Ginseng and Maple Syrup
Several of the infused maple syrups we make are completely Wisconsin sourced - our ginger comes from Cattail Organics in Athens, WI, our blueberries come from a friend’s farm in Bayfield, WI, and our black garlic is grown and fermented in southern Wisconsin. But none of our products so adequately and uniquely represent Wisconsin as our Ginseng Infused Maple Syrup. Wisconsin is the number one grower of cultivated ginseng (about 95% of US production) and wild ginseng is still harvested in Wisconsin (around 1,000 pounds of dry ginseng annually).
Ginseng is a fascinating plant and I have long had a connection to it. As a kid, I fondly remember long wanders in the early fall woods looking for “shang”. We hiked miles in rolling hills of mixed deciduous forests of sugar maple, oak, basswood, and yellow birch, eyes glued to the forest floor scanning for the multi-pronged, yellowed leaves or brilliant red clumps of berries. The berries were a favorite food of mice and chipmunks so we couldn’t rely on those to help distinguish the plant from the rest of the yellowing foliage. If we spotted one, we’d pull out a digging tool to begin unearthing the root. First we’d examine the top of the root to see how old it was, indicating if it was large enough to dig. Very infrequently did we find roots old enough to allow them to be harvested, but it was exciting when we did. The name “ginseng” is derived from the Chinese term for the plant, “jen-shen”, which means “in the image of a man”, an apt description for the general shape of the root. This makes digging difficult, especially in the dense, often rocky, tree-root-threaded soil where we found the plant. Since intact roots were the most valuable, we took painstaking care to dig out the roots, excavating each appendage that branched off the main root. The ultimate shape and size of the root was concealed until the very end of the digging process when it was finally lifted from the soil.
As enjoyable and exciting as the search and digging of shang was, the stories I heard about shanging were equally entertaining. One prominent shanger in our area was Ray. He grew up in a family that made their living as foragers. One time while he was out searching for ginseng he was chased by a sow black bear until he was trapped in a clump of small trees, his small dog cowering at his feet. He fought off the bear with his ginseng digging tool. He figured the bear mistook his black dog as one of her cubs, coming to its rescue from the human.
I also heard stories of long, adventurous shanging days from my uncle and his father-in-law. Days when they would find dozens of plants or some extra large roots. They had a mental map of exceptional ginseng locations across the county and beyond. One of the largest roots they harvested was preserved in a half-gallon Ball jar of whiskey. Occasionally during deer season that jar appeared and the jar later needed to be topped off to ensure the root stayed preserved.
Unfortunately, the story of ginseng is also one of overexploitation. Its value as a medicinal herb, particularly in Asia, has led to overharvest across North America. High deer populations also impact the population of ginseng as deer eat the ginseng leaves. Wild ginseng is now even harder to find than it was when I went shanging. In Wisconsin, it is still legal to harvest on private lands, but it is protected on most public lands. The price and need for protection of wild ginseng is why we use cultivated ginseng in our maple syrup.
To learn more about Ginseng:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: Ginseng Rare Species Guide
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences Arts & Letters: Wild Wisconsin Ginseng
Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Ginseng: The Man-Root That Has Shaped Mankind
Find Ginseng Infused Maple Syrup in our online store.