Ginseng Season Book Sale: Our New Book on How to Grow Ginseng & Other Valuable Herbs-Signed by Both Authors

 

Seems like everyone has ginseng fever right now! The wild-harvest season opens on September 1st and if everyone who says they are going to hunt ginseng actually does it, there won't be any left for next year! So, please, only dig the big ones. Leave the young ones to grow, set fruit, and scatter seed. And then consider growing your own wild-simulated ginseng. It will take some time, but you can grow wild-simulated that looks just like wild.

To encourage those of you who might never have thought of growing it before, I am offering a limited time Ginseng Season Offer on our newly revised book. My coauthor, Scott Persons, is the undisputed authority on growing wild-simulated ginseng. The first 178 pages of this book are devoted to ginseng. All about its history, use, trade, and cultivation. There are plenty of resources included to help you find seed, buyers, equipment, and consultants. The rest of the 508 pages of this book are mine and devoted to growing thirteen other woodland herbs that are bought and sold about this time of year. Ramps and galax are included, too.

The special offer is:

$39.00 (plus tax for NC addresses) 

includes free shipping: 2nd Day Priority Mail (padded envelope).

The first ten copies sold will be SIGNED BY BOTH AUTHORS*.

  Once those are sold, copies with the lead author signature only will be shipped.

THIS OFFER IS ONLY GOOD THROUGH MIDNIGHT ON SEPTEMBER 6.

TO ORDER, SELECT THE GINSENG SEASON SALE BUTTON ON THE RIGHT

*As soon as the ten copies with both signatures are sold I will post it at the top of this page. But if a bunch of orders come in at once, I will process them in the order they arrive. If you purchase this special, you do so with the understanding that the copy you order might only have one signature.

Both Scott and I are frequent speakers at ginseng and herb events around the country, so if you are not the recipient of a two-signature book, there will be many opportunities to gather the second signature at another time.

My Daughter is a Mural Artist!

Okay, I just have to brag a little bit. My daughter, Shannon Davis, is an artist trying to figure out how to make a living from her craft. She surprised me this summer when she told me she was contracted to do a mural for Tire Country of Hendersonville. I didn't know she knew how to do murals! With her experience working on set designs for school plays, some advice from my cousin who is a mural artist, and lots of natural talent, look what she accomplished! If you are interested in talking to her about a job, please use the contact form to the right. She doesn't have her website up and running yet.

Okay. Proud momma brag is over.

Do I Ever Speak in the Piedmont of North Carolina?

Several people asked me this week if I ever come down out of the mountains and give presentations or workshops in the piedmont region of North Carolina. Well, of course I do! Actually, I will be in Winston-Salem next Thursday at the Piedmont Farm School Summit giving a hour and a half presentation in the morning on Hops, Herbs, and More. It is a fun presentation! To get more information and register for the Summit go to the EventBrite Registration Page. This event is put on by the Cooperative Extension Service.

In September I will be speaking at Duke Gardens in Durham; an evening lecture and a day long workshop. Details and registration information for those events can be found on my speaking engagements page (see tab at top of this page).

If you would like me to come speak in your area, just contact me and we will see what we can arrange. I speak on a wide range of topics and really enjoy offering hands-on workshops. Popular presentations right now are growing woodland medicinals, growing stevia-the natural sweetener, growing and using luffa sponge gourds, growing hops for fun or profit, growing heirloom tomatoes, and growing garlic. These presentations can be combined with hands-on workshops to propagate herbs, make dream pillows, make herbal tea packages, make luffa soap, or make stevia sweetened chocolate. Small-group discussion sessions are also of interest to some groups with the most popular topics being starting a small homestead and how did you get that job: doing something that is meaningful to you. Depending on the circumstances, I will be representing NC State University or Our Tiny Farm. It just depends.

Don't let the mini-donkeys get bored

Little Man, our old Tennessee Walker, this spring.

We have had an interesting time with our mini-donkeys in recent weeks. As I've explained before, these little ones want daily attention and affection and love to be played with and talked to. I was gone from the farm for eight days attending conferences in Valle Crucis, NC and Orlando, FL. My family take very good care of all the animals when I am gone, but they don't always have the time or inclination to inteact with the mini-donkeys the way I do. One morning it was raining hard and was just down right unpleasant outside. We went out to quickly feed our old horse (he can't get by on just grass anymmore). We did not give the donkeys much affection and we could tell they weren't happy about it. Well, several hours later my daughter's boyfriend looked out the window and asked "What happened to Little Man's tail?". Apparently, the mini-donkeys had been bored and frustrated and trimmed the horse's tail!

Little Man after the mini-donkeys dined on his tail!

Thank goodness they didn't eat the tail of the horse we board! So now I am very concerned that the donkeys get adequate attention daily and have many toys in the pasture to play with. I have also treated both horses' tails with Dawn dish soap (recommended by our vet) and may put some "No-Chew" on the boarding horse's tail. As you can see, it is always something new to keep us on our toes at Our Tiny Farm.

Meadow and Chester playing with the big Jolly Ball.

Chester and Meadow with their new mini-Jolly Ball.

Rainy Afternoon in the Kitchen on Our Tiny Farm

This time of year it can be difficult to find time to spend in the kitchen, but it is a rainy afternoon and I am working on on the computer trying to sell my book (spent too much time on that baby not to make at least a little money from it!), so it is a good time to make some Our Tiny Farm staples. First I got a batch of yogurt fermenting. My dear daughter eats my fresh yogurt every day. This evening I'll start a batch of Greek yogurt, too.

Commercial gluten-free bread is just too expensive to always have on hand, so I started a loaf of mine own using Pamela's Baking mix that I buy in bulk. Looking forward to smelling it baking.

We dug some potatoes the other day, so for dinner I'm planning to make a Spanish Tortilla with them and some fresh green onions. Last night hubby made a wonderful stew using our own pasture raised beef and potatoes. It was heavenly. Few things better than cooking wholesome food for your family using fresh ingredients that you raised yourself. We are so blessed.

 

And this is what that Spanish Tortilla looked like. It is potatoes, onions, and sweet banana peppers sauted in oil and cooked covered until the potatoes are tender. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Then topped with eight beaten eggs and cooked covered until the eggs are set. Served with sour cream and salsa.

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!

Fourth of July was a Beautiful Day on Our Tiny Farm

We had a beautiful summer morning today! Brilliant blue sky; cool temperatures; light breeze; and dry air. It has been so humid lately; the dry air felt heavenly. It was a good morning to spend outside with the animals as we prepped for the evening festivities. Fourth of July means lots of fireworks and gunshots once it gets dark. Since we never know how the animals will respond, we take down all the portable fencing, remove the donkey toys, and take out the partition in the barn. That way, if the animals run around wildly at night, hopefully there is nothing out there for them to get hurt on.

A couple was driving by in their car today and they stopped to look at the horses and donkeys. I could overhear them from across the field. The woman was talking about the masks the animals were wearing. She was concerned that they couldn't see at all and wondered why the owners would blind their animals that way. She asked the driver if the masks were to stop them from running away or something. I wish I could have talked to them. I would have explained that those are fly masks. They keep the flies and gnats out of the animals eyes and ears. Without them, the donkeys and horses ears would be full of scabs from hundreds of bites and there would be flies gathered all around their eyes. Our animals actually like wearing their masks and they can see just fine through them; I've tested it myself. We do take them off at night and when it is raining heavily.

This is the first garlic that we have harvested from the market garden. It looks great! Hope the rest of the crop is as big and healthy looking. We have always grown beautiful garlic on this little farm. Maintaining healthy soil and following long crop rotations are key. We will finish harvesting over the next week and then it will cure for about six weeks in one of our open sheds.

We also pulled off a nice early honey crop. We will not have as much honey for sale as we usually do because we are still recovering from all the hives we have lost over the past two years. This colony collapse disorder is frightening. One day the hive looks healthy and active and the next day the bees are just gone.

We also harvested our first eggplants; fried them up in olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper for dinner tonight. Also had fresh snap peas. Yum. We aren't growing eggplant or snap peas for sale this year, but other farmers at the Mills River Farmers Market are, so check them out tomorrow. We aren't selling on the market yet; it will be late summer before we are there with garlic, honey, and popcorn. In the meantime, I will visit the market to buy berries, lettuce, and other crops we aren't growing. Hope to see you there.