Big Bend Real Estate Guide September 2020 | Page 10
Hemp hits Big Bend
by Shawna Graves
A hemp crop is taking root in
Alpine and Marathon as part of one
person’s mission to utilize the
plant’s many industrial benefits.
Kevin Bishop, a green builder by
trade, has built sustainable
housing for thirty years, with the
last eight in the Big Bend region.
He works with reclaimed materials
and follows Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED)
standards— the international
rubric for green compliant
practices. He’s committed to
finding renewable solutions to the
everyday demands of life,
personally and professionally.
That’s why he’s drawn to hemp.
“Everything about this plant is
wonderful,” Bishop revealed. “It
fixes the soil. You can eat the seed,
which is high in essential fatty
acids and quality protein, and it
has real medicinal value.”
The fibrous outer core can be
used as building insulation and the
woody inner core can be used for
construction of light weight
“hempcrete” bricks, the pinnacle in
eco-building. Bishop is
investigating all of these uses for
the harvests he plans to eventually
yield. It may take several years to
get there, but he hopes to generate
enough material to use hemp as the
construction base for his own home.
Big Bend green builder Kevin Bishop is among the first wave of Texans to join the new
hemp program, administered by Texas Department of Agriculture.
10 Big Bend Real Estate Guide • September 2020