Marijuana, Ukrainian Companion Plant

It gets planted around the periphery of gardens to act as a barrier against pests. The seeds are gathered not only for next year but also to make flour or to toast and eat as snacks. Those snacks are, in fact, available in Winnipeg grocery stores. The fibres from the stems are harvested and used like those of flax. The cannabis fibres are called hemp, and the flax fibres are called linen.

Another Ukrainian Companion Plant

In the vast steppes of Asia, poppies are also a companion plant. I have written about the use of companion plants for grains in Germany in the article, "Chamomile instead of Herbicide and Pesticide." Poppy seeds are an important ingredient of Ukrainian cuisine. My father grew lots of poppies in our garden in Germany, and the memory of my mother's delicious poppy seed cake makes my mouth water. Our family's custom of eating poppy seed soup on Christmas Eve is derived from the Ukrainian traditional 12 course vegetarian Christmas Eve dinner. When Ukrainians are reminded that opium is derived from the unripe seed pods of poppies, they shake their heads and mutter, "Why waste a perfectly good poppy plant? Too much fuss for too little return! You would have to drain the latex from the unripe seedpod. Why would you do that when you can get good food from it?" That is what I would expect from good Ukrainians, just like from the good Germans who raised me. We would consider it sinful to waste good food, and poppy seeds are really good food. Very tasty!

Postscript

At Herbfest in June 2003, a University of Manitoba librarian of Ukrainian heritage spoke on this very subject. She speaks Ukrainian and Russian and has traveled in Ukraine to research the use of all kinds of herbs. It turns out that the marijuana from Ukraine is of no value as a drug, because the banned elements are strong enough to scare away garden pests but not strong enough to have the expected effects on people. The plant is grown for its fibre, and the most expensive clothes are made from it. At Herbfest, I also found out that the Du Pont company was behind the banning of the plant in North America. They were promoting their new invention, "Nylon," as the substitute for hemp and needed to eliminate the competition of the natural fibre. There is a film available on the subject, but I have not seen it.
The copyright of the article Marijuana, Ukrainian Companion Plant in Organic Gardens is owned by Traute Klein, biogardener. Permission to republish Marijuana, Ukrainian Companion Plant in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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