And Ginseng root!
Over the weekend I just happened on some show on the History Channel called 'Appalachian Outlaws'. I watched it for about 20-minutes and this episode dealt with harvesting Ginseng root. Apparently it is going for about $1000.00 (
) a pound (that is not a typo ...one-grand for a pound). Of course with this type of value, there is a lot of poaching going on in other's people's harvest sites.
Myself not knowing anything abut Ginseng I had to investigate whether any of this was accurate. It seems to be so. And from this investigation I find that Wisconsin USA, particularly Marathon County, produces about 95% of American Ginseng.
I believe the reason for such a high value is that this root is known for its medicinal values, and was over-harvested in the 70's.
Go Wisconsin. I always liked visiting there.