not many of us left

was saddened to hear about don wolfs passing a few days ago and got me to thinking ......not many root buyers in business anymore......i'm talking about the guys that had diversity ...not just the ginseng/goldenseal/bloodroot buyers..................even sadder , is the increasing absence of guys who could fill them.......culvers root, star grub, indian hemp, indian physic...etc......that's just to name a few...............i'm one of the few that knows easily, over 100 different plants and bark and have at one time or another harvested them. wheather for market or my own use. nobody wants to learn anymore.........

Foxkidd, you should take over the wildcrafting forum. I know ginseng, mayapple , skunk cabbage and that's about it. Would love to learn more. Food for thought.

All outdoor knowledge seems to be on the way out. I urge everyone on this forum to take a kid out and teach them something new about our great outdoors. I too could use some more education in the knowledge of roots and herbs.

Skunk cabbage has a value? I know where there's truckloads of it

grew up knowing/collecting roots etc. but it's been a long long time since I thought the money was worth the effort; I'm kinda amazed that any root buyers can find enough wildcrafters to keep them in business.

Best part of being outdoors is being able to identify plants and animals. Always trying to learn more. I collect seeds from various species of plants and sell them yearly. Been doing it about 5 years, and I learn a few new species each year.

One year I hit the demand and price and made a lot of money. Some years the orders fill up fast and the market is not there. Hit or miss.

I would love to learn more about wild herbs and roots. While a very outdoor family, we were never taught about things other than the berry vines, and the nut trees.

Mike

The reason it is lost is because you can download an app, take a picture of the plant an it will tell you what it is. No studying, “unnecessary” walks through the forest or dealing with bugs.

absoloutly........
these guys might be interested...https://americanbotanicals.com/information-for-collectors/

There's a big buyer up in Ky. my brother in law works for off and on, seems to be a huge operation just from talking to him.

I will miss Don as well.We lost a man with a great deal of knowledge.I had a couple young guys go out to Ohio last fall looking for some deer sign with me and I had more fun showing the one what ginseng looked like.He sure liked looking for it but he just couldn`t get dialed in.Hope to dig some this year with him.

The thing is that you can make a whole lot more by getting a part time job than you will with most of the roots.

mike, I was actually asked at one time to be a mod there........I just simply did not have the time. andi kind of, sort of, was responsible for the birth of the forum......I took it upon myself to take my camera and snap off pics of medicinal plants and such.....i'd have pics of the plants, roots and how to properly prepare them. after that,,,,it was suggested we have a wildcrafting forum.

Sad news about don . In my trying times I lost the good friend dick bope. I put up fur for him for years.he was the last fur buyer in the county. No more stories of the old days of coon hunting and other buyers and trappers. He was in the mid. 80s and the covit 19 got him .I sure miss him.