By Brian Houlihan

Hemp growing in Co. Meath

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Recently Declan and I from the museum visited a farmer in Co. Meath. While primarily visiting to see his hemp we couldn’t help become enthralled by the 6 acre farm as a whole. Glyn is originally from Wicklow but moved to Meath a number of years ago. Since then he has started to transfer his land into something unique.

Glyn is hoping to turn his home into an open farm so that members of the public can enjoy it. Already a number of impromptu visitors have called to see his alpacas, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs and other animals and attractions. Aside from being a great form of education Glyn also believes interacting with animals and visiting an open farm has therapeutic value for visitors.

Glyn is also one of the 12 individuals who are licensed to grow hemp in Ireland. While Glyn’s plot is relatively small (an acre) in total around 180 acres of hemp will be grown in Ireland this year by Irish farmers. The hemp will eventually be used for animal bedding on his farm.

Glyn is growing the Fedora 17 variety of hemp. The plants were sown around 60 days before our visit. The plants are thriving and look extremely healthy. Some are already over 8 feet (2.5 meters) tall and will get considerably taller. It was a windy morning when we arrived so it was beautiful to see the plants swaying in the breeze.

Glyn hopes to expand both his growth and use of hemp in the coming years and shared number of ideas with us. Sadly all we can say for now is watch this space. One aspect Glyn likes to highlight is the reduction in his carbon output even from such a small plot. Across various aspects of his farm Glyn is trying to have as little impact on the environment as possible. For this he must be commended.

We would like to thank Glyn for his hospitality and we wish him the best of luck with his future endeavors. We look forward to returning and seeing the hemp later in the year. Hopefully one day soon readers will be able to visit the farm themselves.

Brian Houlihan is the curator of the Dublin Hemp Museum and regularly writes about hemp. Follow him on Twitter @dubhempmuseum and @houlihanbrian. You can also find the museum on Facebook.

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