From the Wisconsin State Journal, by Jessica Lim Siao Jing
Thriving in well-drained, shady and humus-rich soils, the American ginseng has been prized for its medicinal value for thousands of years.
In the 18th century, Native Americans used the roots of the dark green plant to treat coughs, headaches, rheumatism and fevers and the Chinese believe it has aphrodisiac qualities.
Today, the American ginseng, or Panax quinquefolium, an alternative to its invigorating Asian cousin, is believed to alleviate stress, improve one's love life and enhance the immune system.
The benefits of ginseng can be boiled down to one word: ginsenocides, the active ingredient in ginseng that gives you a natural energy boost without turning you into a bundle of nerves. All true ginseng roots contain ginsenocides, which vary dramatically depending on the type of ginseng and the age of the root when harvested. The higher the amount of ginsenocides, the more potent and expensive a root is.
And ginseng can be expensive, not just for its attributes but because it is so difficult to grow. Ginseng's growing period lasts about five years. The ginseng seeds have to be stratified - removed from its red, pulp exterior, washed and buried in the sand for a year - before being replanted for four years.
The average American ginseng costs about $20 for 4 ounces and wild ginseng can cost more than $400 a pound. Seemingly bizarre, this does not appear so absurd a price considering that the oriental variety is internationally protected and close to extinction because of over-picking.
Viewed in similarly high esteem is the American wild ginseng. Poaching of wild ginseng is such a problem in the United States that growers have taken to security-tagging their roots using microchip implants. A few poachers have received jail sentences for looting ginseng fields.
The rolling hills of Wausau, along with its loamy soil, cold winters and cool summers, are ideal for growing ginseng. That is why 95 percent of the nation's ginseng is cultivated in Wisconsin, by approximately 1,200 growers.
One of these growers realized his dream to grow ginseng about 30 years ago.
After sending samples of American ginseng to his ailing mother in Taiwan, and convinced they were the reason for her recovery from illness, Paul Hsu, 62, made the plant his life.
"After giving birth to 14 children, my mother was diabetic, had arthritis and could hardly walk," said Hsu. "After I sent her 2 pounds of ginseng, my father called to tell me that she was eating three bowls of rice. In the past she could hardly finish one. When I visited home five years later, I saw a vast improvement in her health. From then on, I became a believer."
Hsu did much more than just believe. He packed his bags, resigned from his job as a social worker for the state of Wisconsin, moved to Wausau, and became a grower.
For him, life as a ginseng farmer began in the summer of 1972.
It was not a story of instant success, but of months of back- breaking work. Hoe in hand, Hsu worked 14 hours a day, bent over half an acre of land, weeding, spraying and shading in preparation for the actual sowing. When fall arrived, Hsu patted straw mulch over the soil (to drain excess water and protect the plants from pests) and dropped each seed in by hand. Thinking that the arduous work was over, he sat back, fingers crossed in anticipation, waiting to see his toils sprout into bars of green gold. Instead, he reaped a field of wiggling slugs.
"The straw was not thick enough," said Hsu. "So slugs got into the garden and ate half of my seeds. At that time, seeds were $75 per pound. Thirty years ago, that was today's equivalent of about $200. It really hurt."
Refusing to give in, Hsu pulled up his socks, re-weeded the garden and planted the remaining seeds. He attributes his determination to the way he was brought up.
"We were so poor when I was young," said Hsu. "I didn't even wear shoes before I was 13. We had hardly three meals a day. I was persistent to succeed and I am used to hard work."
Taking 10 years to break even, Hsu, the owner of today's Hsu Enterprises, now manages 1,000 acres of land and sales offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia. He also owns grading houses in China.
Hsu hires 12 people full time to do most of the field work. During the harvest season in early fall, he hires about a hundred more to pick up the ginseng roots that have been unearthed by machinery. The roots are washed, dried and whisked off to a cooling house for storage until it's sold.
Wisconsin ginseng can be purchased in a variety of forms - capsule, slices, fiber - online at hsuginseng.com or wisfinest.com. or in root or beverage form at Yue-Wah Oriental Foods and Asian Midway Foods on South Park Street. It costs $22.50 for 4 ounces of long root ginseng, $12.50 for 4 ounces of short root ginseng and $5.25 for 20 tea bags.
How does one consume ginseng?
One way is to prepare a tea infusion.
Bring 24 ounces of water to boil, then add about 1 ounce of sliced ginseng root. Simmer under low flame for about half an hour. Allow the tea to cool to room temperature.
Another is to soften the roots in a microwave (being careful not to scorch them), slice them and eat them dipped in honey.
