Plant identification ...
Ginseng plants, such as the one pictured above in its wild surroundings, have red berries that should be replanted when the root is harvested to help propagate the plant and maintain its existence.
Necessary part of the process ...
Ginseng roots being dried on screens at hunter Laurayne Easley's home. Drying is a necessary part of ginseng harvesting prior to the root being sold.
by David M. Johnson
Ginseng and its reputation conjure up images of an exotic plant coveted by the Chinese masses. The ginseng root is not only prized by Chinese consumers but has rapidly made inroads into markets in the United States. In Asia and Russia, physicians often use the ginseng root as a medicine for different ailments.
Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has regulated that ginseng cannot be used as a medicine, it can be sold as a health food or nutritional supplement. Ginseng has a number of chemicals and nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins B and C, steroidal compounds and fatty acids. Studies in laboratories have proven that properties in ginseng have distinct physiological effects. Because of these studies and the demand from both foreign and domestic markets, the ginseng plant has become a very desirable product.
Ginseng is found in Asia and North America. Chinese ginseng is believed to be a stimulant; Korean ginseng is administered as an agent to restore strength from an illness or surgery; and American ginseng is used as a soothing agent. No matter what ginseng is used for, there has been an increasing demand for this plant.
Because of that demand, wild ginseng in the United States and the ginseng found in Allamakee County can bring $400 or more for the dried wild ginseng root and $25 to $60 per pound for field cultivated ginseng. American ginseng accounts for almost 20% of the world trade and almost two million pounds.
With cultivated ginseng dominating the market, wild ginseng is highly desired. A wild ginseng root, the part of the plant that is harvested, is smaller with a darker weathered appearance while the cultivated ginseng is larger and yellow or straw-colored. The wild root is believed to have more effective properties when processed compared to the domestic plant. Some individuals transplant wild plants to be cultivated, which is a third type, along with the cultivated and wild plants.
Wild ginseng is found in damp, shaded areas of wild timber where there is little or no grazing by livestock and where there is little interference from logging and development. It appears ginseng does not prosper in clay type soils and in prolonged sunlight. The ginseng plant has distinctive, five-prong, egg-shaped leaves with irregular edges found on top of a long, slender stalk. With its red berries in the fall, the ginseng digger finds these plants much easier.
Because wild ginseng numbers are low, cultivated ginseng has established a market, accounting for 90% of American ginseng exports. Researchers have been experimenting with ginseng to produce a ginseng root that has more characteristics of the wild plant. Until there has been success in the laboratory, it is up to the hunters of the wild ginseng to harvest the roots and try and satisfy the demand for this plant.
Kevin Dixon, 44, of Waukon has been harvesting the wild ginseng root since the age of 12. Although Dixon has not dug for the ginseng root every year since, he has been involved at least 20 years in the woods gathering the ginseng root. Bill Dixon, Kevin's dad, inspired and taught his son the nuances of ginseng, the third generation of Dixons to roam the woods of Allamakee County. Loving the outdoors has made it easy to enjoy looking for ginseng, but Dixon stresses that it is not easy. "What is driving me to look for ginseng is not financial, but it is hard work, and lots of hours are spent in the woods," he said.
When the ginseng season begins in early September, Dixon will normally spend six weekends and about four to six hours a day looking for ginseng. Because of his experience, this local hunter has learned the numerous "tricks" that one gains from hunting for ginseng.
Dixon advises to look for those woods that are not pastured, that have hardwoods and timber where there is a lot of shade. The damp, shady areas lying on the north side seem to be the inviting areas for the ginseng plant. Dixon hits these areas, starting at about eight in the morning until two in the afternoon, quitting just as the heat of the day is beginning to build. Taking his digger, a dandelion digger, some spray to dissuade those mosquitoes and ticks, the permit required by the state DNR, and some water, this ginseng enthusiast has had his run-ins with bees and hornets, the build-up of cobwebs that are everywhere and the occasional thick undergrowth that demands a detour here and there.
A good day of hunting and digging is a pound of green ginseng. In September, the roots are at their heaviest and will lose only about 65% of their weight in the drying process. Earlier in the year the roots can lose as much as 80% of their weight when dried. As Dixon and other hunters dig and harvest their roots, they will dry the roots until there is shrinkage and they are ready for sale.
The ginseng digger will harvest the ginseng root without cutting or breaking the root; they want an undamaged root because that is what the buyer prefers. This hunter has witnessed good years and down years, five and one-half dry pounds was one of the better seasons that Dixon has experienced.
Dixon has some concerns with the continued survival of wild ginseng. He has witnessed ginseng being harvested faster than it is recovering from the harvesting. Biologists are having the same concern, with novice hunters harming the viability of the plants and not replanting the berries. Dixon believes that there is a need for responsible hunters that will not over harvest, will replant the berries and will leave the younger plants. He has observed that, "If it wasn't for the diggers, there would not be the quantity of plants that are out there."
Another concern is the development of the timbered regions. Dixon sees the elimination of the larger plots of land that are divided into smaller plots or acreages something that appears to be happening throughout the county. Logging is also hurting - even with new growth trees replacing harvested trees, ginseng will not return. This is why this digger believes that "People need to be good stewards, they don't dig all of a patch, plant berries, and they respect everything in the woods." Dixon feels that if this happens, there will always be ginseng.
As the younger hunters are more Dixon's age, this is the younger generation because the 20- and 30-year olds are not numerous; there exists an old guard. Two sisters, Laurayne Easley of Harpers Ferry and Lois Robinson of Lansing, have been hunting ginseng off and on since the 1930s. Their father, Tom O'Brien, lit the fire under his daughters that has lasted for 70 years.
Along with their late sister, Doris, they have blanketed the woods, valleys and hills of Allamakee County with their presence. Both ladies, now in there 80s, remember digging with their father in the 1930s. Dry ginseng would go as high as 20 dollars a pound and when they finished digging and drying their ginseng, they would make the trip to McGregor and sell to an Elwell, where you sold not only ginseng but also pearls that were harvested from the Mississippi River.
Robinson and Easley both stressed that they did it as a hobby and that a person has to enjoy the hunting and the outdoors because it was a lot of work looking and digging for the roots. The money was a plus, but getting out to the woods during the early fall weekends was worth more than the financial rewards. The ladies would, at times, see a lot of hunters in particular areas, especially from Wisconsin and Minnesota, but did not have any confrontations with other diggers.
These ginseng hunters hunted woods from Postville to Lansing; whenever they got permission they would walk and look in that particular woods. There might be long periods of boredom, but then there was that patch. "It was like finding a diamond," commented Robinson on the excitement when they would wander on a patch. The ladies would dig, leaving the younger plants and planting the berries in the freshly dug ground.
"When the leaves are yellow, that made it fun because it made it easier to find," added Easley. The local diggers would have their experiences with bees and some rough terrain. Then there were the moments of deer and their fawns, the huge buck deer that would stumble on the quiet intrusion by these hunters, or the sunlight filtering through the fall foliage that added luster to their outdoor excursions.
Age has slowed down these pioneers but the quest of finding ginseng got in their blood and the passion has never really been extinguished. The patches are farther and fewer than they were years ago and the ginseng plant has become harder to find, but these ladies feel that if their bodies were willing, they would still hit the woods as hard as they have done in the past.
With their sister, Doris Johnson, they would make a weekend afternoon an adventure. They would pack a lunch and then have their husbands, Don Easley, Red Robinson and Olaf Johnson, leave them off at a tract of timber, then have them pick them up later at a designated time.
From an early age they developed a "hunter's eye" and would be able to spot the plants almost immediately when they hit the woods. Fall became, for them, their favorite season. As the years went by it became more difficult to find the plants and there were fewer areas to hunt them. The tracts of land became smaller and timber harvesting destroyed some prized zones for hunting. Both women have observed that there still is more timber now than in the past. Don Easley remembers hills around Harpers Ferry that were bare of trees, hills that are now homes for large tracts of timber.
When the ladies dug their ginseng, dried it and then called it quits in the fall, there was the trip to Richland Center, WI or to Eitzen, MN to sell their roots. The buyer at Eitzen was Wiebke Produce, and the Wiebkes are now in their third generation as buyers.
Jason Wiebke has seen prices fluctuate from the low hundreds of dollars to some exorbitant cash for the dry ginseng plant. He sees prices at a more reasonable range this year. The problem Wiebke has been experiencing is that the hunters are becoming older and older; there is the absence of new blood. Access to land and ginseng becoming more difficult to find are problems, but fewer hunters, fewer experienced hunters, is more troubling to this ginseng buyer.
Wiebke prefers wild ginseng but will purchase cultivated ginseng. Yes, this buyer can tell the difference and will pay accordingly. He prefers the mature roots, uncut and not broken. After accumulating the ginseng poundage through the season, the roots are sold to Chinese buyers - 95% of the local ginseng goes to Asia. Just as a Jesuit priest in 1716 had opened the ginseng export trade to the Far East from America, the Wiebke family is just one of many American buyers that has continued this tradition and trade.
Wiebke will also sell ginseng seeds to those individuals who wish to plant and cultivate their own patches of this plant. He sells 200 pounds a year, 4,000 seeds per pound, but still likes to see the wild ginseng roots come into his store and has witnessed a steady harvest the past three to four years.
The one constant that worries Wiebke is the number of hunters diminishing. "People don't understand, hunters propagate the plant. Hunters replanting seed, responsible hunters make the existence of ginseng better. As long as hunters propagate more than they harvest, then the ginseng population will be sustainable," he said.
Even with Wiebke's concern, there are still a number of hardy souls that will take the time and effort to look, dig and harvest this much sought after prize. For those who are driving the county back roads during the month of September and early October and witness that lonely vehicle parked along a stretch of woods, it might not be a squirrel or deer hunter. The lonely stretch of woods might have just welcomed that solitary figure with his or her pouch and digger, scanning the undergrowth for that five-leaf plant with the golden root underneath.
Along with the mushroom hunter and birder, the ginseng digger is one more hunter of the woods that uses an instrument other then a gun or bow to harvest his or her quarry. As long as there are individuals who have the eye and patience, as long as the local timber is taken care of properly and there are diggers who behave responsibly, there will still be ginseng to hunt. As long as the numbers are there to allow for a decent harvest, there will always be that one spirit looking for this gold of the woods.
Article Comment Submission Form
Site Design and Content Copyright 2010 The Standard Newspaper • P.O. Box 286 • 15 1st St. NE, Waukon, IA 52172 Telephone 563-568-3431 • Fax 563-568-4242 • E-mail: standardnews@neitel.net
