Evelina’s farm was established in 2017, at the beginning of the summer. “I cultivate small plots of land, scattered here and there. I not only grow hemp, but carry on the tradition of vegetable gardens the way they were grown in the past.” The Croveo field, the one closest to the house where Evelina lives with her family, is bursting with biodiversity: there are dozens of vegetable and cereal varieties, and then “there are the flowers, which attract bees and alternate with the crops, thereby hindering the spread of harmful insects – she says – These are all methods applied in organic farming”, she adds.

The lands included in farm La Chanvosa ‘s holding file total an overall surface of one and a half hectares. In addition to the land in Croveo, there are also some plots at 1,600 metres above sea level, in Alpe Devero, a low pastureland at the foot of the Lepontine Alps. “The portion I am currently farming is about two thousand square metres, 500 of which are used to grow hemp sativa» says Evelina, as she walks through her vegetable garden.
Standing by the Carmagnola, variety plants, which by the end of June are already over two metres tall, Evelina explains that she harvests in three different stages: “First the flowers, then the leaves, and lastly the seeds: I process everything by hand – the still quite limited area makes it feasible”. The entire cycle, from sowing to the last harvest in September, lasts six months.
Evelina’s older sister Fabrizia, with whom she started the project, helps her, but she has two children and the farm’s management is largely on Evelina’s shoulders. “Hemp, in any case, is a rustic plant, not very demanding. One of its advantages is that it is resistant to weeds, but as long as the plant is small, you have to help it; once it reaches a height of twenty to twenty-five centimetres, the weeds don’t bother it any more”.