The State of the Ginseng Woods Around Here

PARCHED.

If I wanted to dig any roots right now, I’d have a heckuva time finding them. The tops have mostly dried up and fallen away now, but there are still a few stems left standing. A few golden ones now, too. Everything wrapped up the growing season early here because we just haven’t had enough rain in this last part of the summer. Even the squirrels seem to be having a tough time finding nuts, or they’ve already eaten them all.

Look-Alike

One thing I am seeing every here and there are berry stalks of Jack-in-the-Pulpit. I get a lot of emails with photos of these from folks hoping they’re ginseng. The green dragon berry stalks look very much the same, and those are out there now with withered tops and bright red fruit clusters.

Supply and Demand

One thing it seems the drought has helped is the price on ginseng. Or at least that’s what I’m assuming is the reason. Since they’re hard to find this year (at least out here), there’s less to be sold. But if you did have some sweet spots and you can still find them, the prices seem to be nice right out of the gate.

Nursery

All of my nursery stock have died back now, so bare root will be all there is, and not much of that. I know exactly where to look for these, but only in a couple of spots. So the pickings are slim there, too.