Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
At George Washington's Mount Vernon, a luscious crop of cannabis nears harvest time
Retropolis
At George Washington’s Mount Vernon, a luscious crop of cannabis nears harvest time
By Michael E. Ruane August 8 at 7:00 AM [link:michael.ruane@washpost.com|Email the author]
Dean Norton, director of horticulture at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, pulls out his cellphone and cranks up some Jimi Hendrix music as he walks toward the cannabis patch on the founding father’s estate. ... The “weed” is tall, planted in tight rows and has the serrated leaf edges of your classic ganja.
As Hendrix’s 1968 epic “Voodoo Child” drifts from the phone, Norton jokes about having a suitable vibe for the plot. “We should have a speaker in the middle,” he says. “Would people go nuts? “
But this is not that kind of hemp. You don’t smoke this stuff. This is raised for its fiber. It’s industrial hemp, the kind Henry Ford sought to build cars with. And Mount Vernon has started growing it because George Washington did.
The landmark home of the nation’s first president, about 20 miles south of Washington, is part of an effort to return industrial hemp to its historical context and promote its use in the modern world.
....
Dean Norton, Mount Vernon’s director of horticulture, stands amid the estate’s newest crop, hemp. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
....
Visitors to Mount Vernon walk past a crop of industrial hemp, which was grown in colonial days to make rope and clothes. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
....
Michael E. Ruane is a general assignment reporter who also covers Washington institutions and historical topics. He has been a general assignment reporter at the Philadelphia Bulletin, an urban affairs and state feature writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and a Pentagon correspondent at Knight Ridder newspapers. Follow https://twitter.com/michaelruane
At George Washington’s Mount Vernon, a luscious crop of cannabis nears harvest time
By Michael E. Ruane August 8 at 7:00 AM [link:michael.ruane@washpost.com|Email the author]
Dean Norton, director of horticulture at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, pulls out his cellphone and cranks up some Jimi Hendrix music as he walks toward the cannabis patch on the founding father’s estate. ... The “weed” is tall, planted in tight rows and has the serrated leaf edges of your classic ganja.
As Hendrix’s 1968 epic “Voodoo Child” drifts from the phone, Norton jokes about having a suitable vibe for the plot. “We should have a speaker in the middle,” he says. “Would people go nuts? “
But this is not that kind of hemp. You don’t smoke this stuff. This is raised for its fiber. It’s industrial hemp, the kind Henry Ford sought to build cars with. And Mount Vernon has started growing it because George Washington did.
The landmark home of the nation’s first president, about 20 miles south of Washington, is part of an effort to return industrial hemp to its historical context and promote its use in the modern world.
....
Dean Norton, Mount Vernon’s director of horticulture, stands amid the estate’s newest crop, hemp. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
....
Visitors to Mount Vernon walk past a crop of industrial hemp, which was grown in colonial days to make rope and clothes. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
....
Michael E. Ruane is a general assignment reporter who also covers Washington institutions and historical topics. He has been a general assignment reporter at the Philadelphia Bulletin, an urban affairs and state feature writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and a Pentagon correspondent at Knight Ridder newspapers. Follow https://twitter.com/michaelruane
