From burn to earn
Massive forest fire season means prime conditions for lucrative morel mushroom harvesting
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
So long as Mother Nature holds up, morel mushroom harvesting looks like a promising way to raise a few bucks this summer.
Craig Scott of Arctic Harvest, a Yellowknife business known for selling birch syrup, holds dried morel mushrooms harvested in the NWT in 2011. An information session next Tuesday, March 31, will inform residents about opportunities and best practices for this year's harvest. - NNSL file photo |
"All indications point that it's going to be a significant year," said John Colford, manager of traditional economies, agriculture and fisheries for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
He says prospects are good that the highway west of the city and down toward the South Slave area will be ripe for morel mushrooms this year.
In anticipation of this, the department is hosting an information session for interested pickers March 31 at Northern United Place, part of a series of sessions around the Northwest Territories. Morel mushrooms are a delicacy that can be found here but are not always at hand.
"It's not available locally," said Sato Chankasingh, chef and owner of Fuego International Restaurant.
"We have to get it from Edmonton."
Morels must be dried before eating.
"Morel is really expensive," said Chankasingh, who paid $150 per kilogram of dried product last time he bought the mushroom.
"That's why we don't use it as often."
When he does have it in, he likes to use it for pates and sauces. Colford said fresh morels sell for $10 to $14 per pound. It's an opportunity for entrepreneurial residents to make some side income.
"If you get yourself out to the burn areas and you know what you're doing, you can keep your support costs down and you have realistic targets and objectives, I think you can do rather well out there," he said.
Morels appear about one week after the first green leaves open on poplar, aspen and birch trees. Their growth season is for about six weeks between mid-May and mid-July.
In the Deh Cho region last year, one woman earned $25,000 in 36 days of mushroom harvesting and selling. Buyers, many of whom come from southern businesses, typically park along the side of the highway to purchase from harvesters.
Morels thrive in post-burn areas, something the Northwest Territories is rich in this year.
"When you look at the size and scale of the burn area, it would lead you to believe that there is potentially a substantial opportunity out there," said Colford.
"I always have to make sure I qualify that by saying everything is conditional upon Mother Nature."
A good snowpack melt and a slow rise in temperature through the summer is conducive to morel growth. An occasional rain helps, too, but that can be a rarity for Northern summers.
Last year, the Deh Cho area saw a good first blush of morels but the ensuing drought dried up prospects.
Colford said information sessions are important to educate people about the economic opportunity morel mushrooms present.
"My guess is the first blush of morels is when people should think of getting out there," he said.
"And then do what the farmers in Saskatchewan do, and that's pray for rain every day."
The information sessions are at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m.
