Morel picker talks learning curve
Harvesting hard and dirty work, says novice mushroom hunter
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Friday, June 12, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Jess Hiebert has no idea what day it is. Chatting with Yellowknifer after a two-week stint hunting mushrooms outside Fort Providence, the former Yellowknife resident says you just lose track of time out there.
Hiebert is just one of hundreds of hopeful hunters scouring the territory's burn sites looking for the prized morels - an industry predicted by the GNWT to garner $10 million by the end of summer. Like the gold seekers who came to the NWT more than 70 years ago, many are amateurs, out of work and hoping to make a fortune.
"But we're not millionaires yet," Hiebert says with a laugh.
Although the GNWT hosted numerous workshops leading up to the season and has published guides on morel harvesting, for those like Hiebert who came from British Columbia, they are learning on their feet.
"In our first five days we made five dollars," she said with a laugh.
"There's certain characteristics of the forest and the fires that produce these mushrooms and people who know what they're doing are able to look at a forest and know immediately where to go, but as amateurs it took us a long time."
Once you find a cluster of mushrooms you also have to know which ones to pick and which to leave behind, she explained, adding many people are picking the smaller ones and not letting them reach proper size.
"It's difficult because you see a medium-sized one and it looks pretty big compared to all the little ones and you want to grab it," she said. "It's an internal battle because if you don't, the guy behind you is going to get it, but you also want to let it grow."
Hiebert says right now the fungi are going for seven dollars a pound with prices expected to drop. She estimates her group of four people has collected around 120 pounds so far - with their best day generating $286. For many people it's been a little bit of a disappointment, she said.
"I think a lot of people expected to make money so they spent all their money getting here and now have to stay until they can make (it back)," she said.
It seems like easy money when you first hear about it but it's not for the faint of heart, she said.
Her day starts at 7 a.m so they don't have to hike when it's hot, and lasts until about 8 p.m she says.
"You hike 11 kilometres a day ... you're eating crappy camp food and when you're not picking or trimming or drying you have to drive all the way to Fort Providence, wait in line with a bunch of other pickers for the buyer - drive back, get home late and do it all over again."
Hiebert and her crew have been camping in a gravel pit with nine other groups. She says a sense of camaraderie develops very quickly among pickers as they share supplies and hang out together at the end of the day.
"We've become friends," she said. "If we're all hiking and by the end of the hike water bottles are starting to become empty and we're thirsty, no matter who has water, everybody has a sip."
She says many of the residents who live in the area have also come out to support their work by providing meals, snacks and supplies.
While concern has been expressed about pickers getting lost and going missing, Hiebert says the likelihood of it happening is slim because there are so many
people around.
"There's so much noise and so many people so despite feeling lost for about five kilometres, after two more kilometres I found other pickers and in another I found a campsite," she said. "You meet people and they just guide you on your way.
While the experience has definitely pushed Hiebert outside her comfort zone, overall she says it was worth it to get away from it all and really challenge herself.
"We've woken up to snow (and) we've had a thunderstorm chase us out of the forest with trees falling all around us. It's been crazy," she says with a laugh. "But finding the first big mushroom - the first really big Goliath monster mushroom - it's embedded in your brain. It's the coolest moment."
Brendan Matthews, founder of Canadian Arctic Morels, says although pickers have been out on the land for a month now, for him - the season only really got started a week ago.
"It started out slowly and I think a lot of people were skeptical to see if they would grow but with some of the rain we've been having lately and favourable growing conditions it's really going well," he said.
Matthews has also set up camp about an hour north of Fort Providence and said for the most part he has been impressed by morel quality. He said in the beginning some pickers experienced a panic when the morels were not as large or plentiful as expected.
"When the first started to come up, people were getting a little bit desperate to pick and sell something," he explained. "But they're going to be worth a lot more to either the picker to eat or to sell if they just let them grow to a mature size."
Although Matthews is a local buyer, he says prices are largely determined by larger companies. He says it is unlikely anyone is going to come out of the bush rich.
"I don't think that there's anybody is making an entire fortune out of it," he said with a laugh. "But for a part-time job that you can just show up and do, it's pretty good money."
