Demand is High for Our Book on Growing Ginseng, Goldenseal and More!

If you are serious about growing woodland medicinal herbs, whether for a business or your own personal enjoyment, this is the book to have. Written by two well-know authorities, the book is chock full of information and hundreds of pictures on how to grow ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, and many other native herbs.

How to Get a Copy of the Book: We suggest you order the book through the publisher, New Society Publishers, or your favorite local book store; that way the authors can receive their full royalties. It is available in bookstores where native plant gardening is popular. You can order the book through all the big on-line discount book sellers. Many sellers offer the book on Ebay. The book is also available as an ebook through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Society Publishers, and elsewhere.

The book is a high-quality soft cover book with 508 pages. It has a center color photo section and black and white photos throughout. Here is detailed information about the book and a link to the table of contents.

 

It has been very busy for the past six months on Our Tiny Farm!

I have certainly been lax at keeping up with the blog, but it is not from lack of activity on the farm! First and foremost, I want to dedicate this post to our dear, late Tennessee Walker horse, Little Man. He was a great friend and companion to us and our donkeys. He was an amazing listener. Always calm and very protective of his little donkey friends. But he was very old. We are not sure exactly, but the vet, farrier, and our neighbor who rode him when he was a boy himself, said he had to be 35 years old at least. The summer of 2016 was very, very hot and as the summer progressed, Little Man found it difficult to breathe. We had to soak him down several times a day and keep fans blowing on him. We trimmed his long, curly coat as often as we could, but it was clear to all of us that he was very uncomfortable. We finally made the decision to say goodbye and send him across the rainbow bridge on a beautiful, golden afternoon in late summer. It was a quiet passing and he is buried in his pasture near his little buddies and where we can be near him when we need to be. Love you, Little Man.

A few weeks later we also had to say goodbye to our dear old cat, Maple. That was just too much death and we had two few animal companions around, so we headed out to the local animal shelter and brought home these two adorable kittens. They are not related. They sure are fun!

We are in the midst of doing some pretty major remodeling on our old farmhouse, and in the process of clearing some things out, we came across a box with the first 18 issues of Mother Earth News magazine! I thought that was so cool. We live in the same community where Mother Earth News started and we always thought of our place as a little Mother Earth News type farm.

And then the forest fires came. I don't want anyone to forget how much of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee burned in November 2016. It was terrifying. We were miles from the fires but they still had a big impact on our lives.

But then every now and then, the direction of the wind would change and we would experience the most beautiful, sunny late November afternoons.

The Sustainable Agriculture Conference took place in November in Durham, NC. There I got to spend time at a book signing with my good friend and fellow author, Ira Wallace, of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.

A lot went on in our personal lives, too. There was a wedding with the dinner on the farm (I now have a grandson!). The house was full of good smells with all the baking for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And the New Year was rung in with a fun movie and several bottles of champagne.

2017 started out with a beautiful blanket of snow. I took that as a good omen of the year ahead. This year will be one of change on Our Tiny Farm. We don't know what that all means yet, but with the young adult children making their own lives and our desire to try new things, we are spending the winter rethinking what we will do on the farm. We will continue to raise bees and bottle honey, and a good crop of garlic and shallots has been planted. But we don't know what livestock we are going to raise and I would love to have a bunch more little donkeys! But, that will all be decided this winter as we sit in front of the woodstove sipping hot chocolate and planning it all out.

In the meantime, we still have honey and it is about time for sales on my book on growing ginseng, goldenseal and other woodland medicinals to pick up. If you are serious about growing woodland medicinal herbs, whether for a business or your own personal enjoyment, this is the book to have. Written by two well-know authorities, the book is chock full of information and hundreds of pictures on how to grow ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, and many other native herbs.

How to Get a Copy of the Book: We suggest you order the book through the publisher, New Society Publishers, or your favorite local book store; that way the authors can receive their full royalties. It is available in bookstores where native plant gardening is popular. You can order the book through all the big on-line discount book sellers. Many sellers offer the book on Ebay. The book is also available as an ebook through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Society Publishers, and elsewhere.

Happy New Year from the Davis family at Our Tiny Farm.

Where to Buy Seeds and Plants to Grow Your Own Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Botanicals

The interest in growing ginseng, goldenseal, black cohosh, bloodroot, and ramps is greater than ever. I receive dozens of inquiries each week at work about them. Common questions this week have been "Where can I buy ginseng seeds?", "Who sells goldenseal rhizomes?", "Where can I buy shade cloth?", and "Where can I buy a root washer?" Because Scott Persons and I get so many of those questions, we put extnesive (although not exhaustive) resource lists in our book "Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals". All of those listed are companies we have done business with or know personally.

Fall is a good time to plant and its not too late to get many of these plants and seeds into the ground. Just think, come spring you will have some of your own woodland medicinals growing!

If you are serious about growing woodland medicinal herbs, whether for a business or your own personal enjoyment, this is the book to have. Written by two well-know authorities, the book is chock full of information and hundreds of pictures on how to grow ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, and many other native herbs.

How to Get a Copy of the Book: We suggest you order the book through the publisher, New Society Publishers, or your favorite local book store; that way the authors can receive their full royalties. It is available in bookstores where native plant gardening is popular. You can order the book through all the big on-line discount book sellers. Many sellers offer the book on Ebay. The book is also available as an ebook through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Society Publishers, and elsewhere.

The book is a high-quality soft cover book with 508 pages. It has a center color photo section and black and white photos throughout. Here is detailed information about the book and a link to the table of contents.

Our mini-donkeys (Smile)

I was out visiting the donkeys tonight. The light was lovely so I tried to take some photos. As usual, I got about a dozen super close-ups of donkey ears, donkey eyes, and a horse nose. Every time I pull out the phone to take a photo lately, they walk up to see what I'm doing. I did, however, get this interesting one with a horse head shadow on Meadow.

You may recall the problem we had last winter with the donkeys chewing on the barn. They really did a lot of damage. For any of you considering getting mini-donkeys, this is a common "bad habit" they have. Anyway, we repaired all the damage they did on the outside of the barn and then stapled up chicken wire to try to prevent them from doing it again. We will spray paint right over it all. Hope it works!

While I have your attention, note that we have three specials going right now with two other businesses. Click the tabs above to learn more about the offers of a copy of the book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals with either 2 ounces of ginseng seed, 25 one-year old ginseng rootlets, or 10 goldenseal rhizomes.

Did you see the special deals on goldenseal rhizomes and ginseng rootlets that we are offering?

Johnny Crisson is a North Georgia medicinal herb grower who has been attending our workshops and conferences for years. This is his first year selling ginseng rootlets and goldenseal rhizomes. I am excited for him and his new business and he always says what a great resource our book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal, and Other Woodland Medicinals is. So, we have teamed up together to offer special deals on ginseng rootlets + a book or goldenseal rhizomes + a book.

How Scott Persons, Wild-Simulated Ginseng Expert, and I Became Co-authors

Scott Persons is known around the world as THE expert on growing ginseng in the woods. His book, American Ginseng Green Gold is a classic book on the topic.

Scott was good friends with my predecessor in my faculty position at NC State University. That is Dr. Tom Konsler. Tom did research on growing ginseng and some of that work is highlighted in the book. Tom retired in 1987 and I took over his position in 1988. I picked up research and extension responsibilities for ginseng and added other herbs, both medicinal and culinary. Scott and I became acquainted and were on several educational programs together. When it came time for him to revise the book, he asked me to read it over and help edit it. When it came time to revise the book again, he suggested to his publisher, Bright Mountain Books, that they change the format somewhat and include other woodland herbs. Scott approached me about doing that and our book, Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal, and Other Woodland Botanicals, was born.

I will always be grateful to Scott for inviting me to coauthor that book with him. What an opportunity it was for a first time author! He helped me make the transition from being a technical writer to a more personal one fairly easy. The folks at Bright Mountain Books were also incredibly helpful.  After that book was published, it too quickly developed a reputation for being the go-to authorative source for information on growing the most popular forest botanicals used in the medicinal herb industry.

When it came time to revise that book, we had some big decisions to make. Our publisher was retiring and shutting down her business. So we began the search for a new publisher. I was also interested in expanding the book to serve the growing home gardener interest in woodland botanicals. I started approaching publishers that I thought might be interested in our book and was very excited when New Society Publishers in British Columbia said they wanted it. I LOVE their books and their philosophy; they are all about sustainable, green living. What a great fit! And so, the revised, updated expanded version of Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal, and Other Woodland Medicinals was created.

Working with New Society Publishers has been a delight. They have a great team of people to help authors through the long and complicated process of writing, editing, and marketing a book. And they make it fun. So, the book is just out now and Scott and I are both very proud of it. The book is beautiful, the format is easy to read, and it feels good in your hands. It is a big book, over 500 pages, chock full of iniformation on how to grow, harvest, dry, sell, and enjoy these wonderful plants. So, if this topic is of interest to you, pick up a book. You can order one signed by me, Jeanine Davis, right here on this blog. You can order one signed by Scott Persons by contacting him at Tuckasegee Valley Ginseng, P.O. Box 236, Tuckasegee, NC 28783, (828) 293-5189. Some of your local, independent booksellers will carry it, and they all can order it for you. And the big online discount booksellers carry it, too. The suggested retail price for the book is $39.95, but it is available for a WIDE range of prices already. Hope you enjoy it!

My New Book on Ginseng and Goldenseal is Hot Off the Press!

I got so excited when two copies of my new book arrived this morning that I took my first "'selfie" (ever) and just had to share. This has been a long time coming and represents hundreds of hours interviewing, writing, revising, and editing. Writing a book is a labor of love and its almost like holding a new baby when you finally get to pick it up, smell it, and flip through the pages. It is not yet available in stores, so you can still preorder it through the publisher, your local bookstore, or the "big guys" (Amazon and Walmart).

Here's a little about it:

The sudden popularity in wild-harvesting ginseng has increased interest in how to find, grow, and profit from native woodland botanicals. Whereas widespread harvesting of these native plants from our forests can threaten their very existence, the authors of this book promote conservation through cultivation. While there is a great deal of material available -- both in print and on the internet -- that discusses growing ginseng and other woodland botanicals, almost none of it forthrightly assesses profitability and the challenges that may be encountered trying to produce and sell these plants. Forest landowners, if they follow this book and use patience and common sense, can grow many of these native medicinals profitably while preserving and even enhancing their woodlands.

Aspiring herb growers are often attracted first to American ginseng, because it is the most valuable medicinal botanical and because it has a broad, well-established market, which has persisted for over 275 years. Indeed, in the southern part of its range, ginseng has long been referred to as “green gold.” The first half of this book is devoted entirely to this one native plant. An individual can cultivate a forest garden of this fascinating and subtle herb just for his (or her) own consumption, but ginseng also has great potential as a small-scale cash crop with a ready market. With little capital investment, the small farmer can net a greater profit growing ginseng on a rugged, otherwise idle, woodlot than he can net raising just about any other legal crop on an equal area of cleared land. Of course, you have to be willing to take a risk, bend your back, get your hands dirty and  persevere when the payoff is years in the future.

The second half of this book provides practical guidance in the production and marketing of other native woodland herbs that also have the potential to yield “green gold.” Goldenseal and ramps are covered at length and in detail, because their economic potential is well established and reliable information on their propagation is available.  Black cohosh, bloodroot, and ten other lesser known native botanicals are discussed as thoroughly as present knowledge allows, with emphasis on their potential and their uncertainties. Plant botany and usage and present market conditions are addressed in detail. Personal stories of successful growers, extensive references and resources, including a unique Disease List, enhance this book. 

And new to this edition is a section just for home gardeners, information on wild-harvesting, and rules and regulations pertaining to the buying and selling of these plants. It is hoped that this book will help the herb grower to diversify and enjoy a greater variety of woodland medicinal herbs and/or to reduce risk and increase long-term profit potential.

Jeanine Davis is an associate professor and extension specialist with NC State University. Her focus is helping farmers diversify into medicinal herbs, 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.

New Ginseng & Goldenseal Book is Available for Preorder!

I am pleased to announce the newly revised and updated version of our book on ginseng, goldenseal, and other woodland medicinals is now available for pre-order through the publisher and some on-line book retailers. For goldenseal, ramps, and other woodland medicinals, I added a home gardener section with some simple recipes for products to make from the herbs you grow, chapters about wild-harvesting and new regulations affecting the industry, new and updated grower stories, an expanded price list with historical information, and new photographs. Scott revised his ginseng sections and added a chapter on ginseng growing for the home gardener section. This book now provides something for everyone interested in these native woodland plants.

You can preorder the book now directly through the publisher New Society. You can also look for it through your favorite on-line retailer. It was just announced, so that might take a few weeks, although WalMart posted it this week.

My ginseng and goldenseal book is now available as an ebook!

In 2005, wild-simulated ginseng expert, Scott Persons, and I published the book "Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals. It sold out fairly quickly and so we did a minor revision and another printing in 2007. All those copies are gone now, too. Unfortunately, our publisher Cynthia Bright of Bright Mountain Books, is retiring and we have to look for a new publisher. In the meantime, she arranged to have our book released in an ebook version so it is still available (thank you, Cynthia!). You can now download the book to your Nook, Kindle, computer, smartphone, or tablet. Instant gratification!!!  I love it. It is the complete book for only $15.  It is available through the links above and through a number of other online ebook retailers.  Be careful, we have already found two illegal download offerings for pdf versions but Trend Micro gives a "dangerous" warning if you click on the links.

In addition, Scott and I are negotiating with a new publisher to produce an expanded new version of our book. We will update all the information in the current book AND I will add a chapter just for home gardeners. The demand for me to give workshops and presentations to home gardeners has exploded, so it's time to put that information in print. We expect that book to be available in spring 2014.

UPDATE July 2013: Scott and I signed a contract with New Society Publishers in Canada and plan to release the new book next summer.  Until then, the ebook version of the current book is good. There will be some broken links on some URLs, but you can search for updated ones and the prices shown for some herbs will be out of date, but still give you a good idea of what herbs are selling for.

Just Read Reviews on Our Book!

I was ordering the "Raising Chickens for Dummies" book on Amazon.com when I came across the book I coauthored with Scott Persons, entitled "Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal, and Other Woodland Medicinals".  I hadn't looked at that listing since it was first posted a few years ago.  It was fun to read the wonderful reviews written there.  One was brand new.  Nice to know the book is helpful!