Ginseng farming.

InTheTrees

Its a difficult to grow root that requires/prefers shaded woodland, but its grown all over the world.
The chinese have the "commercially" grown market wrapped up but the "Wild" variety still can fetch up to $400/lb according to this article.

They're growing it in eastern canada which is a very similar climate, I wonder if anyone has tried this in Ireland. My sister in Galway has 50 acres of woods on her farm that could fit the criteria.


To grow wild simulated ginseng, the first step is site selection. The most favorable temperature and soil moisture conditions generally are associated with north or east facing slopes with at least a 75 percent shade canopy. That is dense shade. The best shade is provided by deep rooted, deciduous trees such as Yellow poplars and oaks. Ginseng grows best in a moist, well drained soil. That is almost a contradiction of terms but these soils do exist. Successful growth of ginseng most often occurs in sites where other herbaceous woodland plants are growing. Plants that indicate a good place to grow ginseng include Jack-in-the pulpit, bloodroot, Solomon's seal, jewel weed, galax, trillium, wild yam, hepatica, Black cohosh, wild ginger and ferns. In certain soils ginseng even grows well in association with poison ivy. Excellent soil drainage is essential. A swampy soil or a heavy clay soil must be avoided.

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/354/354-312/354-312.html

johnstown

A guy not far from us tried it about 10 years ago. He went out to Canada for a while to learn the ropes. Huge investment.. Very specialialist. The crop was grown under a something akin to a temporary plastic greenhouse. Cost a fortune. A storm came and wrecked the entire project.which ended up as a complete disaster.

InTheTrees

johnstown wrote: »

A guy not far from us tried it about 10 years ago. He went out to Canada for a while to learn the ropes. Huge investment.. Very specialialist. The crop was grown under a something akin to a temporary plastic greenhouse. Cost a fortune. A storm came and wrecked the entire project.which ended up as a complete disaster.

Ouch.

On the other hand that could be encouraging. He did his research and found out that it is possible to grow in Ireland. The variety grown under artificial shade gets a far lower price though thanks to the Chinese and their tough plastic sheeting (and less wind!).

The "wild" variety gets huge prices though in the boutique restaurants of Seoul and Tokyo and it requires woodland to thrive. And thankfully the Chinese havent managed to fake a deciduous forest yet. Although I expect they're actively trying!

We're in the middle of a rhodedhendron removal scheme so we cant do anything with the woods for another few years so I have time to do some more research.

Conmaicne Mara

I would give it a go if I had any hardwood woods, but we're as deforested as China in my part of the world. I have read a little over the past while and I would be wary of counting chickens before the eggs hatch to be honest. Disease, root quality, and a fickle market would seem to be the big barriers for you to over come in the simulated wild market. I wouldn't even consider the "farmed" version due to set up costs and low relative return on investment.