Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and other Woodland Medicinals is the source for information on the production and sale of shade-loving medicinal herbs. This handbook is a complete guide to cultivation with best-management and business practices, case studies, references and a new section for the home shade gardener.

The most comprehensive, truly practical guide to the cultivation of woodland botanicals

Not all saleable crops are dependent on access to greenhouses or sun-drenched, arable land. Shade-loving medicinal herbs can be successfully cultivated in a forest garden for personal use or as small-scale cash crops. Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and other Woodland Medicinals is a complete guide to these increasingly popular botanicals, aimed at aspiring and experienced growers alike.

In this fully revised and updated edition, authors Jeanine Davis and W. Scott Persons show how more than a dozen sought-after native species can generate a greater profit on a rugged, otherwise idle woodlot than just about any other legal crop on an equal area of cleared land. With little capital investment but plenty of sweat equity, patience, and common sense, small landowners can preserve and enhance their treed space while simultaneously earning supplemental income. Learn how to establish, grow, harvest, and market:

• Popular medicinal roots such as ginseng, goldenseal, and black cohosh;
• Other commonly used botanicals including bloodroot, false unicorn, and mayapple
• The nutritious wild food, ramps, and the valuable ornamental galax.

Packed with budget information, extensive references, and personal stories of successful growers, this invaluable resource will excite and inspire everyone from the home gardener to the full-time farmer.

Jeanine Davis is an associate professor and extension specialist with North Carolina State University. Her focus is helping farmers diversify into new crops and organic agriculture.

W. Scott Persons is the author of American Ginseng: Green Gold and an expert in growing and marketing wild-simulated and woods-cultivated ginseng.

List of Tables
Preface I (Scott Persons)
Preface II (Jeanine Davis)
Author Biographies
Abbreviations and Definitions (Jeanine Davis)
General Introduction (Jeanine Davis and Scott Persons)

Part One: American Ginseng (Scott Persons)
1. American Ginseng: Its Life Cycle, Range, Related Species, and Government Regulation (Scott Persons)
2. History of the Ginseng Trade: Ancient China to the New Millennium (Scott Persons)

Part Two: A Ginseng Grower's Manual (Scott Persons)
3. Under Artificial Shade (Scott Persons)
4. Wild-Simulated Planting (Scott Persons)
5. Woods Cultivation (Scott Persons)
6. The Harvest: Picking Berries and Stratifying Seeds, Digging and Drying Roots (Scott Persons)
7. Business Decisions and the Future Market Outlook (Scott Persons)
8. A Grower Tells His Own Story: Oscar Wood (Scott Persons)
9. Ginseng Resources
10. Ginseng References

Part Three: Other Species of Green Gold: Goldenseal and Ramps (Jeanine Davis)
11. Goldenseal: Its History, Range, Description, Uses, and Government Regulation (Jeanine Davis)
12. Goldenseal Growing Instructions: Methods, Care, Protection, Harvesting, and Marketing (Jeanine Davis)
13. Goldenseal Growers' Stories (Jeanine Davis)
14. Ramps: History, Description, and Uses (Jeanine Davis)
15. Ramps Growing Instructions: Methods, Care, Protection, Harvesting, and Marketing (Jeanine Davis)
16. Ramps Growers' Stories (Jeanine Davis)

Part Four: There Are Many Other Woodland Medicinals You Can Grow (Jeanine Davis)
17. Bethroot (Jeanine Davis)
18. Black Cohosh (Jeanine Davis)
19. Bloodroot (Jeanine Davis)
20. Blue Cohosh (Jeanine Davis)
21. False Unicorn (Jeanine Davis)
22. Galax (Jeanine Davis)
23. Mayapple (Jeanine Davis)
24. Pinkroot (Jeanine Davis)
25. Spikenard (Jeanine Davis)
26. Wild Ginger (Jeanine Davis)
27. Wild Indigo (Jeanine Davis)
28. Other Forest Botanicals Growers' Stories (Jeanine Davis)

Part Five: Growing Woodland Medicinals in the Home Garden (Jeanine Davis)
29. Making the Perfect Woodland Garden Site (Jeanine Davis)
30. Choosing the Plants to Grow in Your Garden (Jeanine Davis)
31. How to Grow a Garden in the Woods (Jeanine Davis)
32. Ginseng - A Horticultural Challenge (Scott Persons)
33. Making Some Simple Products from Your Woodland Medicinals (Jeanine Davis)
34. Home Gardeners' Stories (Jeanine Davis)

Part Six: Sustainable Wild-harvesting (Jeanine Davis)
35. What Is Wild-harvesting? (Jeanine Davis)
36. Why There Will Always Be a Place for Wild-harvesting (Jeanine Davis)
37. Rules and Regulations for Wild-harvesters (Jeanine Davis)

Part Seven: Supplemental Information (Jeanine Davis)
Appendix 1: Forest Botanicals Bought and Sold in the United States and Canada (Jeanine Davis)
Appendix 2: Prices Paid for Forest Botanicals from 2004 through 2013 (Jeanine Davis)
Appendix 3: Interesting and Helpful Calculations, Tables, and
Miscellaneous Information (Jeanine Davis)
Appendix 4: Good Agricultural, Collection, and Manufacturing Practices (Jeanine Davis)
Appendix 5: Joe-Ann McCoy's Disease List (Joe-Ann McCoy)
References and Resources for Parts Three through Six
Comprehensive Resource Directory
Index

The most comprehensive, truly practical guide to the cultivation of woodland botanicals

Not all saleable crops are dependent on access to greenhouses or sun-drenched, arable land. Shade-loving medicinal herbs can be successfully cultivated in a forest garden for personal use or as small-scale cash crops. Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and other Woodland Medicinals is a complete guide to these increasingly popular botanicals, aimed at aspiring and experienced growers alike.

In this fully revised and updated edition, authors Jeanine Davis and W. Scott Persons show how more than a dozen sought-after native species can generate a greater profit on a rugged, otherwise idle woodlot than just about any other legal crop on an equal area of cleared land. With little capital investment but plenty of sweat equity, patience, and common sense, small landowners can preserve and enhance their treed space while simultaneously earning supplemental income. Learn how to establish, grow, harvest, and market:

• Popular medicinal roots such as ginseng, goldenseal, and black cohosh;
• Other commonly used botanicals including bloodroot, false unicorn, and mayapple
• The nutritious wild food, ramps, and the valuable ornamental galax.

Packed with budget information, extensive references, and personal stories of successful growers, this invaluable resource will excite and inspire everyone from the home gardener to the full-time farmer.

Jeanine Davis is an associate professor and extension specialist with North Carolina State University. Her focus is helping farmers diversify into new crops and organic agriculture.

W. Scott Persons is the author of American Ginseng: Green Gold and an expert in growing and marketing wild-simulated and woods-cultivated ginseng.