Herbculturist

= **Herb Culturist** =

**Job Description:** The term "herbs" has many meanings. The most accepted one is "plants that are not used solely as vegetables or ornaments." Herbs are multiple use plants useful for culinary, cosmetic, industrial, medicinal, landscaping, decorative, and fragrance purposes. Some common herbs are basil, lavender, garlic, red peppers, and mint. An herb culturist will plant, grow, and store many different herbs to sell on a market. Herbs are fairly easy to grow but the process of drying, soaking, freeze-drying, smashing, and chopping may take time depending on what herbs are used. Most herb culturists have a plot of land they designate for each herb to grow in and then it’s just a matter of patience and waiting till they are ready to harvest.

**Education:** The only education needed is what exactly you want to learn. An herb culturist doesn’t need to go into schooling because most of the time they employ only themselves. Competition is intense though in producing and marketing herbs. Producers can range from giant corporations to small hobby gardeners. So the more education and training you have, the better you will be able to understand the process of growing and storing herbs, hence the better you will be as a marketer. To learn more about growing herbs you can easily find books and internet sources to look over.

**Salary:** The start-up (depending on interest) can amount to $7,000 in products. The salary is varied, depending on how much and what the gardener produces. Some herbs will only bring in a dollar a pound while some can bring in as much as $100 a pound. Some culturists were said to have made up to $6,000 a month or $72,000 a year!

**Typical Day:** Most of the time herb growing is a hobby or second career so there really is no set schedule to what you must do to maintain them. Typically, a person will water the plants early in the morning and possibly start weeding or picking. Later, they will need to be watered again and, depending on location, covered up for the night to keep out frost or night animals. Herbs are low maintenance and low upkeep.

**Job Availability:﻿﻿** There is no limit to how many herb culturists there could be. They are their own bosses and usually don’t need to hire anyone to help so there is always job availability. The economy as far as herb income goes is fairly high at the moment so it is a good investment to get into.

**Tools of the Trade:** __Spade:__ For garden prep and keeping the soil turned over. They also are used for planting and replant ing herbs. __Fork:__ Used to lift plants out of soil to prevent damage to the roots. __Garden Rake:__ Make it easy to gather up any rocks or sticks that are in the soil. __Narrow Shovel:__ For digging up plants to divide and transplant them. __Hand Trowel:__ Good for planting new plants and digging up weeds. __Hand Rake:__ Great for cultivating herbs that are tightly spaced. __Hose/Watering Wand/ Watering Can:__ To insure that your plants have plenty of water so as to grow. __Containers:__ These are optional for if you don’t want a huge garden of herbs you can simply plant a few into containers that are filled with quality soil.

**Agencies/Companies Info:** Grass Roots Health Foods- (715) 479-6299 Mustard Seed Natural Foods- (715) 536-7565 The Grainary- (608) 356- 9768

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