Forest Grown Medicinal Plants to Increase Woodlot Income

Project Overview

FNE98-220
Project Type: Farmer
Funds awarded in 1998: $1,545.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/1998
Matching Non-Federal Funds: $2,050.00
Region: Northeast
State: New Hampshire
Project Leader:

Commodities

  • Additional Plants: herbs, ornamentals

Practices

  • Production Systems: general crop production

    Proposal summary:

    Small woodland owners derive little regular income from their properties while providing many benefits to the region: watershed protection, recreation, wildlife habitat and more. If these often family owned parcels are to continue to provide open space for surrounding communities it's important that some regular income- aside from infrequent logging- sources be developed. Our goal is to experiment with trial plantings of three high value medicinal herbs -St. Johnswart, Goldenseal and Ginseng. All three plants are compatible with mixed environments found at a typical Northern New England woodlot.
    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.