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Specialty
Crops
In
addition to our in-depth chapters covering flowers, herbs, mushrooms
and plant nurseries, there are three chapters in Profitable Plants
on high-value specialty crops. They provide all the basic information
you'll need to plant, grow, harvest and sell each crop. Read more about each specialty crop by clicking on the crop listed below, or scroll on down the page to read about all three.
For
thousands of years, bamboo has been an everyday part of Asian culture,providing food, shelter and raw material for everything from garden
fences to flutes. Several varieties of bamboo are grown exclusively
for their edible shoots, producing a yearly harvest of up to ten
tons per acre.
In
North America, bamboo is being re-discovered as a landscaping plant,
and most growers can't keep up with the demand. Bamboo is not just
a tropical plant either -many varieties originated in Japan and
China, where the climate can be just as harsh as New England's.
Landscapers
are using more and more bamboo instead of traditional shrubs. Why?
According to one grower, "You can use bamboo as a hedge, as
a screen, as a specimen plant or as a shade plant. Bamboo keeps
it's green color throughout the winter, and it's easy to grow. Plus,
you can get a big plant quickly, unlike trees that take years to
mature.
In
the chapter seven, Bamboo Bounty, you'll learn
the 35 most popular hardy bamboo varieties, and how to grow and
harvest each one. You'll learn the secrets of container growing,
for pre-potting vigorous bamboo plants that bring top dollar from
landscapers and retail customers (who are willing to pay as much
as $150 for premium plants.
Garlic
is a member of the same family as onions, shallots, leeks and chives.
For thousands of years, garlic has been used for cooking and medicinal
purposes. Recent scientific research has proven many of the historical
claims for garlic's health-giving and medicinal powers. It's chemical
ingredients can fight bacteria, lower cholesterol levels and act
as an organic insecticide.
According
to a Vegetable Crops Specialist at Cornell University, "There's
a booming market out there for fresh local garlic. Those growing
it can sell every clove they prouduce. Elephant garlic, for example,
retails for $6 a pound and produces up to 15,000 pounds per acre."
Garlic
is an ideal crop for the small grower, as it's labor intensive and
almost foolproof. Because it tolerates a wide variety of soils and
weather, it's very hard to lose a crop. For decades, growers have
nicknamed garlic "the mortgage lifter" for that very reason.
Most
small growers use "value-added" techniques to get a higher
price for their garlic, such as garlic braids, and garlic powder.
Francis Pollock, a Pennsylvania grower, has found even more ways
to add value to his garlic crop. In addition to selling bulbs and
braids, he sells "garlic gardens" sized to grow on a windowsill.
He also discovered that the Chinese have long harvested the garlic
greens for seasoning, much like chives, so he now sells greens and
a recipe for garlic greens pesto sauce for $15 a pound in season!
In
chapter three, The Sweet Smell of Success,
you'll learn how to make $2 per square foot growing garlic. You'll find the essential information you'll need - sources for
seed cloves - planting - harvesting - when and how to harvest for
premium bulbs - how to double your prices with value-added products
- and the ten best markets for your garlic.
Often
called "Green Gold", ginseng is an ordinary looking plant
which grows on the shaded forest floor. It's value lies buried in
the slow growing tuberous rootstock.
The
Chinese have valued the root for thousands of years as the most
potent of herbs and as a regenerative tonic. Since it was discovered
in the U.S. almost three hundred years ago, ginseng has been exported
to the Orient. Today, Asians in the Pacific basin buy most of the
American crop.
According
to Dr. Tom Konsler, a professor at North Carolina's Horticultural
Crops Research Station, and an authority on ginseng, "American
ginseng has great potential as a small-scale cash crop. But ginseng
production is not a get-rich-quick scheme. By it's nature, ginseng
requires patience."
Growing
ginseng means duplicating it's native forest environment, and there
are three ways to do this. Most ginseng today is grown under artificial
shade. Another approach, the wild-simulated method, is the easiest,
the least expensive, and the slowest. Prices are much higher, up
to $250 per pound, but your first harvest is at least six years
away.One person can plant an acre a year, even on steep hillsides
and ravines. Because the seeds are scattered and left to grow naturally,
the roots look like wild roots, which bring the highest prices.
The
third method, called "woods-cultivated", requires preparing
growing beds in your woodlands. As with the wild-simulated approach,
the main expense is labor. With just a tiller and hand tools, one
person can plant a small area of 1/8 acre each year for a sustained
income starting in six years.
Until
recently, it's been very difficult for anyone interested in getting
started in ginseng to find reliable information on the practical
growing details. Now, Golden Roots
gives you the start-up information you'll need. In chapter six, you'll
learn about the three methods of growing ginseng, with a special
focus on "woods-cultivated", the best method for most
small growers. Using this method, growers can avoid the high cost
of shade coverings and fungicides. In addition to growing information,
the chapter also includes a resource list for seeds, seedlings, equipment,
and best of all, a list of buyers for your harvested roots.
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