Morel Season & the Burns

Before Pacific Rim Mushrooms had a name, our founder Brenton King spent his seasons picking wild mushrooms by hand in the BC backcountry. That started in the mid-90s, and the first two mushrooms in the basket were Pine mushrooms (Matsutake) in the fall and Morels in the spring.

We have already shared a look back at the picking years. This time the archive is all about Morels: the honeycomb-capped mushroom that shows up for a few short weeks, often in the last place you would expect.

Why morels follow fire

Most mushrooms like a healthy, mossy forest. Some Morels are different. In the spring after a forest fire, certain kinds of Morels can fruit in huge numbers across the burned ground. Pickers call them “burn morels”, and the hillsides where they appear are simply called “the burns”.

Nobody can promise a good crop. The flush is usually strongest the first spring after a fire and tapers off after that, and it depends on the kind of forest that burned, how hot the fire was, how much snow fell over the winter and how much rain comes in spring. A burn that looks perfect on a map can be empty, and a small patch nobody talks about can be covered.

That is why morel picking in BC has always meant following the previous summer’s fires. Every spring the question is the same: which burns from last year are worth the drive?

What the burns taught us

Patience. A burn is a strange place to stand. Everything is black and grey, and a Morel is dark brown and roughly the size of your thumb. For the first while you see nothing. Then your eyes adjust, you spot one, and suddenly there are ten around your boots.

Hard work. Burned forest is not easy walking. There is fallen timber everywhere, the ash gets into everything, and the good ground is rarely near the road. In the backcountry, getting to the mushrooms meant old trucks, canoes, floatplanes and a lot of walking.

Care. Morels are hollow and delicate. Packed too tightly or left wet, they bruise and spoil. A good picker cuts them cleanly, brushes off the grit and keeps them in a basket or bag that lets air through.

On a burn, you learn to slow down, look closely and handle every mushroom like it matters.

Camp, drying racks and buying stations

A morel season was more than picking. It meant camp life, early mornings and long days. Fresh Morels do not keep for long, so a lot of the harvest was dried, spread out on wooden racks until it was light and crisp. Dried Morels keep their flavour well, which is why so many chefs prefer them.

The rest went to buying stations, where pickers brought in their harvest to be sorted, weighed and packed. That is where the business side came into focus: grading, handling and getting mushrooms from the forest to the people who wanted them while they were still in top shape.

In 2005 that work became Pacific Rim Mushrooms. We supplied Morels, Pine mushrooms, Chanterelles and Porcini to chefs, retailers and mushroom lovers around the world.

If you go looking

Morel picking is a great way to spend a spring day, but a few rules matter. Never eat a wild mushroom unless someone with real experience has identified it with certainty. False morels can look similar and are toxic. True Morels are hollow from the tip of the cap to the bottom of the stem; false morels are not. Always cook Morels well, because they should never be eaten raw. And before you head into any burned area, check that it is open and safe to enter: burned trees can fall without warning.

Where it led

Years of handling mushrooms pointed us in a new direction: Reishi, Lion’s Mane, Cordyceps, Turkey Tail and Chaga. Those mushrooms do not follow fires or seasons. Our extracts are made in British Columbia from organically grown fruiting bodies, all year round, and each one carries a Health Canada NPN.

The burns still shape how we work. Look closely, handle with care and do not cut corners. If you would like to try what came next, Lion’s Mane Elixir Drops and Turkey Tail Capsules are good places to start, and our Buyer’s Guide compares every format side by side.

Did you pick Morels in BC back in the day? We would love to hear your stories.

This article is for general information only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Never eat a wild mushroom unless an expert has identified it with certainty.