Haha! It's good to see this law is being enforced. I haven't gone in several years, but I reckon I've dug 20-30 pounds of (dried) ginseng roots in my life, and not one root was taken illegally. At least it looks like these guys were digging in-season, so hopefully they replanted the berries.. I really hate the f*ckers who dig the roots up before the plant fruits, thereby ensuring no new plant will grow.

Honest Bender: Gingseng is endangered?

That's why I always put The Club (tm) on my Bawls when I leave my desk.

ignatiusst: Haha! It's good to see this law is being enforced. I haven't gone in several years, but I reckon I've dug 20-30 pounds of (dried) ginseng roots in my life, and not one root was taken illegally. At least it looks like these guys were digging in-season, so hopefully they replanted the berries.. I really hate the f*ckers who dig the roots up before the plant fruits, thereby ensuring no new plant will grow.

So, is the old story about how ginseng won't grow in the same location twice just an old wives tale to hike up prices?

I used to go hunting for it with my wife, we never found any. Found lots of other interesting plants though.

It's a lot of fun hunting for strange and rare plants and fungi.

ReverendJasen: Another Government Employee: One of the locals that was with me stated it was almost as lucrative as pot.

If it's that lucrative, why isn't it more widely grown as a crop? There's be little market for poachers if there were more farmers.

It takes a few years to get a good enough root.

That means patience.

ReverendJasen: Another Government Employee: One of the locals that was with me stated it was almost as lucrative as pot.

If it's that lucrative, why isn't it more widely grown as a crop? There's be little market for poachers if there were more farmers.

Takes about 10 years for the Ginseng root to be ready to harvest.

Another Government Employee:

Ginseng doesn't work as a crop. It grows low in the valleys in the Southern Appalachins and just doesn't transplant anywhere else.

Not true at all. News came out in the last couple of years that Chinese people are especially interested in ginseng that's been grown in Wisconsin of all places. They have ways of testing it to determine its origin. It grows wild here, and can be transplanted to wooded areas. It can also be grown in farms under shade, but that's not as valued.

/just got through planting the last of 50 two-year-old rootlets on my wooded lot
//going to sell stuff to the Chinese for a change

meat0918: ignatiusst: Haha! It's good to see this law is being enforced. I haven't gone in several years, but I reckon I've dug 20-30 pounds of (dried) ginseng roots in my life, and not one root was taken illegally. At least it looks like these guys were digging in-season, so hopefully they replanted the berries.. I really hate the f*ckers who dig the roots up before the plant fruits, thereby ensuring no new plant will grow.

So, is the old story about how ginseng won't grow in the same location twice just an old wives tale to hike up prices?

I used to go hunting for it with my wife, we never found any. Found lots of other interesting plants though.

It's a lot of fun hunting for strange and rare plants and fungi.

I have never heard that it won't grow in the same location twice, but yes - that is an old wives tale.. Hell, half (well, half is an exaggeration, but ginsenging is a lot like fishing) of what I used to dig I got because only I knew where the patch was and would go back to it every 3-4 years to get the new roots..

radioman_: So there I was taking pictures of Devil Anse Hatfield's hillside grave in Logan County, West Virginia when a real mountain man stumbled out of the woods, laden with leather pouches full of ginseng hanging off his belt. He was so dirty he was shiny. He'd been up in the woods for two weeks, with no equipment other than his knife. I once had to go to the grocery store without taking a shower first. I still shiver.

That could very well have been any number of my cousins..

/ Not really
// My family is from Greenbrier and Fayette counties..
/// But otherwise, really.

The more you eat the more you fart: Weird. I planted some in the garden years ago (yes...really). Got shiatloads of it now.

$90 a pound huh? That's great...just gotta figure out where the hell to sell it :)

FTA: Ginseng-digging tool? You mean a shovel?

It's only $90 a pound, now? It fluctuates from year-to-year (or used to, anyway).. when I was ginsenging, it ranged from $275-$400/pound.. Of course, maybe you are quoting the "wet" price... it takes about 250-350 dried roots to make a pound, so $90 wouldn't really be worth it (IMO).

ignatiusst: The more you eat the more you fart: Weird. I planted some in the garden years ago (yes...really). Got shiatloads of it now.

$90 a pound huh? That's great...just gotta figure out where the hell to sell it :)

FTA: Ginseng-digging tool? You mean a shovel?

It's only $90 a pound, now? It fluctuates from year-to-year (or used to, anyway).. when I was ginsenging, it ranged from $275-$400/pound.. Of course, maybe you are quoting the "wet" price... it takes about 250-350 dried roots to make a pound, so $90 wouldn't really be worth it (IMO).

Ah.. sorry - I fail at reading. the stuff in your garden is considered "cultivated".. Do not try to sell this as wild ginseng. If the broker catches you, he'll probably cut your nuts off, and I am sure it's illegal, too..

ignatiusst: ignatiusst: The more you eat the more you fart: Weird. I planted some in the garden years ago (yes...really). Got shiatloads of it now.

$90 a pound huh? That's great...just gotta figure out where the hell to sell it :)

FTA: Ginseng-digging tool? You mean a shovel?

It's only $90 a pound, now? It fluctuates from year-to-year (or used to, anyway).. when I was ginsenging, it ranged from $275-$400/pound.. Of course, maybe you are quoting the "wet" price... it takes about 250-350 dried roots to make a pound, so $90 wouldn't really be worth it (IMO).

Ah.. sorry - I fail at reading. the stuff in your garden is considered "cultivated".. Do not try to sell this as wild ginseng. If the broker catches you, he'll probably cut your nuts off, and I am sure it's illegal, too..

Oh, if the berries you used to seed your garden were wild, don't tell the cops because that's illegal, too.

Basically what I am sayin' in your goin' to jail. Sorry.

Sneakytoes: Another Government Employee:

Ginseng doesn't work as a crop. It grows low in the valleys in the Southern Appalachins and just doesn't transplant anywhere else.

Not true at all. News came out in the last couple of years that Chinese people are especially interested in ginseng that's been grown in Wisconsin of all places. They have ways of testing it to determine its origin. It grows wild here, and can be transplanted to wooded areas. It can also be grown in farms under shade, but that's not as valued.

/just got through planting the last of 50 two-year-old rootlets on my wooded lot
//going to sell stuff to the Chinese for a change

Yeah, all through Illinois woodlands also.