Gardening

Hemp mulch

Spread 2 to 3 inches around perennials, shrubs and on paths. Hemp hurd is pale and coarse, holds moisture, suppresses weeds, and breaks down into the soil over a season or two. Dry hurd is light enough to blow, so water it in after spreading. A 25 lb bag is roughly 3 cubic feet, enough for about 18 square feet at 2 inches deep.

How much

Length × width × depth in feet, dividing depth by 12 if you measured it in inches, gives cubic feet. Two inches over a 4 × 8 bed is about 5 cubic feet, or two bags.

Soil amendment

Work the hemp hurd amendment into clay to open it up, or into sand to hold water. Like any woody material it borrows nitrogen while it breaks down the first season, so pair it with compost or a nitrogen feed.

For the coop

Hemp bedding is more absorbent than pine shavings or straw, low in dust, and free of the pine oils that bother some birds. Hemp fiber makes a soft nesting-box liner. Both go on the compost when they're done.

Hemp twine

Garden ties that rot slower than jute and don't cut into stems the way plastic does. Compostable at the end of the season.

Buckwheat hulls

The organic buckwheat hulls we fill pillows with are also a traditional fine mulch for roses, containers and vegetable beds. They're light, so water them in, and on a slope they can float in a heavy rain.