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Hi,

I just recently discovered this amazing community and after browsing around for a while, I decided to make an account (I felt like this place is kind of out of my league...) as the description under the Kitchen Consumer forum ("...finding places to buy high-quality and hard-to-find ingredients..." ) sparked a question I'd really, really, really like answered, and have been wanting to know forever!

I do know a few places where I can buy pine mushrooms. Online, and in stores as well, but as you probably know, it's extremely expensive. Which is why I haven't had any in a long time. But we really love these mushrooms and would love to purchase a large amount for a reasonable bulk price. But where can I get pine mushrooms for a reasonable price? And I know you can only get "reasonable" prices by buying in bulk (usually), and I do plan to.

Just some background information:

I recently moved to Vancouver Island from Ontario and am loving it. My family and I love all things natural. We're trying to get into foraging but information on that is hard to come by as well... We're slowly starting up a garden and trying to make natural foods using natural methods for ourselves. We love all the natural foods the island has to offer (SEAFOOD! -- also really hard to come by...). We have a big family and like to preserve/ferment so we buy things in bulk. We haven't been able to meet the right people yet. We always get the middleman. How do we meet the source? I know of people around here who don't have businesses and also do not even buy in bulk like we do but get bulk prices because they know the source. This is what I mean: A guy we were talking to about something unrelated spilled that he bought 20lbs of clams for $2.50/lb so we asked to buy some from him. He gave us a couple pounds on that day for the same price (which was fair and very nice of him) but he did say that after that, he would charge $4.75/lb or something like that. We're looking to buy about 50lbs, so it'd be nice to meet the first guy and buy from him, you know?

Anyways.

The other day I thought I finally hit the jackpot and found what I was looking for. A mushroom picker who would sell me some pine mushrooms! He said he provides wholesale prices. Later, he sent me his information, and of course his price list, which included pine mushrooms $30/lb fresh and $100/lb dried (and as a side note, chanterelles for 14/lb - I know a buyer here who's buying from pickers at 4/lb...). As far as I'm concerned, that's retail pricing. I've actually seen it cheaper at Asian stores before. I guess I shouldn't have been as disappointed as I was, seeing as he was really a big shot - a pretty famous forager who supplies to various businesses.

I had just given up on pine mushrooms before. The only reason I'm even trying to get a reasonable price is because I've recently come across various (albeit a bit outdated) discussion forums and the like where random mushroom pickers would discuss prices with each other. And they're talking as low as $5/lb (https://www.facebook.com/pg/Terrace-Mushroom-Prices-623652257656530/posts/?ref=page_internal)! This post in November 2016 says $9/lb: http://matsimanmessageboards.com/buyer-picker-messages/

I've also seen random comments on related websites talking similar prices. I'm not sure how reliable and how relevant these posts are, and $5/lb seems crazy to me. Prices apparently fluctuate greatly (that Facebook group seems to have different prices every day... but has also stopped updating) but have also fallen significantly over the years. I've seen lots of articles and comments on these articles of pickers complaining that it's not what it used to be. I would be willing to pay more than $5/lb obviously. And probably a picker's whole day's pick.

I just feel a bit put out because I live on the island right where these beautiful things are growing but I can't get them... Heck, I can see where these mushrooms are growing! (I can see the mountains from here...) There has to be someone with the right price out there?

Sorry for the rambles... Thanks for reading up to here.