would like to hear peoples experincenses on raising gensing for sale.

-- (sawitt@netins.net), January 16, 2001

Answers

I've tried ginseng a couple of times. It is tough to grow here in the states. There is a reason it is so expensive. You need a well draining hill with sun and artificial shade available. Start from roots. Northern climates zones 5-4 seem to be the most successful.

Most other common herbs are pretty easy.

Do a search on ginseng and you'll find lots of info. It has been years since I tried growing it and I have forgotten a lot of the procedures.

-- JimR (jymcyn@earthlink.net), January 17, 2001.

ONe of your biggest problems will be keeping people from stealing it.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), January 17, 2001.

West Virginia University Cooperative Extension Service has developed a woods grown ginseng program that has been very successful here. try a search. If you don't find anything, email me.

-- Terri Perry (teperry@stargate.net), January 17, 2001.

Get with Terri on the virtually wild program.Best approach.Commercially grown is low in value right now.Woods grown is not, and virtually wild is ,well as the name indicates.

Don't tell anybody you are growing it.No one.People have it taken next to their house,even.Zip your lips,locally, and you will probably be ok.

What state are you in? Our state has an herb coop to the south of me.Goldenseal should be looked at as a possibility, too.Easier to grow and not as much of a thief attractant.Coop takes echinaecea, too.Our state university has a new program on exploring growing Med. herbs for sale.Waiting to see how they approach it.Until lately, it's been tobacco,tobacco,tobacco.

Find herb coop, herb society,ginsang marketing coop,whatever your state has.Mine has all three.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), January 17, 2001.

Here is the link for the WVU Woods Grown article- http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/fldcrps/ginseng.htm

-- Terri Perry (teperry@stargate.net), January 17, 2001.

The nov/dec 2000 issue of Small Farm Today has an article on alternative crops for herb markets.

573-687-3525 or smallfarm@socket.net

-- Mona in OK (jascamp@ipa.net), January 17, 2001.

Panax Ginseng is difficult to cultivate. In its native northeastern woodland habitat, it grows under hardwood trees with extensive shade. It won't thrive in acid soils. There is a New York State Ginseng growers association, but I'm afraid I don't have an address or URL. I'm sure NY's Cornell Cooperative Extension would have this information. I do know this group has been trying to encourage New York State farmers to cultivate Panax Ginseng. Indeed it is an at risk plant in the wild, due to unethical and greedy "wildcrafting" and our only source of this plant for medicine should be from cultivated sources.

-- Amy (acook@in4web.com), January 17, 2001.

Also, you can try the Herb Growers and Marketers Network. They are easy to find on the web. Maureen Rogers, the owner, publishes a mammoth directory of herb businesses, as well as a newsletter. There is also an annual conference. This organization supports herb farmers and anyone in the herb business.

-- Amy (acook@in4web.com), January 17, 2001.

My mother sent me an article not long ago on how much of the wild ginseng was being stolen from national parks in the North East, and how valuable it was. This was the wild variety, not domesticated. Wow, that is really expensive stuff! She thought it would be a perfect crop for us to get into, unfortunately, we don't have the right climate! Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), January 17, 2001.

Ginseng is very easy to grow - if you are in the right soil, climate & shade condition. Grows easily from seed, so I would not recommend starting with roots unless you just want to try a few. There's plenty of info available, so I won't go on. It's generally true that wild plants are exacting in their habitat requirements & are much more likely to do well for you if they are found naturally in your immediate area.

-- Sam in W.Va. (turnip55a@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

check http://www.chez.com/qcons/insam/insam.htm

-- (qcons@chez.com), May 18, 2001.

I grow wild simulated Ginseng.

The plant is very adaptable and native to many parts of the country. The reason more people don't grow it is basically that it takes too long to see any money out of it. 8 year roots went for about $380 per pound last year.

Buy some land with a wooded, well drained north slope. Go in with your seed bag and a rake in the fall. Start at the bottom of the hill and rake the leaves off the soil in front of you, spread the seeds, and then rake a new spot above that, moving the leaves downhill on top of the freshly scattered seeds. Plant in lines running across the slope (think contour planting) and it will be easier to tend it. Just get the seed under the leaves and it will come up just fine.

Contrary to the advice posted above, you need to do some things about security. First, fence and post your land. Second, tell EVERYBODY that you are growing ginseng. Tell everyone about the money you expect to make, and if possible get them interested in growing it themselves. Third, inform the local authorities that you are growing Ginseng and you expect their help if you have problems. Fourth, get to know the local buyers. They are the first people you should call if somebody gets into your patch. Finally, have your soil tested, and talk to the local ag people. You are trying to find a trace mineral that doesn't really exist in your area but will show up in the ginseng. Get some and spread it all over your patch so that if necessry you can provide strong circumstantial evidence that the sang came from your patch.

This is going to sound crazy to many of you, so I'll explain. There are no secrets in the country. In many areas people will start across country diggin sang, and they don't care who's property they cross or dig on. They consider it to be their right to dig any sang they find because that's the way it's always been. These people do not consider themselves to be thieves. If the land is fenced and posted with signs explaining that it's a ginseng farm it becomes a different deal. There are people who will jump the fence and start digging, though. When word gets around that Billy Bob has 30 pounds of sang drying on his back porch, call the law and make sure they prosecute.

If you try to keep your sang patch a secret, if it is found it will vanish one dark night. You can set up some fancy motion detectors and cameras, but your best bet is to make it difficult to get in and out and spend time on your land.

A well established patch will start producing seeds at about year 4, and even though you pick the berries, you won't get all the seeds because some will fall off. The patch will continually reseed itself. After about 8 years you can start taking some nice mature roots out of the patch, and an acre will produced a sustained yield of somewhere between 100 to 200 lbs. If you plant several acres it's worth your time to live on the place and spend a lot of time in the woods.

If you are trying to get the local authorities interested in helping you out, just explain the details and do the math with them. This is big agri-business and requires long term committment, and anyone stealing ginseng is very quickly into felony territory with just a few roots.

-- Woody Forester (woodmeister@hotpop.com), May 18, 2001.

I live in Ohio and I've heard that there is a certain time that you can harvest gensing and would like to know when that is. We bought a house that has it on the land and it has been here for along time.We dont know much about it to do things properly.Anyone out there that can let us know info we greatly appreciate it. thanks

-- jackie thompson (spicksangels2@yahoo.com), September 02, 2001.

My father began raising sang about 30yrs. ago, it has been stolen on several ocassions, to solve that problem I have built my house near the sight and along with my dog it has'nt been touched in several yrs. and is thriving. I'm located in southern Ohio, can't wait to sell the first harvest from my patch. being and advid gardener this is one plant that I can say, I just planted the seeds and watched it grow,,,,many many years of watching that is.

-- J. S. Seagraves (jspencer@zoomnet.net25), September 23, 2001.

i have some gensing that i am having a problem selling i cant find any buyers. If you can help me please email me. Thank you

-- Electra (punk_e_brewmeister@hotmail.com), January 13, 2002.