100 Days of Ginseng
~ STEWARDSHIP COUNTDOWN 2022 ~
Welcome to 100 Days of Ginseng: Stewardship Countdown 2022
Thank you to all who helped make 2020 a year of education and stewardship!
Please feel free to follow along with the past countdowns on Instagram, read through
the resources on this website, and share with those who might be interested in wild
American ginseng!
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I look forward to bringing this back next year, but in the mean time, please visit
WildAmericanGinseng.org to learn more about American ginseng biology,
threats, stewardship and conservation!
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Long live American ginseng,
Sara
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Though ginseng season starts on September 1st, in most states,
there are many ways to have an impact all year.
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Please share and help to plant the seeds of ginseng education and stewardship!
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If you interact with ginseng plants, learn more about becoming a good steward and plant every seed!
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If you dig ginseng, learn about the local laws and how to minimize the impact of your harvest by using the principles of good stewardship and ethical harvest. ​
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If you don't interact with ginseng, you can still help by supporting businesses who sustainably source slow growing, at-risk botanicals like ginseng, goldenseal, black cohosh and blue cohosh.
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You can also support groups who educate folks about stewardship, promote ethical harvest and support forest farmers who sustainably grow and forest farm American Ginseng.
About 100 Days of Ginseng
The vision of 100 Days of Ginseng: Stewardship Countdown is to bring folks together to explore ginseng biology, history, culture and stewardship. By sharing resources and references, while highlighting the larger ginseng community and the many efforts to preserve it, this educational campaign aims to encourage curiosity and broad interest in this remarkable and valuable species, giving everyone a reason to help be a part of conserving wild American ginseng for the future.
Ginseng Education and Awareness
Starting with wild American ginseng's habitat, slow life cycle and biology, research paints an intricate picture of a unique species that relies on its environment, as it is a plant that can be slower than most, to adapt to changes and challenges. Learn about wild American ginseng biology.
Moving on to history, uses and culture brings us up to date with American ginseng's present status of the premier wild harvested medicinal herb in North America; even increasing market demand, and how that poses a major threat to the future of this species. Read about ginseng's legendary history.
Learning about the current status of American ginseng in your state/location (and in Canada and Asia) as well as the seasons, laws and regulations helps to see what is currently happening with this species, paints a bigger picture of wild American Ginseng's future. Learn about the laws in your state.
Finally, learning about ways to conserve, steward, grow and support those who do, makes an impact, whether you work directly with the plant, or not. Learn more about ginseng stewardship and cultivation.
Good Stewardship
Good stewardship starts with you and is crucial to the future of Wild American Ginseng. While the laws address what is legal and what is not, and sets in place a regulated basis for stewardship, true stewardship goes beyond the laws. It is a way of interacting with smaller populations of ginseng in order to have a positive impact and to help ensure the next generation of wild American ginseng.
Good stewardship is something that anyone can do at any time. Things like counting the generations of ginseng in a group, keeping track of how many seeds were planted each season, noting natural elements like deer and weather, learning and observing the plant's intricate life-cycle, and other means of conservation are just a few ways to be a good steward! The best thing you can do for wild American ginseng populations is to carefully hand plant the seeds in a well spaced area around the mature plant, at a 2cm depth.
Ethical Harvest
Using the principals of good stewardship, ethical harvest can be a way to harvest wild American ginseng and other woodland botanicals like it while minimizing the impact on a specific plant population. It is very important to selectively harvest only the oldest plants (allowing for the rest to mature and continue seeding), and ensuring future generation by carefully hand planting every seed, well spaced at a 2cm depth.
Conservation through Cultivation
Conservation through Cultivation is important to the future of ginseng because instead of harvesting wild populations, it is possible to intentionally and sustainably grow ginseng. Field-grown, forest-grown, and wild-simulated are three ways to grow ginseng.
Conservation through Protection
Many places like parks and public lands, nature reserves, private property as well as State Parksand National Forests forbid the harvest of Wild American Ginseng. These protected places notonly preserve nature for all to enjoy but also serve as an important place for rare species likewild American ginseng.
Conscious Consumerism
For those who use ginseng as a tonic herb, medicine, or in products, it is important to learn a bit about the company who makes it and how they source their ginseng (and other at-risk botanicals). Supporting "sustainably sourced", "forest farmed" or "ethically harvested" practices does a world of good for everyone: for the consumer getting a good product, the company or herbalist making the products, the person growing or harvesting, right on down to the plants and every little seed that means so much to the future of that plant. If a plant is important and valuable enough to doall of that, it's important enough to steward for the future.
American Ginseng - Further Reading
2nd edition available
Autumn 2022
The Ginseng Community
There are some great groups out there dedicated to stewardship and spreading the word
about planting seeds and helping newcomers to the ginseng world, or help experienced folk pass on this important knowledge.
~United Plant Savers~
UpS is devoted to the conservation of at-risk botanicals like Wild American Ginseng.
American Ginseng (an in-depth assessment page),
Forest Grown Verified Program (for growers of ginseng and other medicinals)
The Forest Farmers Handbook
The Future of Ginseng & Forest Botanicals: Symposium Proceedings (2017)
~Appalachian Beginning Forest Farmer Coalition~
ABFFC is a growing community of forest farmers, nonprofits, universities, educators and technical service providers that are dedicated growing opportunities beneath the canopy.
ABFFC's website contains many resources dedicated to Forest Farming and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) like forest farmed and wild-simulated ginseng, ginseng cultivation, and other upcoming projects and initiatives.
Ginseng Websites & Online Resources
Videos & Webinars
COMING SOON
Video Channels
Papers & Research
Printable Resources
Other At-Risk Botanicals
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The vision of 100 Days of Ginseng: Stewardship Countdown is to bring folks together to explore ginseng biology, history, culture and stewardship. By sharing resources and further reading, while highlighting the larger ginseng community and the many efforts to preserve the species, this educational campaign aims to encourage curiosity and broad interest in this remarkable and valuable plant, and help to give everyone a reason to be a part of conserving wild American ginseng for the future.