October means go-time for any farmer who produces ginseng, which is exactly what my family and I have been doing for this past little while.
Ginseng harvest typically happens in October, and for anyone who is unaware of what this type of harvest consists of, it involves digging up the root of the plant. A large piece of equipment, which we refer to as the digger, goes up and down the bays, or rows of a ginseng garden, unearthing the root in the process. The root is collected, sorted, and eventually sold.
Due to the nature of the crop, the harvest affiliated with ginseng can reveal some pretty neat treasures. Because the root of the ginseng plant lies underground, and it has to be dug up to be collected, there’s always some interesting finds that are unveiled in the process.
Normally, when I help with ginseng harvest, I pick up root. This year, I’m on the actual digger, sorting root as it comes out of the ground, and I’ve come across some pretty neat finds in doing so. Check it out:
I realize it’s difficult to pinpoint what exactly you’re looking at because it’s sort of a jumbled mess, but all of these things were unearthed from one of our fields. There’s bits of pottery, glass, nails, screws, drop pins, bottles and jars, and some cool rocks and stones as well.
To some of you, this may not appeal to you in the slightest. For me, though, all of these things once belonged to someone who may have lived or worked on our farm, and I think it’s incredible to be able to find and collect these things as they present themselves. I’m not sure who they belonged to, or how old they are, but I do know that they’re pieces of the history of our family farm, and I think that’s pretty darn neat.
ontheedgeofeverything 