Late July Hemp Pics-NC Alternative Crops & Organics

— Written by Jeanine Davis | July 29, 2021 (Updated: Feb. 29, 2024, 4:36 a.m.)

hemp leaves seen from underneath — Fiber hemp as seen from the underside of the canopy in Waynesville, NC on July 29, 2021. Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

7/29/2021 - It is a very beautiful, but very hot day in western North Carolina. And research associate, Margaret Bloomquist, was checking out our fiber hemp research plots at the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville, NC. She then drove back to the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River to check out the floral hemp trials. She sent a few pictures to me and they were so beautiful, I just had to share them with you!

fiber hemp variety trial — Fiber hemp variety trial in Waynesville, NC in late July. Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

yard stick in hemp variety trial — A yard/meter stick next to one of the fiber hemp varieties. The seeds for this study were sown on June 1, 2021. Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

woman with yardstick in fiber hemp variety trial — Margaret's comment for this photo was "Me + 20!". These plants were six feet and higher by end of July. Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

stem of fiber hemp plant — Stems on these fiber hemp plants are 2-3 cm in diameter at this time. Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

a huge fiber hemp plant leaf — Look at the size of one of the fiber hemp leaves! Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

Floral hemp field trial — This is one of several floral hemp trials at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River, NC. Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

field of floral hemp — Most of these plants were transplanted in the field on June 3. You can see our two hemp dryers in the background to the right. And if you look real close, you can see one of our research hop yards in the upper left. Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

medicinal herbs growing between the hemp studies — Medicinal herbs and flowers are growing between floral hemp studies. Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

A compact floral hemp plant with sunflowers — Some of these varieties are very large and bushy, and others, like the one above, are not! Photo by Margaret Bloomquist.

And that's it for this week's pictures from the NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program. A huge thank you to my staff, Margaret Bloomquist, Luping Qu, Katie Learn, and Patrick French, and the staff at the research stations for working so hard under some trying weather conditions this year to keep these studies going!