An Oregon Herb Farmer Prepares to Harvest His First Crop of The Feel-Good Product, Which Can Fetch $150,000 an Acre.
Charles Prichard can't avoid the comparison as he walks past his neighbors' impeccably landscaped yard: Those folks probably put in as many hours maintaining their lawn and
flower beds as Prichard does his four acres of ginseng and goldenseal.
And Prichard's crop is likely to be worth a half-million dollars when it's all ready for harvest.
"It's the best use of good quality land as there is in agriculture," says Prichard, a retired schoolteacher.
He and his wife got into ginseng farming after learning of its possibilities about five years ago, and expect to harvest their first acre this year. They were attracted not only by
the earnings potential, but the idea of growing a product with a centuries-old, wink-and-nudge reputation for promoting good health and well-being, along with increased sexual energy.
"We know that people who take ginseng consistently, they live another 15 years or so (longer than those who don't) and their quality of life is better," Prichard says. " Ginseng is the
most widely used health food in the world."
Ginseng is the agricultural application of the axiom that you've got to spend money to make money.
With seed prices going as high as $150 per pound, it can cost $15,000 just to plant an acre of the stuff. Figure in the shade cloth that must be placed overhead and the work
involved, and you can be into it to the tune of $20,000.
But just wait till harvest time, four or five years down the road. An acre of mature, dried roots can be worth $150,000, give or take $20,000.
And goldenseal doesn't lag too far behind. The Prichards decided to add an acre of goldenseal to their three acres of ginseng a year ago after attending a seminar and hearing of its value.
Goldenseal is a member of the buttercup family, and its roots traditionally have been used in much the same way and for the same purposes as ginseng _ as a general tonic.
A handy thing for the Prichards is that the two plants also are grown iin much tthe same way _ under shade cloth, in well-drained and sawdust-enriched soil. The tuberous roots of
both plants also will be gathered in the same manner, with a two-row potato harvester that Prichard found in the spud-growing region of southern Oregon.
"It is hard work, but then we play hard," says Prichard, who attributes much of his vigor to his daily consumption of ginseng , goldenseal and other medicinal herbs.
Ginseng farming requires attention to particulars as well as patience, beginning with the 18-month process of "stratifying" _ or germinating _ the seeds. The first growth becomes visible in the spring, after a fall planting.
Then the plants must go through four or five seasons of growth, seed production and dormancy before their roots reach commercial size.
Maintaining the Prichards' plot takes about 10 hours per week of hoeing and weeding.
SIDEBAR Ginseng use has long history Asian ginseng had been widely used for thousands of years in the Chinese and Korean cultures when a Jesuit priest discovered in the early 1700s that a closely related variety of the plant was being used by many American Indian tribes.
which was growing wild from Ontario to Georgia, went to China in 1716.
Naturopathic and alternative health sources claim a variety of benefits for ginseng users: stress reduction, a boost to the immune system, improved nerve growth, enhanced blood flow,
protection of the liver from various toxins and even a decrease in "bad" cholesterol and a corresponding increase in "good" cholesterol.
- BY: Joe Mosley -The Associated Press
- SOURCE : The Orange County Register1997.08.16
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