TOPIC: Moving 'Sang West to South Dakota

My mom and I have been planting (wild grown-style) ginseng roots and seeds on her 140-acres in South Dakota for the past several years. We started with a small plot of 3-year-old roots that grew very well. We successfully harvested the seeds from those plants, stratified them and planted them. In the meantime, we've planted additional roots and seeds in numerous locations and have seen success there as well.

We've really enjoyed the process and look forward to eventually selling some roots. We're not sure how old we should let our roots get before selling them. Mom is concerned about replanting ginseng in the same places, too. (We get a lot of cross-over information from commercial ginseng operations.) I tell her that it's fine to replant on the old site (it measures maybe 20 feet by 10 feet) and hope my advice is good.

Our state has no regulations or seasons on the harvest and sale of ginseng. I wonder if this will pose a problem when we attempt to sell it. Certainly our buyer(s) will be located out of state. Naturally, when the time comes we will be very apprehensive about getting ripped off.

Like a \"Johnny Appleseed,\" I've been carrying bag of seeds in my pocket every fall during hunting season and planting them in likely locations. I'd like someday to stumble upon a long-forgotten plant that had flourished for many years.

That's our story.

Thanks,
Shadow Man

Oops, I'd better clarify my terminology/description... our ginseng is actually \"woods-grown.\" We simply rake away the ground litter and plant the roots/seeds. We don't use elevated boxes or anything like that.

Sorry if there was any confusion!

Shadow Man

Good story. I would plant the seeds or other roots in a different location thou and not in that same 20 by 10 foot spot. I took a tour of Ginseng farm and the grower showed me a large planting area that he replanted after harvesting a first crop of sang. He lost a considerable amount of seed and money as the second planting did not work at all. He has yet to replant it a third time and this spot has been idol for almost 10 years.
Does South Dakota have ginseng growing wild typically? That's awesome you are spreading seeds like you are in the wild.
Good luck.
Latt

Hi Latt,

Don't know that ginseng grows wild here. There's been such a long history of heavy cattle grazing and unprotected woodlands (those are rare in the first place) that I really doubt there's any wild stuff.

Shadow Man

Shadow Man

I agree with Latt. It's been proven that there is a high level of failure when replanting ginseng in the same beds.

As far as age to harvest. It best to wait a minimum of seven years.

What you described as \"woods grown\" is what we call \"wild Simulated Ginseng\".

Good luck in SD!

classicfur

I found it very helpful to get the Person's book on Gensing. You might as well!

Good luck, come back and post here later!

Thanks for the advice on not replanting in the original 'sang bed. We'll heed your advice and not do it.

The quality locations for 'sang on our property are limited. In a few years, we may have filled them all with seed. I've always got my eye out for other suitable places to plant a few seeds, but have only found one place so far where I don't have to worry about the 'sang being trampled by cattle. Ranch country is a hard place to raise ginseng!

We only make a few hundred bucks a year renting our land to cattle grazers and then the property just gets pounded into dust. My mom likes to spend the weekends camping out there in her hard-shell camper that we've parked on the land. She watches the deer and turkeys feeding in the alfalfa in the mornings and evenings and enjoys a lot of peaceful hours. If she wants to see cows, she can look across the fence at the neighbor's overgrazed pasture. She's really done a good job turning our land into a wildlife haven. Hopefully, the 'sang will thrive there and eventually she'll be able to show the local cattlemen that cows ain't the only way to make your land pay for itself.

We've also started a hazelnut grove and should have our first small crop this fall.

Loving it,
Shadow Man