TOPIC: Show us the money

Alright K_Duce,
It's time to get serious. Show us some of those big 4 Prongs that are just pushing through. We need to see what it looks like when you get to the end of the growing road.

Hugh

Ok Hugh,
Im going to show you the money.... Its not what u expect/. But first i want to tell you a short story. In 1998-2000 i made a few trips to south korea, never having been there before or not much exposure to the culture or their FOOD it was quite shocking to my simple-minded country self. I wont go into much detail about my adventures here, i have been working on a book for several years. But to cut to the chase, after about 30 days of eating food my body was not accustomed to eating I literally craved a big ole greasy juicy fat cheeseburger you know like the kind you find in one of those country diners... I would have easily paid 20 or even 30 dollars for one of those hamburgers. Here i was away from my home in a strange country and all i could think about was getting a cheeseburger that tasted like home. After returning home, and being from a town with a fairly large asian population i realized that many of the asians living here must be having the same thoughts that i had. I assumed that they wanted anything that tasted like \"HOME\" and would gladly pay for that experience. I started growing asian cucumbers 800 plants my first time, now if i had grown regular american cucumbers like everyone else in the country chances are i couldn't give them away. But i literally sold every single cucumber that i grew. The price i was getting for those cucumbers was almost 3 times what you can buy a cucumber in the store for, I have expanded into other asian vegetables and finally realized that it was much easier than waiting a lifetime on my ginseng to mature. I do love ginseng, but im not sure if its the best money for the mountain of time i have spent on it.
K_Duce

This is one example of what i am talking about, in the u.s. we have a plant that is rather invasive, called the devils walking stick, it is full of thorny spikes and has no commercial value to americans, but to koreans it is probably their \"morels\". for about 2 weeks in the springtime, when the plant is starting to bloom out, it has delicate buds that are a prized treat. I have sold this stuff for about 8 dollars a pound. if you find an overgrown feild with this stuff it is easy to pick 100 pounds in a couple of hours. Caution however there is another plant that looks just like it only it lacks thorns. that is poisionous. I dont recommend hunting this unless you have experience.

This is one example of what i am talking about, in the u.s. we have a plant that is rather invasive, called the devils walking stick, it is full of thorny spikes and has no commercial value to americans, but to koreans it is probably their \"morels\". for about 2 weeks in the springtime, when the plant is starting to bloom out, it has delicate buds that are a prized treat. I have sold this stuff for about 8 dollars a pound. if you find an overgrown feild with this stuff it is easy to pick 100 pounds in a couple of hours. Caution however there is another plant that looks just like it only it lacks thorns. that is poisionous. I dont recommend hunting this unless you have experience. The Korean name for this plant is \"DO-ROOP\" .maybe do-rupp;

Havent seen many pushin up yet.

3 pronger

Easier Money

K_Duce,

Thanks for taking the time to show us all what you have chosen to make a living from. That was a great little story about a learning experience that may be of benefit to others. I'm not sure that I can identify with these plants you have shown pictures of, but between the peaches and the ginseng, I don't think I could do much more. I can sure understand about getting frustrated with growing ginseng sometimes. I suppose that the next couple of nights will be one of those times to
wring and twist and wonder if all the preparations that you have made will get you through some serious cold weather. I've got quite a few plants up right now and most of them are 2 and 3 Prongs. The 4 Prongs are still holding tight. I knew that a cold snap would catch up with me eventually when plants were already up and vulnerable, so I have gathered lots of leaf mulch and whole leaves to place over the emerged plants and split cane sticks to mark them with after covering them up. Hopefully, I can just shake the leaves with a stick slightly after the freeze and they will uncover to the point of just growing right on out of it. I also have buckets to go over the larger ones. We'll see how that turns out.

Thanks again K_Duce for taking the time.

Hugh

You're welcome Hugh,
Im not going to worry about that frost, chances are i would trample more plants just under the leaves than i could cover up and save. It looks like everyone may take a hit from it. Probably expect another seed price increase. I can't control the weather so im not going to worry. The thing about ginseng is that it can become an obsession and take over all your free time if you aren't careful.

I hunted morels this evening and found a few (see mushrooms post for picture).

I passed by some of my 2 year old beds and found just a few little 2 prongs up.

Checked my seed producing bed this evening and none of those big boys are pushing up yet.

Glad they are not... supposed to get down to around 28 degrees here Tuesday night.

TNhunter