Conservative, in a Good Way

This blog post originally appeared on the Island Oasis Farm website, now decommissioned. Not sure if it translates over, but I did want to preserve some of that writing (2020-2024). 

February 19, 2022

Mainers are conservative, in the old school, practical definition, by design. We reuse bits of lumber scraps for shelving or hodgepodge pieces of furniture. Cut ends whittled down to little pieces make for good kindling in the wood stove or maybe even a birdhouse or boot scraper. We already reduce and reuse.

Beyond that basic practicality, many of us also wonder, What will cause the least amount of damage? We love our lands. Plus, it's a legitimate question to ask for many an endeavor in the twenty-first century. It's a question that is not unlike the Hippocratic Oath's proclamation to do no harm. All of us share this earth, air, and water. Doing no harm would do us all a favor.

It turns out that hemp plants can sequester the PFAS chemicals found in Maine's soil and waterways. According to research being conducted with the Aroostook Band of Micmac and Upland Grassroots, hemp plants are capable of sequestering toxins lodged in soils. As with the nutrients they take in, the plants can draw chemicals from the soil and store them away in the heavier fibers of the plants' stalks.

While many of the plant's medicinal uses have been touted lately, this added layer of soil cleansing provides further evidence that Cannabis sativa needs to be a staple agricultural product in North America. The uses take off from there. One of the most tangible products, one that most Mainers have a stake in, is lumber.

Used in composite flooring, layered timbers, and even as the fiber in "hempcrete," there are all manner of applications for this amazing plant. Maine still has a thriving timber industry, employing nearly 1 in 25 working adults, but that has been on a gradual decline for decades. Why not give a boost to our builders and wood product manufacturers by expanding this industry right here in Maine? As the fourth coldest state in the nation, we could even be brainstorming ways to make biomass pellets for our stoves!

None of this technology is new, per se. Their production, however, is the result of a shift in mindset. If we can keep that shift going, give it light and air, we could see new growth in these industries. As the pandemic has shown, there is no end to the demand for homes in Maine. Lumber isn't getting any cheaper, either, and we definitely need alternatives for heating our homes. Why not go all in on hemp?

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, coal was the primary source for heating homes, either in stoves or boilers. We couldn't imagine walking around a river valley town under a weather inversion packed with coal smoke now. Perhaps some day, we won't be able to imagine chimneys belching out effluents from non-renewable resources. Perhaps, some day, the smoke would issue from something a bit sweeter.

A familiar New England scene.

We're only one small piece of the puzzle here at Island Oasis, but the picture is coming together.