The 5th Annual Catskill Mountain Ginseng/Medicinal Herb Festival!

The 5th annual Catskill Mountain Ginseng/Medicinal Herb Festival will be held October 8th 2006 at the Historic Catskill Point in the village of Catskill in Greene County NY from 10 AM until 5 PM, rain or shine. The Catskill Point is located right on the beautiful Hudson River just about 100 miles north of NY City and 30 miles south of Albany NY. It is easily reached via the NYS Thruway Exit 21, Catskill. For directions or lodging information contact Linda Overbaugh at the Heart of Catskill Association at mailto:HOCA@mhonline.net HOCA@mhonline.net or call (518) 943-0989. Rebecca Wood shares her knowledge with us. This year we are proud to announce that our keynote speaker will be Scott Persons, author of “American Ginseng Green Gold” and the recently published “Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and other Woodland Medicinals” ISBN; 0-914875-42-6 (with co author Dr Jeanine Davis from North Carolina State University). This new book is the most comprehensive and scholarly textbook on the culture of woodland medicinal plants written to date. In addition to signing his books and talking with festival attendees, Scott will speak on “The International Culture of American Ginseng” at 1 PM and will relate his experiences with ginseng growing internationally as well as the United States. Scott will not be the only author speaking and signing books this year as we will be joined by David Taylor, author of the just published book “Ginseng, the Divine Root” ISBN 1-56512-401-4 . David will speak at 11 AM on “The History of the Ginseng Trade in North America” and will autograph copies of his book also. Other featured speakers include Andy Hankins, Alternative Agriculture Specialist for the State of Virginia, Cooperative Extension. Andy will conduct a shiitake mushroom planting demonstration using several different types of spawn at 2 PM. At noon, Bob Beyfuss, American Ginseng Specialist for Cornell University Cooperative Extension will present a power point presentation on “Growing Ginseng in Your Woodlot”. Bob will also discuss the latest rules and regulations regarding the harvest of wild American ginseng. There will be other educational lectures on topics related to Herbal medicine as well as demonstrations of making herbal vinegars and other activities throughout the day. Of course no festival is complete without food and music and we will feature both all day long as well as free samples of Catskill Mountain ginseng tea with flavoring honey donated by the Catskill Mountain Beekeepers. Other vendors will be on hand selling all sorts of herbal products, gourmet mushrooms, honey, maple products, crafts and other related items. There will be both dried and fresh ginseng roots to buy as well as ginseng seeds and roots just in time for fall planting. This is perhaps the best opportunity one person could have to learn about ginseng and actually bring home some seeds and or roots to get started growing or using this truly unique, Native American Wildflower. The Catskill Mountain Ginseng/Medicinal Herb Festival is sponsored by the Heart Of Catskill Association and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County. For more information on the educational program call Bob Beyfuss at (518) 622-9820 or email at mailto:rlb14@cornell.edu rlb14@cornell.edu . For information on vendors (there are still vendor openings available), nearby lodging or directions contact Linda at (518) 943-0989 or mailto:HOCA@mhonline.net HOCA@mhonline.net .