BigBill
Absent Comrade
Found some gin sing today. I'm not sure what to do with it?
Gin sing tea?
Gin sing tea?
gin sing
- Thread starter BigBill
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1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
Drop the root in a Mason jar of shine.. makes a tonic that will put lead in your pencil.. even if you don't write with it!
1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
Bill.. make sure the plant is ginseng! This is one plant that looks like many other plants!
You only harvest it in the Fall for several reasons.. It's easier to identify then because of the red berries. Plus an unwritten rule is, you always replant the berries when you take the plant.
Unless.. you, or someone is in need of weight loss.
The berries are probably the best for weight loss of any other known herb! And have been shown to reduce blood sugar levels by 30%.
I haven't hunted ginseng in 20 years... guess I'm getting old and lazy?
I think a person has to apply for a permit to hunt it on National Forest in TN and NC now? And I believe they draw names for the permits maybe 50 or so?
I believe the dried root sells for about $1,000 a pound now?
Many don't know that the leaves and berries are also bought.
You only harvest it in the Fall for several reasons.. It's easier to identify then because of the red berries. Plus an unwritten rule is, you always replant the berries when you take the plant.
Unless.. you, or someone is in need of weight loss.
The berries are probably the best for weight loss of any other known herb! And have been shown to reduce blood sugar levels by 30%.
I haven't hunted ginseng in 20 years... guess I'm getting old and lazy?
I think a person has to apply for a permit to hunt it on National Forest in TN and NC now? And I believe they draw names for the permits maybe 50 or so?
I believe the dried root sells for about $1,000 a pound now?
Many don't know that the leaves and berries are also bought.
vonn
US Veteran
Haven't heard of anyone hunting that since I was a little kid going with my Grandfather. He knew every plant that could be used for anything. He died just shy of 100 while I was in VN. Wish I would have payed more attention and learned more from him.
Ginseng. Buy it in the supermarket over here. Actually, I think I have seen it in supermarkets in Hawaii and California as well. These are cultivated for the market. Never ran into a wild one.
1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
The Chinese use the most ginseng and use it mainly for erectile dysfunction and as a aphrodisiac. Ginseng is one of the most popular herbal medicines in the world and wild ginseng brings a higher price.
Ginseng has also been studied as a way to improve mood and boost endurance as well as treat cancer, heart disease, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, hepatitis C, high blood pressure, menopausal symptoms, lower blood sugar levels, weight loss, and decrease the number and severity of colds in adults.
The only other herb known with more medical value is cannabis.
Ah, ya know? I am thinking of ginger!
I have had ginseng tea though. An instant tea from Korea. Pretty good stuff.
I have had ginseng tea though. An instant tea from Korea. Pretty good stuff.
you "posed" to wait 'til fall when the berries are red. then you dry it and sell it. dry is more valuable than green.
quneur
Member
My mom made ginsing tea for me to drink. Ick. It was horrible. Look and taste like mud water. Korean ginsing is very rare and hard to find in the wild and is priced accordingly. I'm talking thousands of dollars for a single root. I don't know the market for American ginsing but there's a lot of infomation on net.
If you don't know where to sell it, I say ask a naturopathic doctor.
If you don't know where to sell it, I say ask a naturopathic doctor.
The actually have TV "show" about it. Be absoluty sure of what you have. Just like mushroom hunting. One false ID and you can be very sick or dead.
Appalachian Outlaws - Ginseng Facts - HISTORY.com
Appalachian Outlaws - Ginseng Facts - HISTORY.com
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Used to see folks digging for "sang" up the banks when I was canoeing back home in Indiana. 
Never got after it myself - stuck to finding morels and poison ivy.
Never got after it myself - stuck to finding morels and poison ivy.
Mickey D
Member
Gin never really made me sing. But Tequila, I could cut a few LPs.
Jack Flash
Member
But with Tequila, would you be singing in English or Spanish?
1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
i run across this video on YouTube that Billy Taylor made while hunting in the East Tennessee Mountains. He found this root that had three 4 prong tops.. this is a very rare find and this one root would bring a very good price!
When you take ginseng hunting very serious, this is what it looks like
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG6nttdeESM
When you take ginseng hunting very serious, this is what it looks like
...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG6nttdeESM
Babalooie
US Veteran
I'm looking at a jar full of vodka with several roots hanging in it. Used to take a shot every evening. It has the qualities previously mentioned.
There are two varieties. One is called Red Ginseng and I can't remember the other. One is considered "warm" and the other "cool (maybe?)"
The wild Korean roots are the most desirable. Generally, they're larger, similar to a short carrot or white radish.
Some say the larger, wild versions resemble the shape of a person.
It is bitter, like many other roots and can be kept in a jar of honey instead of alcohol, if the taste is repulsive.
If a tea is made using ginseng, it also can be sweetened with honey (or sugar, etc.) to make it more palatible.
I have known people who regularly took ginseng. They would go out in the winter wearing nothing more than a thin sweater and were never ill.
Yes. it does enhance a man's "stamina." When stationed at Robbins AFB, Georgia during the seventies, I had a root that I kept in a special jar made for steeping it in alcohol. One evening, my next door neighbor saw it and asked its purpose. After explaining the benefits of taking this wonderous root, I offered him a shot. He drank it. but said it wasn't anything that he needed. Early the next morning, he was knocking on my door, asking if he could buy that root. His wife came over later and also tried to buy that root.
Good stuff, Maynard.
shouldazagged
Absent Comrade
"The wild Korean roots are the most desirable"
Absolutely not true...the wild North American root is the most desirable and the most valuable because whatever the active ingredient or chemical that makes ginseng so great is way more powerful in the American stuff.
Absolutely not true...the wild North American root is the most desirable and the most valuable because whatever the active ingredient or chemical that makes ginseng so great is way more powerful in the American stuff.
1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
"It's so valuable that an apparent ring of Chicago-based Korean immigrants is plundering woods near Lake Michigan dunes to find it. State conservation officers arrested 38 of the immigrants last summer on misdemeanor plant theft charges, including one man who came from South Korea on a 10-day visa... 95 percent of ginseng is exported to Asia."
I guess the only question I have is.. What's the best caliber to use to hunt ginseng!?
I guess the only question I have is.. What's the best caliber to use to hunt ginseng!?
Buckey08
Member
So how common is this root?
"What's the best caliber to use to hunt ginseng?"
I don't care who you are, that's funny right there!!!
"So how common is this root?"
Not very common at all...it takes so long to grow and it is very picky about where it grows. It cannot take sunlight so you have to look for it on the back of north facing slopes. If you have a lot of ferns that is not a good place to look. One poster commented that you should always plant the berries where you found the plant...this is because that place grew the one you found and this stuff is picky about where it grows so it is likely that the same place will/can grow more. It is rare enough that most states, even the ones that seem to have more than others require a CITES tag for the roots. Last I heard it was bringing around $1500.00 a pound for the dried roots. It takes a big pile of roots to make a single pound once it dries out. It is cultivated quite a bit in Wisconsin.
I don't care who you are, that's funny right there!!!
"So how common is this root?"
Not very common at all...it takes so long to grow and it is very picky about where it grows. It cannot take sunlight so you have to look for it on the back of north facing slopes. If you have a lot of ferns that is not a good place to look. One poster commented that you should always plant the berries where you found the plant...this is because that place grew the one you found and this stuff is picky about where it grows so it is likely that the same place will/can grow more. It is rare enough that most states, even the ones that seem to have more than others require a CITES tag for the roots. Last I heard it was bringing around $1500.00 a pound for the dried roots. It takes a big pile of roots to make a single pound once it dries out. It is cultivated quite a bit in Wisconsin.
1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
If you listen to the government and environmentalist, the plant is decreasing in numbers.
In the National Forest of Chattahoochee(GA), Cherokee(TN), and Nantahala(NC), they are reducing the number of permits(about 40) and also reducing the season to two weeks. The permits are on a draw system and even some areas are closed or rotated to prevent over hunting.
This is reducing the yield and making the price of ginseng high... a dry pound should be above $1,000 this year?
I haven't hunted in several years, I may try it this year?
Where I live I can see Big Frog Mountain. The south side is Chattahoochee NF and the north side is in the Cherokee NF and if I climb a little higher, I can even see the mountain tops of the Nantahala NF. So, I may apply for permits in all three states, which the three has over one million acres of National Forest.
I don't believe ginseng is as rare as they want you to believe...
and with only 120 permits to cover a million acres in three states of NF.. should be some around!
1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
A single root like this may sell for a few hundred dollars?
The "Peking Man"... complete with the right "equipment"!
The "Peking Man"... complete with the right "equipment"!
mrrick
Member
The Chinese love ginseng. When I was in China with my Chinese wife, we needed to get some documents authenticated. Normally it would have taken months, but we brought some ginseng from the USA, (from Michigan) and bribed the clerk with it. Had the papers the next day.
And yes, "wild North American root is the most desirable." in the orient.
The power of ginseng!
And yes, "wild North American root is the most desirable." in the orient.
The power of ginseng!
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