How to Grade and Cut Ginseng

Famous throughout China and Korea, ginseng is an ancient herb known for its ability to improve circulation, natural rejuvenation and virility. Although natural health practitioners often prescribe it to treat common ailments, such as colds and coughs, as well as more advanced issues, such as diabetes and rheumatism, you can harvest your own ginseng. You just need to know how to select the best ginseng in the crop, how to cut it and how to rate it.

Things You'll Need

• Mature ginseng plants (in your garden or in the wild)
• Digging fork or trowel
• Small paper bags
• Pen

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Instructions

• 1

  Clear out the space immediately around the ginseng plant with a digging fork or trowel. Start digging 6 inches from the stem and keep going down until you see the main root. Dig completely around and under the root until you have loosened it from the soil. Clear the soil off of the plant and set it aside. Keep digging up whole, mature plants until you have the quantity that you need or want.

• 2

  Sort the ginseng according to how it smells. The stronger smelling ones are the more valuable ones. Set up at least three levels from the ones with the strongest aromas to the ones with the weakest aromas: strong, medium and weak.

• 3

  Weigh each plant and sort according to weight within each group. Make a complete list of how much each root weighs for each group. As you sort through the piles, note which ones have softer skins and which ones have harder skins. Set the ones with softer skins in a separate pile for each category of aroma.

• 4

  Make sure you have six separate piles of ginseng plants. You should have one with strong aroma and soft skin, one with strong aroma and harder skin, one with medium aroma and soft skin, one with medium aroma and hard skin, one with weak aroma and soft skin, and one with weak aroma and hard skin.

• 5

  Slice a small piece off of the root of each plant. Within each of the six categories, divide the pile into those plants that are easy to cut and those that are harder to cut. Place each pile in a bag and label what category of ginseng it is on the outside. You're now ready to take your ginseng to the market to sell.