TOPIC: Growing Goldenseal For Extra Income

Many of us are growing ginseng and it is obvious we all have a passion for it. We have talked about Goldenseal many times too.

I will be collecting my Goldenseal seeds very soon. Some of my Goldenseal plants in my shade gardens in my yard already have ripe red seeds on them already. However, some are still green. I think another week and then I will be out harvesting my seed on my wild Goldenseal plants.

Last year I planted over a pound of Goldenseal seed that I collected from my wild plants.

Wild Goldenseal roots can take a while to dig. I found that out the hard way when I dug some up to transplant them into my shade garden. I have seen where Goldenseal roots can sell snywhere from $15 to $40 per pound. But it's alot of time and work to dig a dry pound of wild Goldenseal roots.

Goldenseal likes similar soil and shade conditions as does Ginseng. However it is much easier to grow. It is less prone to disease and damage from slugs, and animals. Goldenseal also grows in very dense patches without the threat of disease. So I will be planting the seed thick to maximize the beds. Goldenseal also has a root rhizome that will spread to produce new plants which is unlike Ginseng that does not spread. As many of you already know it is possible to cut the Goldenseal root into 1 to 2 inch pieces to plant which will produce new plants the following spring. So you can grow ginseng from seed or by cutting the roots up and planting. Each of which has its own benefits.

Goldenseal does well in tilled beds. The tilled beds do not produce root that is inferior to wild root. So the Goldenseal roots grown in deeply tilled beds in the woods will be ready to harvest in 3 to 5 years verses 10 years like Ginseng.

I am going to start growing Goldenseal in the woods. $20 per dried lb for Goldenseal is a far cry from $700 or more per dry lb for Ginseng. However, it will be easy to grow and easy to dig from the tilled beds. So a Goldenseal planting bed can produce many lbs of root growing in loosely tilled soil.

So I will be adding growing Goldenseal along with my woodland ginseng planting. I will be planting the Goldenseal separate from the ginseng beds as I do not want to plant ginseng in deeply tilled beds.

So taking into consideration that the Goldenseal roots will be easier to dig from these deeply tilled beds means I will be willing to dig it for $20 per pound or more. Also Deeply tilled beds are anywhere from 3 to 8 inches deep. Goldenseal roots do not grow deep anyway. So tilled soil 3 to 8 inches is plenty deep.

Last year I had planted Goldenseal in tilled beds in the woods. I have not harvested any yet thou. I did talk the the owner of Sego's Herb farm about growing Goldenseal for as many tips on growing as possible. He was a very pleasant fellow on the phone.

www.segoherbfarm.com/index.php?option=co...;id=50&Itemid=61

So hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of Goldenseal root at $20 or more per lb has my attention. I will be in the woods planting Ginseng so why not plant some Goldenseal too. Another opportunity is for any of you that have woods or soil that is good but not great for ginseng, then you may want to consider planting some Goldenseal seed or roots. As I have stated before Goldenseal is able to grow in conditions similar to ginseng, but Goldenseal will grow in areas that Ginseng would not do well in. Goldenseal is able to adapt better.

Thanks,
Latt

It's nice to read that someone else is thinking about this sort of thing. I've was thinking about doing something similar, given that there is over 30 wooland herbs that are needed for the herbal marketplaces.

The Persons book has a big section as well on growing the other plants.

Theres a herbal farm here in NC that I intend to visit, where they grow all kinds of herbs, and have tours of the place.

Whitjr,
Good point. I think I will stick to Ginseng, Goldenseal and Blood Root for now. But I know there are many others that are growing many other woodland plants for eventual harvest or resale.
I also planted a half pound of Blood Root seed last year too.
Thanks,
Latt

Latt,

What kind of germination rate do you get when planting seed? Are you planting the seed the same summer as you harvest it or do you stratify the goldenseal seed the same as ginseng?

Thanks, Lenno

I harvested the Goldenseal seed last August and kept it is the refrigerator. I rinsed the seed every fourth day with cool water which keeps them clean and fresh. The water will smell when you rinse them every time for the first couple of months which is normal. However they will rot if you do not do rinse them ever four days. I put them in course sand in October last year and kept them in the refrigerator until late November when I planted them just like wild simulated Ginseng seed. I checked them this spring and could not find any that came up. I didn't expect to find any this spring as it takes them 18 to 24 months to sprout just like ginseng seed. I expect to get between 50 to 80 % next spring thou.

I suppose you could get them into a stratification box much like ginseng seed and stratify them that way. I would still keep them in the refrigerator thou for the first couple of months and rinse them as I have described. Then you could put them into a stratification box until the following fall and then plant them. However I have read the way that I did it will improve the germination rate for some reason.

I picked a hand full of early ripened red Goldenseal berries this evening. However the majority of them should be ripe in the next 2 to 3 weeks. I would imagine the seeds are ripe red now in the southern states. But here in Ohio it will be 2 to 3 more weeks and some even possibly 4 weeks from now.

Some plants this evening had green berries the size of raspberries. Some plants had green seeds still in the infant or early development stage. They have quite a long ripening and varying ripening period spanning over 3 to 4 weeks.

What have you found to be the case in your area?
I found a snail munching on a red berry this evening. I have never seen this before. Last year I fould many daddy long legs sitting on the red berries but never saw any snails and I picked over 2000 red berries last year
Thanks,
Latt

I forgot to mention you have to soak the red berries in water until the pulp ferments off.I use a 5 gallon clean drywall bucket. Then the black seeds will sink to the bottom of the bucket once the pulp ferments. Then I carefully scoop the fermented red pulp out of the bucket. I also squish the berries by hand to speed the process up. Be careful to not damage the little black seeds but they are fairly strong and dense and hard. Then I lay the seeds and remaining pulp debris onto a fine screen an spray it with the garden hose being careful not to send the little black seeds flying due to the water pressure. Then I put the clean black seeds into a container with a lid on it with holes poked in the top to keep the moisture in somewhat and to let it breath still.
I keep them in this container until the rinse water ceases to smell which takes about 6 to 8 weeks rinsing every 4 days. Then I put them in coarse sand in a container and keep them in the frig. I keep the sand moist but not damp.
Here is the pic of a handful of ripe berries. They would be much more red if I would have left them on for another week but the black seeds inside are good to go.
Latt

Here is one red berry that I smashed in the palm of my hand. You can see how many little black seeds are in one berry. They are about the size of a small peppercorn.
Latt

Interesting Latt

I can see that you are really well-along in this! How many years have you been doing it? Pretty interesting the approach you have.

Rural Action Forestry also has some other woodland crops growing. You may see some of his on his website.

I have not decided which other woodland crop I'm going to do. I'm thinking that I'll choose the most lucrative/least labor intensive since I am doing a pretty labor intensive 'sang.

I also raise pond plants and have 3ea 1100+ gal ponds and a greenhouse in my back yard. I'm about to put in another, which will be a \"bog\" pond for some of my plants. I havn't sold the first one yet, as am concentrating on raising stock for selling purposes either next year or the year after. there's a strong flurry of activity for these plants twice a year, in spring and fall, however mostly they grow nicely all year long.

I don't know where the frogs come from, however they have quickly populated all of my ponds. I've got toads, wood frogs, and bullfrogs. It's pretty noisy at night back there, however actually I'm enjoying it alot. The grandkids love the ponds as well.

Whitjr,
Sounds like you have a great place there. As far as my experience planting other woodland plants, I am only into it mildly other than ginseng. I have tinkered with transplanting roots and sowing seeds from most all the indicator woodland plants for over thirty years.

However, I have never planted them in defined beds other than the ginseng and goldenseal seeds , with the goldenseal seeds the most recent.

I think Goldenseal is the way to go as a second crop next to ginseng. It's easy to grow, it spreads out nicely and creates new plants, it is valuable, it is disease resistant, it has a shallow root system and it will be easy to dig if planted in tilled beds or loose loamy soil. And it can be harvested in 3 to 5 years. The seeds are valuable as well for resale for others to plant.

There are many other plants to plant and harvest and dig for income. But for now I think I am going to concentrate on growing ginseng and goldenseal.
Thanks,
Latt