Hempcrete Workshop planned in Robesonia

Event is part of Hemp History Week

Source: ldnews.com

Hempcrete Workshop planned in Robesonia

Two large, conical shaped antique hemp millstones that once processed hemp fiber in the old Lancaster County hemp mills sit off Route 422 in Robesonia, Berks County, awaiting Saturday's Building with Hempcrete Workshop and Family Day.

Organized by Hemp Heals Foundation and locally based Keystone Cannabis Coalition, the event is being held to celebrate Hemp History Week and promote the current Hemp Legislation introduced to the General Assembly this year. It starts at 11:30 a.m. at 631 W. Penn Ave.

The event this week will feature talks from former Philadelphia Flyer Riley Cote; Sen. Judy Schwank; Lebanon County lawmakers Sen. Mike Folmer and Rep. Russ Diamond; and author/activist Les Stark of the Keystone Cannabis Coalition. A bill to allow industrial hemp farming is making its way through the legislative process in Harrisburg.

The gathering is part of a national series of events called Hemp History Week, with dozens planned across Pennsylvania though Sunday.

John Patterson, a career carpenter of Tiny Hemp Houses in Colorado, will be leading the workshop. Participants will learn the basics of design and framing along with a history of hemp building materials. The core lessons will focus on hempcrete recipes and the proper mixing techniques. Attendees will go home with their own block of hempcrete.

Music will be performed by reggae/rock artist Jay D Clarke .

Schwank and Folmer are the lead sponsors of the hemp farming bill SB50. During a hearing before the Senate Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee in May, the measure received the support of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and the state Department of Agriculture. Rep. Diamond has sponsored a companion bill in the House.

Cote, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers has been holding the Hemp Heals Music Festival at Penn's Landing since 2013 to raise awareness for the multiplicity of uses for the plant.