Woods cultivated MO 'Sang

[jessieinmo]

For starters, let me introduce myself. I made it here because of canadamike. I had some 'sang questions on another forum that chooses not to discuss it because they fear people stealing it. Mike sent me this way and I am glas to see you guys are a lot more open. My wife and 4 kids moved here to southern Mo about a year ago. I have lots of animals as well as a large market garden (sell at a local farmers market). We are always looking to grow different and exotic plants for pure enjoyment as well as to sell occasionally. So enough rambling, on to my questions.

I am not looking for a get rich quick scheme. I am not looking to be a "commercial" 'sang farmer. What my thoughts are is to plant now (this coming fall) and harvest some in 5 to 7 years when kids go to college. I also plan to keep spreading any seeds produced (as well as purchased) so as to make a "retirement fund" lol. We do have wild 'sang on the place. I have a large woodlot (100 acres or so)and it is rather secure. I believe it is ideal 'sang habitat because of the hills and creeks and such. Basically what I am looking for is are there any specific things I should do? I have read 3 or 4 ginseng books but I have not spoken with an actual grower. Are there any suggestions you would make to make my life easier? Thanks for the link to gotginseng, ordered 5 lbs of seed of course they are sold out till fall.

I had not considered golden seal. What opinions do you have on that? Again, I have the room and the time. We have focused on fruits and vegetables as well as crops for livestock feed in the past. I really like the idea of throwing out some seeds and coming back in 6 or 7 years...lol. Wish all my crops were that easy.

Jessie

[plantsnobin]

Welcome to this site. We would love to hear more about all the different crops you grow. I am in southern Indiana, near Alan and Hoosierheights. Alan grows ginseng from seed, and I am sure he will respond to your questions about it when he has time. I bought a smaller quantity of seed from Horizon Herbs this year, don't remember now how much it cost. I have it stratifying now. I am growing it for an ornamental though. I have a small perennial business, and a mail order nursery owner I know sells out at $9 a plant, so it will probably be more profitable for me to sell it potted. Thievery is a problem here too, but a strand of wire placed about shoulder high between two trees can take care of the ones who come in on 4 wheelers.......There are many other 'herbal' type plants that can be sold that will grow in your woods. See if you can find a copy of 'The Potential of Herbs as a Cash Crop' by Richard Alan Miller, that should get you started. Karen

[jessieinmo]

Thank you very much, just called the library they do not have ...I will order online though. I think I will enjoy growing such a contrary plant. And IF I succeed the cash to buy more seeds would not be bad either. Am interested in growing other stuff as well (as long as it is legal).

[Alan]

Hello friend,

Good to see some more interest in this most sacred of herbal medicines.

To tell you the truth the best way to deal with ginseng is the method of benighn neglect. Basically, the more one does to ginseng, the less it is "wild", and thus, the less it is indeed worth.

There are markets for cultivated Ginseng, however the price is less than spectacular and it takes a lot of work to cultivate ginseng in the woods or even under shade houses.

The method I have settled on is time tested, true to nature, and good to go.

We by statified seed from gotginseng.com, about five lbs a year. The best spots for ginseng to grow are in decidious forrests in under nearly mature or fully mature canopy, in well drained soil on east or north facing banks which always stay cool (easy to tell, when it snows in the winter time these areas will retain the snow longer than other areas). If you have ginseng growing wild in your woodlands, that would be an excellent starting place. It is best to stay away from cedar and pine. It is also good to stay away from Oak as the leaves are sometimes to thick and heavy for the new seedlings to push through. Planting stratified seed in the fall is the best option, preferably after a good majority of the leaves have fallen so that one can gauge the thickness of the floor of leaves. Usually in Indiana this is late October or early November, though I have planted earlier and in less than desirable spots with fairly decent success in the past.

My method of planting is fairly simple, care is also simple as there is none involved unless you wish to transplant seedling latter. We go into the woods with our statified seed (seed should always stay moist, it helps keep it viable but is not always neccessary) and we take a rake and rake back the floor of leaves, we then scatter seed sparingly, somewhat like planting raddishes or turnips in the field and simply rake the leaves back over the seed. Then we leave them be. You can come back in the late winter/early spring and search for a seed or two if you want, if they are begining to crack open along their back you are definetly going to have success in getting them up, or of course you could wait until spring when the little babbies are poking their heads up and admire them then. From there on out, do nothing untill harvest time except keep folks out of the patch and don't tell them about it. If someone does know about your patch, make it more than evident how dangerous to their lives it is to be sticking their nose where it doesn't belong and all should be good.

Planting sparcely is important as there are some fungal diseases that can easily wipe out Ginseng and planting sparce allows for better airflow between plants and space for "quarantine" basically.

If all goes well in 5-7 years you will have a marketable crop, of course you have also done your part in ensuring that this valuable plant continues it's threatened existence for years to come. Always plant back more than you take and let it self seed, or harvest the seed and plant elswhere, you won't start seeing seed produced untill year three.

Golden Seal/Yellow root is a somewhat more complicated crop. Seeds aren't commercially available as far as I know, though you can buy root stock, however, in many states there is no longer a market since it is considered highly endangered. In states where there is a market the root isn't worth much because it is so easily cultivated outside of the forrest and is almost identical to wild Golden Seal.

Fortunately here in Southern Indiana Golden Seal still grows in large isolated patches since so many have forgotten even what it is. I make it a point to start new patches using the fermented seed, even though I don't market it, it is an excellent medicine for home, family, and friends use, particularly when battling infections of the upper respritory tract. Golden Seal should be more about preservation, beauty and medicine than money, while Ginseng should be about all of the above and a marketable cash crop when it is respected.

There are some other woodland medicinals, but with the exception of certain types of Mushrooms, most are rare or endangered and aren't of much or any monetary value to make them worth harvesting other than for personal use.

I hope this helps, if you have any more questions feel free to ask, I would love to be able to give you a hand and were glad Mike reffered you here and we look forward to your future posts and friendship!

Your Friend,
Alan R. Bishop

[jessieinmo]

Thank you very much, when I say woods cultivated I guess I should of said woods neglected. From all I have read I was thinking it just needed left alone. The wild stuff growing does not look to have been touched in years. I did not take any seeds this year, I let them go natural. I do not think anyone in the area hunts for it and I am really secluded. I also do not plan on advertising. Now, moving on in the process any suggestions for drying it and marketing? Is there a large buyer? Thank you again for your time I really appreciate it.

Jessie

[canadamike]

Hey Jessie!
Told you you would find buddies here, didn't I?

Now, I will google your adress and look at the map and be there,
one night, in 7 years. Thanks for my future retirement money

Michel

[Alan]

Jessie, sorry it took so long for me to get back to you again. As far as drying ginseng, you want to keep it out of the light and more or less spread out in a dry and cool place for a couple of weeks, for small amounts of 'sang you could use a food dehydrator set to about 95 degrees farenheit or so for about 2 days or so and that will work pretty well. As far as cleaning it, just give it a really good bath, some guys use a tooth brush to clean it up, but all that does is damage the skin on the root.

As far as selling the ginesent, get in touch with your local DNR guy and they can give you a list of local buyers. It's hard to find a big buyer unless you can sell in massive quanities of lbs and it's usually got to be done out of state which will require a licenes to do. The world of ginseng is pretty secretive and it will be hard to make those connections with bigger buyers untill you can get a licennes to buy from smaller handlers for re-sale at which point you may get the attention of a large buyer. The generall rull is that the price of the ginseng goes up 90% and sometimes more from one handler to another and in general Ginseng will change hands three times before it even leaves out country.

Hope this helps friend!