Third Hemp-Stock Festival at Statesville farm to benefit kids

The event is free and open to the public and will be held at 399 Lookout Dam Road, Statesville. Proceeds will benefit The Magic of the Outdoors for Kids, a nonprofit agency that introduces children to the joys of sustainable farming and being in nature.

Activities will include gem mining, pumpkin decorating, drumming and face painting for kids. There also will be music by Cosmic Hillbilly Experience.

For adults, the event will have several talks about how to pick and dry hemp and how to make salves, edibles, and tinctures from it. There will be people sharing their own experiences with hemp. There also will be food, crafts, artists, local vendors, a mobile bakery and a “Libation Station” serving beer, wine and other beverages.

Atkinson, a professional magician and now a farmer in Iredell County, finds magic in everyday living on a farm. It is through his experiences that created The Magic of the Outdoors for Kids.

“As a professional magician, I always loved seeing the surprise and excitement in the eyes of the audience,” he said. “When I decided to create a self-sustaining hemp farm, I realized that many children who live in urban areas, and are so focused on screens, may not have had the chance to experience the joy of farm life. The magic I see every day is seeing a deer come into graze or watching a flower bud in the morning. It’s all about being active, learning and experiencing what nature has to offer us — no screens, no TVs, laptops or Xbox, just enjoying the fresh smell of newly cut grass or a cookout fire. At The Magic of the Outdoors for Kids, we know that sometimes all it takes to change the world is a little encouragement.”

In addition to helping children, Atkinson also supports the efforts of ElderCenter/Iredell Adult Day Services, which serves seniors and adults who need supervision during the day due to dementias, traumatic brain injuries or illnesses. The organizations will be at Hemp-Stock, selling crafts made by their members to raise awareness and to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, which is in November.

“At any age, you can see their eyes light up when a cardinal lands near a bird feeder or simply admiring a beautiful garden,” Tammi Money, executive director of Iredell Adult Day Services, said. “You don’t have to be a kid to appreciate the joys of farm living.”

Atkinson has been farming in Statesville for four years and growing hemp for the last three years. As a hemp farmer, he must follow state regulations, which means his crop has a THC content of less than three-tenths of a percent, is hemp-derived and is independently tested. Hemp products are legal to sell in North Carolina.

Atkinson Acres is its namesake’s passion. He tends to plants by planting, fertilizing, and manicuring each by hand to assure the quality of the hemp buds.

“Atkinson Acres Hemp Farm is on 15 acres of fertile N.C. soil,” he said. “We planted 2,000 plants on 2.07 acres totally organic without any pesticides in 2019. These were harvested in October 2019. The plants are dried and cured properly to achieve the maximum amount of CBD content with tightly controlled humidity and temperature values. In 2020, 2,400 plants were planted of Baox, Cherry Mom, and T1 (different hemp strains), harvested in late October 2020. This is our third harvest, and (we) decided we should celebrate as farmers have for centuries.

“In 2021, we planted five strains of female clones to harvest in late October 2021 as our product line grows. The plants are harvested then dried and cured properly to achieve the maximum amount of CBD content with tightly controlled humidity and temperature values. CBD is then extracted for our products.”

Atkinson Acres also offers a broad array of products that are full-spectrum, hemp-infused, contain CBD and offer the other benefits of the whole plant. CBD is short for cannabidiol CBD and is one of the many compounds found in the hemp plant.

All of the products are 100% legal. A certificate of analysis is available on the website at the “Lab Analysis” link. Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive.

There has been a taboo around cannabis that has kept CBD off the radar for decades. However, CBD is a prominent, naturally occurring cannabinoid found in hemp and marijuana, and it has significant medical benefits. CBD health supplements can help with inflammation, pain, anxiety, psychotic behaviors, seizures and spasms without side effects. CBD has been clinically studied as potential treatments for arthritis, diabetes, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, antibiotic-resistant infections, epilepsy and other conditions as alternative health supplements. Its anti-cancer properties are being investigated at several research centers in the U.S. and across the world.

For more information about Hemp-Stock, The Magic of the Outdoors for Kids and Atkinson Acres Hemp Farm, call Atkinson at 803-603-6500, email atkinsonacresnc@gmail.com, or visit atkinsonacreshemp.com, heavenlyhempnc.com, or themagicoftheoutdoorsforkids.org.