SIR Paul McCartney has revealed he grows hemp at his farm but fears his crops may be targeted by thieves.
The Beatles star has started producing crops of hemp, rye, spelt, wheat and pears at his home in Peamarsh, near Rye.
Speaking on the River Cafe Table 4 podcast, Sir Paul said he is following government regulations to grow the hemp and hides his crops to stop them from being stolen by teenagers.
He said: “We're actually just getting into growing hemp, the funny thing with government regulations is you've got to keep it where people can't see it, because you get all the kids coming in and robbing it.”
Hemp comes from the same species as cannabis, but unlike cannabis, hemp contains very low levels tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - psychoactive substance that produces the “high” associated with smoking marijuana
It is legal to grow Hemp in the UK if a license is obtained through the Home Office.
The product is used to make cloth, cosmetics, rope, printer's ink, wood preservative, detergents, soaps, and lighting oil.
Sir Paul, 79, said that everything produced on his farm is organic and he does not use any pesticides or fertiliser.
He said: “It's organic. I went organic over 20 years ago. When I first bought the farm there were some fields where my farm guys would say, 'There's no worms in these fields. There's no life'.
"That's because basically all you did was put on pesticides and then put a fertiliser in. I thought, 'OK, that's a challenge, we're going to go organic'."
Paul also makes his own ale on the Sussex farm, which he sends to his fellow musicians including Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.
He said on the podcast: “We do make our own ale. Through the years I'd hear like a neighbour would be selling some land that was next door to ours, so I went to one and said, 'I hear you're selling a hop garden’.
“Long story short I got it and then I thought, 'I've got to start doing hops,' that's because the region we're in out in Sussex was a very big hop growing area."
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