Are there any Ginseng or other Herb Diggers/Growers/Stewards on TNnet??

H

huntsman53

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Jun 11, 2013
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As per my' signature line, you probably know that besides metal detecting, Gold and Gem prospecting as well as other things, I also dig Ginseng and other herbs! I also plant purchased and harvested Ginseng seeds to try to help the dwindling populations of Ginseng along and I quite often check on the Ginseng that emerges from the seeds that I plant as well as other Ginseng. If you dig, grow and/or steward (caretake) Ginseng, I hope you will join me and the other great folks at Wildgrown.com and share stories and of your knowledge and experience! We have some great folks on the forum and converse about other herbs as well as mushrooms.


Frank
 

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Hey Frank! Thanks for the invite! Sounds like a fun site but time is of the essence. I'll check it out when I get time!


Wade
 

Oh yeah we dig it on private land but it is hush hush. Have a section on a north slope with old tulip poplars growing. It is a gold mine and fun as can be.
 

Tnmountains said:
Oh yeah we dig it on private land but it is hush hush. Have a section on a north slope with old tulip poplars growing. It is a gold mine and fun as can be.
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Yeah, it is always best to keep your' hunting locations to yourself! This is especially true nowadays due to the somewhat new rules, regulations and permitting for harvesting Ginseng in the National Forests which has pretty much limited Ginseng Diggers to hunting private lands. Again this year, the USDA and NF Division has limited us to only 25 roots as they did last year. Due to the distance I would have to travel this year to dig Ginseng in the NF, it would cost me more in gas just to get there than what I would possibly get for the roots and I would still have to return home. I will only be harvesting Ginseng on private lands this year but will spend some time doing what I can to keep poachers from illegally digging some plants that I know about in a section of the National Forest that is closed to harvesting this year. We all have to do our part, otherwise harvesting Ginseng roots which has been passed down to us for nearly 300 years by our' forefathers, will likely be outlawed due to poaching which risks Ginseng being put on the Endangered Species List.

I have included some pics of the Ginseng plants and patches in the Nnationa Forest that I will doing my best to protect from the poachers. I found them and some others in June of 2013 and I only harvested a few of them with my' harvesting permit. Note: The big one was gone in the Fall due to a downed tree top dropping right onto it during severe weather. I hope to find it doing okay when I visit there soon!


Frank

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Hey Frank..

I got'a ask.. where did you get the two nice fish in your avatar.. Douglas? .. Cherokee?

Don't care about the thread.. just don't step on the ginseng!!:laughing7:

I've visited that website several times over the last year.. lot of good info there!

I haven't done any hunting in several years.. but I do know the Tellico, Ocoee section of the NF real well.
I can be in the National Forest in just a few minutes and I can see Big Frog Mountain out the backdoor.
The top section of Big frog is Wilderness now.. I'm guessing it's off-limits for seng?

Made a trip around the north side of Frog this past Sunday, just to see if the roads have been closed or timber cut.
That part is about 2,500' and near the wilderness border it has good slope and large trees.
Didn't walk the woods, just along the road... would you believe I got a chigger bite doing it!? Bugs are bad this year!

Back at ya..
-Wayne
 

Great site. Good information and practical starting suggestions. Thanks for sharing it.
 

Frank.... "Horseshoe King" here... :tongue3: Do you think I have I might have some Ginseng here in my area? I know you looked around when you were here and I've heard that it's around also.
 

My buddy tried growing Ginseng under shade netting, planted 1/8 acre per year, figured after 8 years he could start harvesting.

Somewhere in year seven, someone stole it all.
 

Gold Maven said:
My buddy tried growing Ginseng under shade netting, planted 1/8 acre per year, figured after 8 years he could start harvesting.

Somewhere in year seven, someone stole it all.
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That is a shame and I feel for him! To put all of that time, labor and costs into growing Ginseng for his' and probably his family's future and then have it stolen by poachers, really sucks. That is the reason many folks that grow seng or have good existing crops on their' lands, are putting up game cameras hidden in the brush or high in the trees and some are resorting to more sophisticated surveillance systems. I am waiting until Squirrell season before heading into the National Forest to keep and eye on the Ginseng I found last year. In that way, I can carry my' Winchester Super X2 12 Gauge Shotgun to protect myself against Bear and from Poachers if the need arises. Last year I was doing a bow hunting/Ginseng digging combo and had a pretty big Sow Black Bear come with about 10 yards of me and her' two Cubs within 20 yards or so from me. I was leaning up against a tree resting a minute, when the Sow and the Cubs popped out of an almost blind hollow to my right. The Cubs stopped but the Sow came around below me and then caught my' scent on took off towards the Cubs. Well, I had a bit of bronchitis and had to cough which caused the Cubs to skidaddle up two trees and the Sow to charge towards me. She had gone about 35 yards before I coughed and then charged to with 25 yards of me before stopping and huffing. I believe that the Cub's and her reaction was due to a bigger Boar Black Bear being in the area which I later found evidence of. Later that day while heading back to the truck, I came down an old grown-up logging road and no kidding, there was Bear scat almost every 15 to 20 yards for a half mile down the road. I think that when I coughed, the old Sow and Cubs thought that I was that big Boar coming to do the Cubs harm and the Game Warden that I encountered later, agreed. So, whatever you do when that close to a Sow Black Bear with Cubs, do not cough. Choke it down if you have to which could cause it to backfire as a fart but just don't cough. LOL!!

The first link below is to a Slideshow of pics I took on a Ginseng Hunt on September 16th of last year and the one after is the Bow Hunt/Ginseng Hunt that I took after encountering the Sow Black Bear and her' Cubs. You will see some pics of the Black Bear scat that I took on the way out. Note: Most of the pics are in reverse order of when they were taken as that is how they download to Photobucket and I never correct them.

http://s217.photobucket.com/user/huntsman53/slideshow/Ginseng Dig 091613

http://s217.photobucket.com/user/huntsman53/slideshow/Ginseng Bow Hunt 092813


Frank
 

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Limitool said:
Frank.... "Horseshoe King" here... :tongue3: Do you think I have I might have some Ginseng here in my area? I know you looked around when you were here and I've heard that it's around also.
Click to expand...

Brad... While driving to your' place last year and this year, I spied many spots where I know that Ginseng either grows or did grow at one time. In fact, the very woods and hollow where Mama Dog got wet while we were walking down the steep Wagon road next to the point overlooking the river, I would bet has or has had Ginseng growing in it. Also, the hills across from your' road (i.e. across the highway to Centerville), looks very good for Ginseng. Many hills and moutains that face Northwest to North to Northeast are good locations to look and even some deeper hollows that face more towards the South can have Ginseng in them, if they have enough shade canopy and get enough moisture (for the more Southerly facing hollows, this means a good flowing spring, creek, stream or river). Just look for locations that have lots of hardwoods and few or no Pines (even though some Ginseng can survive around Pines, much of it does not) and look for Ginseng's companion plants (i.e. Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh, Bloodroot, Star Grub Root, Fire Nettles, Golden Seal, May Apple, Rattlesnake Fern and there are others). Generally, if these grow in a location, then Ginseng will grow there as well!

Below is a link to a Slideshow of pics that I took while on a Ginseng Scouting Trip on June 4th of last year. There are many companion plants shown and some of these as well as some Ginseng plants are marked with notes.

http://s217.photobucket.com/user/hu...g Trip 051513 and 051913/Scouting Trip 060413


Frank
 

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Number9 said:
Hey Frank..

I got'a ask.. where did you get the two nice fish in your avatar.. Douglas? .. Cherokee?

Don't care about the thread.. just don't step on the ginseng!!:laughing7:

I've visited that website several times over the last year.. lot of good info there!

I haven't done any hunting in several years.. but I do know the Tellico, Ocoee section of the NF real well.
I can be in the National Forest in just a few minutes and I can see Big Frog Mountain out the backdoor.
The top section of Big frog is Wilderness now.. I'm guessing it's off-limits for seng?

Made a trip around the north side of Frog this past Sunday, just to see if the roads have been closed or timber cut.
That part is about 2,500' and near the wilderness border it has good slope and large trees.
Didn't walk the woods, just along the road... would you believe I got a chigger bite doing it!? Bugs are bad this year!

Back at ya..
-Wayne
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Wayne,

I am sorry that I did not answer sooner about the Hybrid Bass that I caught when I was fishing with a friend, Lloyd on his' boat! We caught the Bass on Cherokee Lake and if my memory serves me correctly, we caught 5 total. I caught 3 and Lloyd caught 2 but he did some fishing before he called and invited me and I believe he caught 3 earlier. We only kept 3 for eating.

Talking about chiggers! If you want the nastiest chiggers on this Earth, just go out and visit Brad (Limitool) in Middle Tennessee. I have gotten into chiggers before but nothing like the one's in Middle Tennessee. They cause pure agony but after suffering for several days after returning from a trip to visit Brad, he told me how to treat them and man was I ever glad. If you get them in just a few areas, wet a paper towel with Clorox Bleach and rub it all over the areas where the chiggers are and it will kill them. After doing that one evening, the next morning I punctured the chigger welts with a needle, squeezed out the toxin or whatever it is called as well as squeezed out the dead chiggers, wiped the welts with alcohol and then there was no more itching, stinging and scratching. If you get a really bad case of them as Brad did once, you have to bathe in Clorox Bleach for a few minutes. Just make sure that you wash and rinse well after the Clorox Bleach bath. As bad as the chiggers are where Brad lives, I won't even go into the Deer Ticks that they also have out there!


Frank
 

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dawnhvr said:
My grandfather used to grow and sell ginseng root in western PA
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If the property where he grew the Ginseng is still in the family, it might be time to have a look to see if there is any there! If not still in the family, maybe you could get permission.


Frank
 

huntsman53 said:
Wayne,

I am sorry that I did not answer sooner about the Hybrid Bass that I caught when I was fishing with a friend, Lloyd on his' boat! We caught the Bass on Cherokee Lake and if my memory serves me correctly, we caught 5 total. I caught 3 and Lloyd caught 2 but he did some fishing before he called and invited me and I believe he caught 3 earlier. We only kept 3 for eating.

Taking about chiggers! If you want the nastiest chiggers on this Earth, just go out and visit Brad (Limitool) in Middle Tennessee. I have gotten into chiggers before but nothing like the one's in Middle Tennessee. They cause pure agony but after suffering for several days after returning from a trip to visit Brad, he told me how to treat them and man was I ever glad. If you get them in just a few areas, wet a paper towel with Clorox Bleach and rub it all over the areas where the chiggers are and it will kill them. After doing that one evening, the next morning I punctured the chigger welts with a needle, squeezed out the toxin or whatever it is called as well as squeezed out the dead chiggers, wiped the welts with alcohol and then there was no more itching, stinging and scratching. If you get a really bad case of them as Brad did once, you have to bathe in Clorox Bleach for a few minutes. Just make sure that you wash and rinse well after the Clorox Bleach bath. As bad as the chiggers are where Brad lives, I won't even go into the Deer Ticks that they also have out there! Frank
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Sorry you got them Frank on your first visit here.... (been there... done that). But if you remember I SPRAYED much better than you did upon your 1st visit and mentioned it also. I NOTICED upon your second visit that you must have invested in DEEP WOODS OFF. You didn't waste ANY! And I don't blame ya buddy.

My Clorox bath from chiggers came while running the fields of Missouri in the late 60's. After 3 days of being laced and scratching and bleeding EVERYWHERE (EVERYWHERE....!!!!) my Aunt bought 6gallons of bleach and put me into the shallow tub of bleach. IT WAS PURE TORTURE for a couple of minutes.... and then relief. The funny part was me going 1st. and my buddy listening to me screaming and him having to go 2nd. in the same pool of bleach. We did sleep GREAT that night.

Getting some chiggers is one thing... but getting covered and/or laced with them is something different. SUGGESTION: Buy stock in "DEEP WOODS OFF".

Hell Frank... I'll never get another visitor upon this "recommendation"..... :laughing7:
 

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Limitool said:
Sorry you got them Frank on your first visit here.... (been there... done that). But if you remember I SPRAYED much better than you did upon your 1st visit and mentioned it also. I NOTICED upon your second visit that you must have invested in DEEP WOODS OFF. You didn't waste ANY! And I don't blame ya buddy.

My Clorox bath from chiggers came while running the fields of Missouri in the late 60's. After 3 days of being laced and scratching and bleeding EVERYWHERE (EVERYWHERE....!!!!) my Aunt bought 6gallons of bleach and put me into the shallow tub of bleach. IT WAS PURE TORTURE for a couple of minutes.... and then relief. The funny part was me going 1st. and my buddy listening to me screaming and him having to go 2nd. in the same pool of bleach. We did sleep GREAT that night.

Getting some chiggers is one thing... but getting covered and/or laced with them is something different. SUGGESTION: Buy stock in "DEEP WOODS OFF".

Hell Frank... I'll never get another visitor upon this "recommendation"..... :laughing7:
Click to expand...

You just gave me a great idea! To keep folks from looking for and going into your' cave, just tell them that it is full of Middle Tennessee chiggers. It will likely be safe until the end of time.


Frank
 

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