents in abundance, from socks to cosmetics – and very often one of the oldest and most sustainable crops in the world was involved.
My dears,Christmas was wonderful again – we could almost forget about the pandemic and spend some happy hours with part of my big family. My twins Jörg and Frank were there on Christmas Eve, which included my grandchildren Michi, Laura and Janina. The Hamburg contingent didn’t drive down, but I did visit them recently in their own city after all. And my son Dirk came from Munich with his family on Christmas Day.
We really had to laugh as we gathered round the tree, only to realise that hemp was a component of several of our gifts this year! It showed that as a family we’re all thinking alike, and we know very well how we can make our loved ones happy. And now you can share the joy too – today I’m going to tell you about hemp, one of the Earth’s most ancient and versatile crops, cultivation of which has been legally allowed again in Germany since 1996/1997. Admittedly it’s only what they call industrial or commercial hemp, with a very low content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active substance responsible for the high when you consume cannabis.
Looking back
But we don’t want the high, we’re interested in the huge benefits and outstanding properties of hemp. These had already been recognised well before our time – for instance the Chinese were said to have produced the world’s first ropes made from hemp fibres in 2800 BC and presumably also the first garments. They also created paper from hemp fibre in around 100 BC. Hemp is absolutely fascinating! In the 17th century, when sailing ships were still very common as a form of travel, hemp was at its peak in Europe. Almost all sails, rope, flags and clothing on board were made of the natural fibres. They absorbed far less water than cotton!US presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both hemp farmers, my grandson Michi discovered. And the inventor of the modern printing press, Johannes Gutenberg, printed a Bible on paper made of hemp in 1455 after hemp paper technology had reached Europe five years earlier. Hemp could be found almost everywhere because it’s so versatile.
Antibacterial miracle socks
I was quickly convinced by the benefits of hemp – and you’ll laugh when I tell you why: when my grandson Michi was gifted socks made from 99 per cent hemp fibre by his girlfriend Helene from Lower Austria and his feet emitted a lovely aroma from then onwards, that’s when I became a fan of hemp if I wasn’t one already. Hemp is antibacterial! I discovered that already when I bought a T-shirt with high hemp content in the summer. It’s temperature-regulating, antistatic, wicking and very pleasant to wear.All wrapped up
Another hemp Christmas present wasn’t even identifiable as such at first glance. But Ava, my great-granddaughter from Hamburg, went on to explain what she had made for me: two pots of different sizes for my pens, wrapped with hemp rope. I could even put a glass inside to make pretty vases, she reckoned. Miri, her mother, helped her with the glue gun. These hemp pots look really great!Eco-friendly cultivation
Hemp is far more ecologically friendly to cultivate than cotton, because the plant has deep roots and needs very little water. It only really starts to grow upwards once the roots reach water deep in the ground. Do you remember the ecological footprint and the jeans , which “consume” 11,000 litres of water to be produced? But with hemp jeans things are completely different. The plants also grow much faster and don’t require pesticides. My neighbour Georg told me that his farmer friends very much value the soil-improving qualities of hemp as well.Good for the skin
For my little foray into cosmetics Michi helped me, he’s always so good at explaining everything: the cannabis plant yields firstly cannabis oil with 50 to 80 per cent THC (from the leaves and flowers). Secondly there’s cannabidiol oil (CBD oil), which counteracts the THC and mitigates the effect. This is mainly used for cosmetic products. And thirdly hemp or hempseed oil can be obtained, although that comes from the seeds! It doesn’t contain intoxicating THC and is used for instance as an edible oil.You can find CBD oil in many cosmetic products because it’s said to have an anti-inflammatory effect on acne and rosacea, and to reduce swelling in general. I’ve been told of friends with neurodermitis who have found cannabis-based cosmetics a great help. Products containing CBD at any rate are supposed to protect the skin effectively against environmental factors and they also store moisture well thanks to their high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Cleopatra, ruler of Ancient Egypt, was already using it for skincare – presumably after she had climbed out of her bath of asses’ milk…
Plenty of nutrients
Michi and Helene do a lot of shopping in organic food stores, and that’s where my sports enthusiast grandson found his hempseed protein powder. He swears by it because it’s so easy on the digestion. The first step is to press the hempseed to obtain the hemp oil as an edible oil (not for frying!). What’s left is a sort of pulp, which is ground to make a powder with a very high protein content. At any rate, Michi reckons hemp is his new superfood – it’s incredibly nutrient-dense, rich in antioxidants, vitamins and so on – what more could he want?An effective drink
And the third hemp Christmas present was another one for me, this time from Michi. Now where on Earth did he find that? I had certainly never heard of it before: it’s a hemp elixir made of hemp flowers, hempseed and hemp leaves, seasoned with nettles (I've told you about those before), hops, lavender and a few other fine ingredients that really put a kick into this natural booster. Austria is the country of origin again. The concentrate is said to contain plenty of polyphenols, which are particularly effective antioxidants, and it’s meant to be especially good at fighting free radicals. So if I tell you that it tastes interesting, I don’t mean that in a negative way! What a lovely coincidence that I love the taste of other particularly effective polyphenols – and after all they are supposed to be mixed. I love pomegranates and ginger! And turmeric is something I add to almost anything by force of habit. So I feel equipped for the winter, my immune system is strengthened.Luckily there are still so many new things to discover! On that note I wish you a happy New Year and best wishes for 2022 – I dare say it will bring us all sorts of surprises again. And I wish that the first surprise it brings would be the end of the Covid pandemic. As they say – dreams and thoughts know no bounds.
I wish you all the best, and a healthy start to the New Year!
Yours, Trude