Biggest Root of 2007 so far....

Well this is the biggest ginseng root I've found so far this year. Still hoping to do better though. This root is also completely dried in this picture. I found it 3 or 4 weeks ago. It weighs 1 oz. dry.



Happy digging.

Beautiful Day in the Woods

Well today seemed like the first real day of Fall even if it is several days early. It was 60-65 degrees during the 4 or 5 hours I spent in the woods. As far as finding ginseng it was a rather uneventful day. Dug up maybe a dozen roots and spotted a couple dozen more smaller ones. A lot of the area just wasn't that suitable. A couple that I found were 10+ years old but had a very skinny neck and not a very sizable root for their age. But it was still a gorgeous day to be in the woods and it was nice to never break a sweat because of the cooler temperatures.

I took my camera today but didn't see anything worth taking a picture of to be honest. I do have one root I dug a couple of weeks ago I'll take a pic of and put up maybe tonight. It's the biggest one I've found so far this year.

Happy digging.

Man Finds Monster Ginseng Root

Well a few days ago it was reported that a man in Maryland found a whopping 1 pound ginseng root (green). It is said to be over 100 years old. Truly an amazing rare find in this era. They didn't say in the article how many prongs the plant had. I'm assuming a 4-prong since the guy didn't mention it.

Here's a link to the article.

Man Finds 1 Pound Ginseng Root

Happy digging.

Click Here to see the best guide on Wild Ginseng.

Recent Ginseng Root Pics

I'm adding another pic today. These are some nice roots I found recently.
I took the photo about 3 days after I found them except for the root at the top, which had already been drying for 10 days before the photo. So it has lost quite a bit of its size already.

The top (stalk,leaves,etc.) on that particular root was actually all brown and dried up. The stalk, all four prongs, and all the leaves were still there. We had an abnormally late freeze this past spring after a warm spell. It killed most all of the buds and flowers on trees. Apparently, this ginseng plant had popped up fairly early and the freeze got it. I found it in the same grassy (weedy?) area in the woods that I described in my last post. There was also a dead stalk from last year beside this years top so I missed it last year somehow.

I counted the bud scars on the two roots at the lower left and both were right at 20+ years. Not nearly the oldest I've found but not bad. Oh, the object in the center is a quarter.

Here is the photo. Click on it for a slightly larger image.



Happy digging.

Ginseng Pictures 2006

Had to mow the yard today when I got off work so I didn't have time to go digging. Probably won't get to go again until Saturday when I'll spend half the day in the woods.

Anyway here is a picture of most of the ginseng I dug last year after it was dried. The biggest root (highlighted) was a lucky find. It was growing in an area that some kind of woodland grass was growing in. The grass was thick and over knee high. If it wasn't for the large cluster of red berries I would have walked right by it. All of the leaves and most of the prongs were missing (probably eaten by a deer).




More pics to come soon.

Happy Digging.

Welcome to the Ginseng Hunter Blog

Hello and welcome to my blog. I wanted to start a blog about something I have a lot of interest in, so this is it. I will post trip reports about my days hunting ginseng this season, upload some pictures from this year and last, and maybe post some stories I have heard or tell about how I got started (addicted to) 'sang hunting.
I want to keep most of my personal details personal. With that said, I live in central Kentucky and will simply go by GinsengHunter. Following is some information on Kentucky ginseng.

"The wild ginseng trade in Kentucky is a $5 to $8 million industry. Kentucky is the largest supplier of wild ginseng in the United States, averaging approximately 16 percent of the national harvest annually. The average wholesale value of wild ginseng to a root digger varies between $300 and $500 per pound."

The state of Kentucky almost lost its right to export ginseng this year though, after an undercover operation found that many if not most of the licensed dealers were buying the valuable root out of season. You can read more about it here if you like Kentucky faces ginseng export ban

I'll post some photos in a day or two of the roots I dug last season.
Until then,
Happy Hunting