TOPIC: ginseng prices

Hillhopper wrote:

If we only had a \"just ask castle\" section here in the forum.
That way, we'll always get the right answer and avoid the confusion.

Hillhopper

Why ask questions unless you want honest answers?

...clearly....the people on this forum only want to hear answers which agree with what they think...not to learn anything new that might help them with their ginseng or get them better prices.

You have yet to hear me ask you anything you lovely lil karma decreaser you. Uh oh, Im down to 2 now!

Hillhopper

Never brush your roots? Areas that have loamy soil might serve well for a root soaking. However, in areas where the soil is clay, a good soaking and spray just does not always do the trick. Larry Harding passed around roots and showed examples of just what we are talking about. They touch every root and do what is needed to make sure the thousands upon thousands of roots they dig are cleaned properly. If they did not touch and inspect every root they could just wash the roots in a tumbler.
Latt

BCastle,

Thank you....lession learned! (regarding your advise on cleaning)

tnhillhugger1

TNhunter:

Thanks...Bcastle also commented....and now I'm nervous bout what I have (if it's damaged...). I will say that I was extremely gentle (...it took HOURS to do) and didn't break the skin or hair-roots. Im sharing this info with my husband and will follow your instructions when cleaning, as I absolutely want to do this the correct way.

Thanks to everyone who responded with advise.!

TNhunter:

NICE roots!....I see what your talking about.....I thought that all needed to come off : (

...I wish I had talked to you guys first..I was reading this forum then...just hadn't joined..

Thanks,
tnhillhugger1

I certainly didn't mean to cause a \"ruckus\"...

Guys, I'm just trying to learn from you....and I DO want honest answers/advise.

...How else to learn- than from folks who have done this for a long time.

Thanks to ALL of you,

tnhillhugger1

Latt,

Thank you,

I did see the post you're talking bout.

Not sure what to do now....I think I may have mine too clean

Maybe I can get my daughter to take a picture of what I have ( or a few pieces) and post it on here and see what yall think.

Thank you,
tnhillhugger1

tnhillhugger1,

As long as you are not breaking the root skin or root hairs off, you are doing OK.

You may be over cleaning them or cleaning them more than necessary (or in other words putting time and effort into cleaning them that is not going to pay off anymore than if you had stopped earlier).

I have never seen a buyer complain about roots being too clean, but now I have seen them complain if you leave too much dirt on them (to where they actually look dirty) or they can actually scrape dirt off the root with a fingernail.

It is actually a rare occasion when I get my lil ES tooth brush out and usually only a few roots that just have some dirt on them that the normal washing process does not remove.

If I come home with a pound of green seng, I usually spend 5-10 minutes (max) cleaning it (not counting soaking time).

This year I did hunt in a hollow I never hunted before and found some good ones and man the dirt there was very stubborn and sticky. I spent 5-10 minutes on that batch as usual, but then spent another 10 or so going over a few nice roots that had some very dark sticky dirt on them that just would not wash off otherwise.

If you are spending more than 10-15 minutes cleaning a pound of green seng, I would say there is a very good chance you are over doing it.

Again as long as you are not damaging the root, root hairs, etc - then over cleaning is not that big of a deal, but when I get home from a seng hunting trip I'd rather spend that extra time letting my old sore feet rest and sipping a glass of my wife's sweet tea

TNhunter

Thats good stuff. i got my toothbrush lesson about 30 years ago from a dealer, his facial expression went from a kid opening up a christmas present to someone who just got a lump of coal in his stocking. he went ahead and bought it anyway but gave me about a 5 minute lecture on what he wanted. Chances are if you didn't scrub so hard that the outer layer or \"skin\" is damaged you wont have a problem selling it, with that noted keep in mind that ginseng prices havent moved very much this year, so it may be possible that you are going to take a hit on your price. Just chalk it up as a lesson learned. Good luck