Extraordinary Health Magazine EHMagazine Vol 38_Final | Page 26

On the Road with Jeff Brams
Oregon Hemp Farm
By Ross MacPherson
With the Pacific Ocean just in sight to the west
and the Cascade Mountain Range to the east, the
Willamette Valley in Oregon was one of the most
beautiful destinations that I have had the pleasure
of visiting on my travels with Garden of Life.
We arrived early on a hot August morning and were welcomed
with a warm, calloused handshake from our hemp farmer, Cody.
His three small children scurried at our feet and played in the
baked, hard soil as we shared fresh berries that we had picked up
at a quaint roadside market on the way to the farm.
Although out of sight, we could hear the gentle current of the
Willamette River flowing beyond the brush behind the fields.
Wall-to-wall sunshine consumed the skies above us and the
hemp crop ran perfectly symmetrically over the fields in front of
us as far as the eye could see. I immediately began to appreciate
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the type of life Cody had with his family. In fact, in another life, I
could picture myself with my own family amongst the astonishing
natural beauty of the area, yet just within reaching distance of the
bustling streets of Portland. It seemed like quite the life.
We spent the day exploring the vast farmland, while Cody
enlightened us on his decision to grow hemp in a region that,
until very recently, had been most known for its wine. Hemp
is a relatively new crop to the area and is not a familiar sight
to those indigenous to Oregon. Cody looked over the land in
front of us as he announced, “I’ve always liked the concept of
Organic, and it is a decision that worked well with myself and my
family.” He then added, “No pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, it’s
farming in its most raw, untouched form.” Our visit to the farm
was only a few short weeks after the fields had been planted,
yet some of the crop was already as high as four feet tall. Each
plant was completely unique in its appearance—some tall and
thin, and others shorter and wider at the base. Yet the sheer size
of the farm, coupled with the natural rolling topography of the