Selling Wild Plants Growing on My Property
Answered by: Richard Alan Miller
Question from: Ric
Posted on: July 19, 2001

I would like to know how to get started selling medicine plants and herbs that grow wild and in abundance on my property.

Foraging wild plants for the marketplace is a time-honored tradition for rural families wanting to supplement their rural incomes. I have written two books on this subject, including Native Plants of Commercial Importance and The Potential of Herbs As A Cash Crop. Both can be purchased from Richters. The publisher is Acres, USA in Austin, Texas.

The book Native Plants of Commercial Importance contains 50 chapters on specific botanicals, separated by Regions, including their harvest, market depth and price, and who might purchase each. The Potential of Herbs book also contains more than 200 names and addresses of specific buyers throughout the world. The former book will have sequel in print next year titled Forest Farming.

The floral trade has just begun to want "native grasses," and numerous other plants which have had some form of "value added" component. This would include preserved and dyed Salal, Boxwood, Aspen, and various Oaks and Evergreens. This allows "off the shelf" year-round marketing, rather than narrow windows during specific holidays.

I cover marketing options and techniques at workshops I give in Canada and the United States.

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