Grant Money Available to Purchase Forest Farming Plants

Hola!

I just sent this message over email to some clients and want to share here as well.

Want to share that Missouri has a newish Forest Farming organization, the Midwest Forest Farming Coalition, started up and they are offering a pretty nice grant. https://www.mwffc.org/

Maybe you've already heard. I've met with Ezra and he asked to help spread the word about the Planting Stock Grant Program. https://www.mwffc.org/planting-stock-access-program

Check out their growing website & social media, and subscribe to the newsletter to stay tuned. 

They will also be providing workshops and educational opportunities throughout the year. I've been to a few now and learned something each time, and met alot of interesting and like-minded folk. MU & Lincoln are producing graduates with research conducted in Missouri and providing us with very useful information.

There is also the Catalyzing Agroforestry grant. https://www.catalyzingagroforestry.org/cagp

Both look to be very helpful ways to improve personal health and getting started to generate a little extra income for the property. I know a few of you will be very interested. The grants are a good offering with the intent to grow the forest farming culture in Missouri.

There can be good money selling forest farmed herbs locally or to large buyers. I can help you learn how to make tinctures or other processing methods to sell directly as a value-added product. 

Whether you get the grant or not, highly recommend you plant a little ginseng every year. It takes 8 years of growth before it can be harvested. As the roots get older they usually get more valuable. Ginseng is graded and the difference in value of the low grade and high grade is huge. Eight year old roots are rarely classed as high-grade.

We have seed sellers in Missouri but we've already passed the planting season, which ends in December. A vendor that I trust is located down at Thayer MO, Ozark Mountain Ginseng, https://www.ozarkmountainginseng.com/ 

The owner Dennis presented at a Forest Farming workshop, showing us on a pre-recorded video his ginseng plots and telling us in detail how he cares for them. By planting a little every year the long-term potential of a property significantly appreciates. And ecological restoration is being conducted restoring these herbs to habitats that they have been eliminated due to over-harvesting.

It's possible some of the endangered bats and declining songbirds eat bugs off the ginseng to get strength so they can tolerate the tons of pesticides dosed into our environment every year. Maybe the ash trees get strength and immunity from the ginseng and could have tolerated the emerald ash borer better. When we lose a single species it has a ripple effect. The same is true in reverse. Restoration has many far reaching benefits. Ginseng no doubt is medicine for more than just humans.

I rely on herbs for health care, making an herbal tea nearly every day that includes ginseng, mullein, echinacea, and others. Elderberry is a go-to for killing virus during cold & flu season. Ginseng works so well that it was over-harvested before we were born. Current prices aren't too bad, here's a vendor selling organic and they're asking $34.50/oz. ($324/pound) for dried root.

https://mountainroseherbs.com/american-ginseng-root?sku=11-00258-55&hsa_ver=3&hsa_acc=5389326775&hsa_mt=e&hsa_src=s&hsa_cam=676289244&hsa_grp=1267738557967831&hsa_tgt=pla-2331033370748231&hsa_kw=&hsa_ad=&hsa_net=adwords&msclkid=479e5d833efe181fd9e63a361b510445

Native Americans and early American citizens relied on it for healthcare. When I first started making tea with ginseng, I had to take alot of days off because it was so powerful and builds day after day. It's been more gentle now with regular consumption. It doesn't affect my sleep like caffeine, providing a good night of rest and feeling refreshed when I wake up. The caffeine drains my adrenals and when I wake up in the morning it can be hard to get going.

I'm currently taking the black cohosh and goldenseal through a tincture. These herbs are powerful and have been life-changing. The ginseng helped to get off coffee, providing a clear mind, unlike the coffee, and subtly energizing to handle all the daily tasks, without feeling like I'm fritzed out like the coffee does. Getting stuff done effortlessly without getting physically or mentally tired. Ginseng is a good herb for men, supporting our prostrate. 

The black cohosh is specifically good for women in menopause. It calms my nerves in a noticeable way. The goldenseal gives me calmness and resilience. 

Growing them on our properties and consuming them grounds us into our land, and connects us with the forest in deep ways. I receive physical, mental, and spiritual benefits, especially when they are from land that I am connected to and worked on. If you are selling let me know so I can purchase from you.

Ezra and company are available to help you work through the grant.

If you need support figuring out what to plant on your property and where, feel free to reach out to. Some of you mentioned it as a goal and your Forest Management Plan identifies good locations.

If you need any other ecological support I'm always available. For those of you wanting to burn we are definitely going to have a condensed burn season this year, if we get to have one at all.

Thanks and hope you're surviving this cold.