TOPIC: Growing ginseng in New England - Vermont/Maine

Hello,
I am a new member, I've been through as many posts as I could before sending this one.
First, thanks for sharing your experiences. This is remarkable given how little can be found elsewhere on the internet.

I am based in New England, contemplating buying a small plot of land and forest to grow veggies, tap some sugar maple trees, and grow ginseng out of curiosity.

Unfortunately, the two historically most active forum members from New England - Classicfur in Maine and Maya in Vermont - are long gone. They haven't posted anything for 2 years or more. Hopefully they're both well...

So I would like to know if anyone here is growing or trying to grow wild simulated ginseng in Maine or Vermont (or NH) and if he/she can share a bit of his/her experience.

Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Nick

welcome aboard nick... iam from Illinois so I cant help you much.....

Hey Nick...

Welcome to the wildgrown forum...

I am from southern middle Tennessee, so conditions are way different here than what you will be working with... for example down here, you have to stick with north facing hillsides for planting locations... with a few exceptions (for example a river bluff that faces due east will work, since it gets lots of morning sun, but no evening sun).

But the more North you go, the less that comes into play. I remember Classic Fur saying that some of his best beds were on a slope to the west or south...

If I planted on a west or south hillside, mine would die the first year, just burn up.

Classic Fur was one that posted quite a lot, and included lots of pics, and he did well at growing it. I think when his plants started getting close to harvest size, he dropped off the board at that point. Hillhopper did that too not to long ago... and he was a great grower too (impressive)...

I figured it may have made them a little nervous to be talking about their ginseng so much online, when it was really getting to the point that it was near ready to harvest. I can understand getting a little more cautious from that.

I would encourage you to get out there and give it a try.

Several years back I used to run a Youtube channel, and covered a lot of wild simulated ginseng planting and growing stuff.

you might want to check that out.

www.youtube.com/channel/UCef1LCgEcWnpIq3tFX4J-VA

Best of luck to you !

TNHunter

I watched your videos TN. Very nice stuff.

Hi guys,
Thanks for your messages.

TN, I checked your videos too. Thanks for posting the link and sharing your knowledge. Also great that it's not just about ginseng but also about what else you find in the woods and the other stuffs you're growing.

I can see why people just disappear when time comes. It also looks like the forum was a lot more active a couple years back (when there was a lot more unknown?). I'm lucky the experiments and advice (if not the pictures...) are still here for newcomers.

At least Hillhopper left a nice goodbye message to you guys!

I'll keep reading, start exploring and come back when I have something valuable to share.

Nick

Hey Nick,

I'm new to this ginseng hobby, or addiction as it's becoming, and some of these old timers (ginseng that is) have been very helpful. When I have a minute or two of internet time I like to select one of their threads and just read through, as you have done.

Hope you find a nice plot. I moved from OR to WV and was fortunate to ignorantly stumble into a world I had no clue even existed.

Hi jm,
Thanks.
I saw on another thread that you're already deep into planting phase and that you found some wild patches of ginseng on your property! Amazing.
I have been walking around the remotest parts of our White Mountains and surrounding areas of Vermont and Maine in the past month(s). Finding what seems to be a ginseng friendly plot of land for sale will take time. But at least I got to enjoy fall foliage
Nick

Hey Nick...
On that Fall Foliage... man I love getting out and just looking at creation... man it is especially awesome in the Fall when the leaves are showing off.

I think a big old 4 prong with yellow leaves and red berries is about as good as it gets. A 5 lb small mouth bass would get me going too...

A reminder from the WORD...

Isaiah 6:3 - The whole Earth is filled with his Glory !
Romans 1:20 - This verse ends with .... As as result we are without excuse !

TNHunter

TN, I watched a couple of your videos, cool stuff. Some how I strayed off on other ginseng videos and 30 minutes later... I'll get back and watch the rest at a later time.

I also tried your planting apparatus and it proved so much easier and faster than the method I was using. I'll get back to you on that more later.

This is my second autumn since moving to WV and the foliage is great. I plant some, look around some, plant some... Last year the colors didn't seem as brilliant.

I'm also cutting up some fallen trees for firewood and find it difficult to not just step back and appreciate what I have here. My neighbor has been trying to convince me to thin my woods but there is no way I will destroy what I have. I have enough invasive plants in some areas and don't want to invite them to further infiltrate my property. Naturally, he doesn't know I'm growing ginseng or that I have any growing here. He likely is unaware of ginseng in general.

Nick, yea, I bought this place with no awareness of ginseng. I'm hoping to post soon a recap of my first full year of ginseng, once I finish planting. I've learned and discovered so much and ginseng just gives me another excuse to spend time in the woods.

Do any of you have the Asian Lady Beetle (or whatever they're called) issue we have here in WV?

Do any of you have the Asian Lady Beetle (or whatever they're called) issue we have here in WV?

They're around, but it's not such an issue in Eastern Mass. No need to walk around the house holding a vacuum for days to get rid of these little things.