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CULTIVATING MEDICINAL
AND CULINARY HERBS
Article by herbalist Dave
Hawkins, MH, CNC
With the growth
of the herbal and natural products industry over the last
few years, cultivating
medicinal and culinary herbs has
become an important opportunity for landowners and farmers
to consider. Herbal product sales have
had phenomenal growth in the last two to three years,
especially in the mass-market sector.
This article will address the economic potential for the
cultivation of herbals, as well as some of the problems the
tremendous growth has created. We will
also look at the issues of conservation, quality, and
monocropping, and legal issues
regarding harvesting.
Having worked
in the herbal industry for more than 25 years as an
herbalist, producer of an herbal product line, and
clinician, I have seen a lot of changes.
I am happy that so many folks are interested in
medicinal herbs now, but I am also concerned about the
plants.
Over harvesting of certain herbs is a real problem.
The American
Herbal Products Association’s (AHPA) recent annual tonnage
report presents the findings of the second annual survey of
wild and cultivated harvests of specific North American
herbs used by its members. The herbs
surveyed in the AHPA report include, among others,
goldenseal, Echinacea, black cohosh,
cascara, sagrada,
osha root, saw palmetto berry,
slippery elm bark, and wild yam root.
The report reveals the volume of each herb harvested and
the environmental impacts upon particular herbs.
According to the report, goldenseal and ginseng, for
example, are being over-harvested and are endangered.
The report also gives some insight into which herbs
can be grown for trade.
Let’s look at
the tonnage of two herbs included in the report.
Goldenseal dried from wild populations was recorded
at 91,000 pounds, a reduction from the previous year of
256,000 pounds. Cultivated goldenseal
weighed in at over 47,000 pounds, up seven percent from the
previous year. According to the report,
148,000 pounds of black cohosh
were harvested; the previous year 61,000 pounds were
harvested.
This report documents
impacts by members of this organization only, not by the
entire herb market. If most of these
plants are taken from the wild, what implications does this
have for their future growth? When you
consider the full impact of taking so many plants without
replenishing them, you can see the cause for concern.
Remember
one thing: as more people grow specific
herbs, prices will go down as volumes go up.
The most popular herbs are not always the ones to
grow. As demand goes up, supply goes up
if the material is available. If the
material is not available, the price goes up accordingly.
United Plant Savers (www.plantsavers.org)
has lists of herbs that are either endangered or at risk.
From this information you may gain insight into
which herbs to cultivate. I would also
research the demand for the herb and how long it takes to
bring it to market. Many herbs need
years to grow before they can be harvested.
For example, goldenseal must grow four to seven
years before if can be harvested.
I find it
interesting that in Europe,
where medicinal herbs have been used for centuries, the
agricultural community grows herbs for trade.
We can use their approach as a model.
Growing herbs can be a great sideline to other
farming practices. One thing to
remember is the importance of growing organically.
Most manufacturers of medicinal plants do not want
chemicals in their product.
The
following botanicals are considered at this time to be good
crops: Valerian root, gingko
biloba, hawthorn,
vitex, skullcap, meadowsweet,
boneset, marshmallow, astragalus,
wild indigo, arnica, and burdock. I also want to stress the
importance of not monocropping.
It is better to be diverse in your selection of
plants. It is a good idea to group
plants that grow together naturally in the same habitat.
Remember, they grow in families.
The last issue
I want to discuss is poaching. I have
heard numerous reports of people having their ginseng or
goldenseal patches pilfered just when they were ready to
harvest. What can be done about this?
If you can catch the poachers, how can they be
prosecuted?
These are questions that
need to be addressed. Why would anyone
want to plant something of value only to have it ripped off
when it is harvestable? We need laws to
address this problem and dissuade poachers from coming onto
our lands. I don’t have the solution,
but feel that more discussion of this problem is required.
As for
other resources for beginning herb cultivation, in addition
to the United Plant Savers web site, I recommend
Planting The Future
by Rosemary Gladstar.
This book discusses land stewardship, habitat
protection, and sustainable cultivation.
It also offers other resources for seeds and other
supplies you might need.
The
National
Center for the Preservation of
Medicinal Herbs, located in southeast
Ohio, is another good resource.
They offer workshops, and members have access to the
staff to ask questions and obtain other information.
Visit the center’s Web site at
www.ncpmh.org/frames2.html
or call (740) 742-4401.
Finally,
the West Virginia Herb Association (WVHA) is another
organization that can help you get started.
As the current president, I hope to help organize an
herb growers network.
We are just beginning this project, which we hope
will help supply our members, many of whom are organic
growers and small manufacturers that use botanicals, with
the necessary raw materials. Be sure to
check out the WVHA web site at
www.wvherb.org or call me
at (304) 428-1024.
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