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Ginseng Education

Good Stewardship

Ethical Harvest

Conservation through Cultivation

Conservation through Protection

Conscious Consumerism

Resources

Education

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. 

Stewardship

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. 
 

Ethical Harvest

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. 
 

Cultivation
Protection

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.
 

Consumerism

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. 
 

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