Wild Harvest For Profit

In the past few months I have received emails from readers that request a buyer for their Wild Harvested commodities.  It has really been a challenge trying to find local buyers all across the country for them.  I had one person in Alaska wanting to know of a place that she could sell King Bot’s mushrooms, and also have received a few emails from a harvester in Eastern Kentucky and also from Tennessee.

I did recommend a site to one of them, but found out later that this company is no longer in business.

This turn of events has spurred me on to try and make a list of buyers throughout the US.  Of course there are some folks that buy harvested roots and wild commodities that don’t want to be listed, so you need to be aware of that.

I am not going to BS you, and give a date for the list to be published.  It is going to take some time to research and get good solid information on these buyers.

I am really not sure if I will be able to find buyers in various parts of the country, but I am going to give it a shot.

I’ll be in touch soon!

Yours in Wild Harvest For Profit success!

5Rivers Jim

Well I am back from the last few months trying to straighten out my brothers estate. Please make sure that you have everything in writing for your remaining family. It has taken me MONTHS trying to sort things out, and it will take many more before I can say that he is at rest.

Enough!

The terrible disaster that swallowed Japan, is beyond my comprehension. I am not the most devote man, but I pray for them daily. I know that we all will go on, but it is to what degree that things will continue. We Will See!

I was thinking this morning about the upcoming season for Morel’s, and it hit me that where you live may be a big thing when you sell your mushrooms.

Mushrooms can accumulate more radiation then many other fungi, and this is deposited in the flesh of the spore. With the winds coming from the West, the Pacific Northwest may be in for a slim season selling Morels.

I am sure that some Tree Hugger is blasting that you can’t eat the Morels due to increased contamination from Japan. I have no idea if that is true, but it may be a boon for those of us that pick and sell our product more toward the interior portion of the US.

It will be interesting to see if this affects the market this year, but also if you sell your Wild Harvest through the mail, you could allude to the fact that you are a loooooong ways away from the west coast, and can recommend that your product could be just a little more marketable to their buyers.

I hope that I am wrong, but it is something to think of.

Yours In Wild Harvest Profits Success!

5Rivers Jim

Around the holidays I received a request from a reader on the actual process of getting started in offering clients inoculated logs with mushrooms spawn, and the source of spawn.

There are some excellent sources of information but much of it is scattered around the internet, and in a form that reminds me of taking a college course in Mycology. It has to be easier to locate this information and this post will give you a start on this money maker.

I am going to reference a video on the process of getting started, and also I am going to recommend some sources of spawn.  After I get caught up with my business, after a leave for some family medical issues, I am going to do an in depth report on this “Sleeper” commodity of the Wild Harvester or Forager.

Here is the introduction video:

Here are a couple of sources. I have not had the opportunity to order from these suppliers, so do due diligence and check them out before placing your order.

Comments are really appreciated.

Yours in Wild harvest For Profit Success!

5Rvirs Jim

I made a post on Money Logs and a reader had a question on where to obtain the spore for the various mushrooms that you can start and sell to customers.  It reminded me of a report that I wrote on the same subject last year.  I am currently busy with a family emergency, and when I return to my office I will make this report available to my readers.

Stay tuned.

Yours in Wild Harvest For Profit Success!

5Rivers Jim

One of the things that I constantly get asked is:

OK.  I have 20 pounds of ______ how do I sell them?

This is a great question and one that will need a few posts to cover, and even then this will only scratch the surface of how and when to sell your Wild Harvest For Profit commodities.

Let’s cover the obvious markets.

• Look in your local yellow pages and look for businesses that buy furs, sheds (antler) and roots.  If there are none listed, then call the local sporting goods store and ask if they have a source that buys or coordinates the selling of harvested commodities. It is best if you can obtain a local buyer.  It saves time and expense of shipping, or further handling of your product.

• Based on what you are selling…fresh mushrooms, foraged herbs, berries, nuts…etc. you can contact your local produce buyer and see if they offer these type of commodities to their customers. Be prepared to show your expertise in identification and experience when selling fresh items. ONLY sell the best that you have harvested. Make sure that they are fresh, and clean, and presentable. Be prepared to provide general locations where the crop was harvested.

• I have established myself with four local Chef’s that love getting first dibs on my Morel’s and Water Cress. It took me showing my expertise in identification and use of the mushrooms. I also prepared some right at their establishments, and had them taste them. Believe me…..that sold three of them. This can be used for local berries, nuts, herbs, and fungi. Once you are a proven supplier you have an “in” for other items from the Wild.

• Let your friends, neighbors, and co workers know that you have commodities for sale.  These can be some of the easiest sales and some of the most reliable repeat buyers. I sold 30 pounds of Morel’s to one of the owners of a business that I worked for, for $15.00/lb and they asked it I had anymore?  This was $2.00 more per pound then the local buyer was offering. I went on to sell them other commodities that I harvested and not only did they pay well, they appreciated the products. This buyer also bought things that they used in their homes for decoration….more on this in a later post.

• Try your local farmers market.  Our market requires a sellers license from the city and a state sales tax certificate to sell anything.  I got around that by approaching one of the vendors and offered him a joint venture for selling my products for a percentage of the proceeds. This alone saved me almost $80.00 in fees, so the 30% I offered him was very reasonable in my book.  Also, I did not have to invest my time selling at the market…more time in the woods. He liked the idea that he was offering something different, that had instant appeal for his customers, and kept them coming back looking for other commodities.

• If your location or town allows it….put out a sign on the road, or in the front yard. I have one harvester that does this and sells all of the foraged Hickory nuts that he harvests each Fall. Has enlisted the help of some local teenagers to help him harvest, and he pays them a good price per pound, and then offers the nuts at his road side table for a few more dollars per pound.  Pure Profit!

• Advertise on local bulletin boards. The three stores that serve my area have a BB inside their stores that allow postings from customers. Two of the stores only allow the postings on their special forms, and most are dated and removed after a set time period, established by the management. It is easy to post your available products, along with a phone number or email address. (Only use a throw away email that can be established on Gmail, Yahoo, or such.  It will help with being spammed to death on your home or personal email).  I have also found when I advertise this way that my market is the older folks that are familiar with what you are offering, and have fond memories of consuming those items when they were younger.

Well that should keep you busy for a little bit.  My next post will be on some of the “other” ways that you can find and market to consumers.

Just a quick update on my ebook “Wild Harvest For Profit….a step by step guide“. Family emergencies have delayed my completion but I am now hard at it, and this fact filled guide will be available for you to implement some of it’s tips and tricks within the next few weeks.  Stay tuned for my release date.

Yours in Wild Harvest For Profit success!

5Rivers Jim

In my last post, I said that I would be letting you in on a way to make money from cast off limbs from the logging industry.

There are Wild Harvesters throughout the country that are making some serious money by establishing a relationship with local loggers. (Of course if you have some timber or cut fire wood this is something that you can start without cultivating the loggers friendship)

They are collecting the small limbs that come from the Oaks that are cut, and are taking them home and after some easy preparation, they are inoculating these “cast off’s” with mushroom spawn and then selling them to individuals that want to grow and harvest their own fresh forest mushrooms.

One seller here in Western WI gets $35 – $40 a log that he advertises through free internet adds and some friends that sell at the local farmers market.

It took him a little while to establish a following, but now he is making enough each season to pay his property taxes…..something that is not cheap here in WI…and having enough to fund his three yearly vacations.

He contacted a number of logging crews, asked it he could help them get rid of some of the brush limbs, and then started to harvest the commodity and make some money. A few of the friendly crews he actually cut them in for a percentage of the profits if they limbed the logs and left them in a easy pick up spot.

Learning to inoculate and grow the mushrooms was a short learning curve, and he started out full swing his second season.  He sold out all the “seeded” logs within three weeks of him advertising them.

Is this something that would fit into a WHFP game plan?  You bet, and I am going to start it this season and see how much I make from my venture.

This will be a full chapter in my upcoming ebook “Wild Harvest For Profit….a step by step guide”

Back soon with the results of F.B ginseng root adventure.  See this post from last week.

Yours in Wild Harvest For Profit Success!

5rivers Jim

Wild Harvesting For Profit – Is There a Special Harvest Season?

Many outdoor activities are limited by either the yearly season, the location, or an established legal harvest season.  Wild Crafting For Profit is not limited to anyone of these things. I am not saying that you can harvest anything that you want, but the activity of Wild Harvest For Profit is not limited to a specific time of the year or location.

Wild Crafting can be pursued the entire year.  The trick is in knowing the W-W-W-H formula for harvest profits.

Follow these simple steps:

• W- What
• W – Where
• W – Why
• H- How

What. Numerous plants and non-forest items can be harvested throughout the year.  The area that you live in is the only limiting factor.

Let’s look at a WHFP harvester that lives in Minnesota.  During the Winter he scours the swamps and slew’s for scrub trees that he cuts, dries, and makes into unique walking sticks, cane handles, and candle holders.

An activity that nets him over $24,000 a year in his spare time.

Where. Using the example above, he drives along the backs roads next to rivers and lakes and looks for the trees.  You must have permission to access  the land. and many state and county forests will let you harvest these tree’s, but you must have permission. Contact your local government forester for information.  I also have permission from some land owners to gather these nusence shrubs throught the year.

Why. The bottom line is generating income from Wild Harvesting For Profit. I feel that I am providing a product that is unique and useful for my clients, at a price that is fair and agreeable.

How. This is turning a scrub tree into a useful, beautiful, item.  After cutting the tree’s, they are dried, peeled, and processed into one-of-a-kind walking sticks, handles, and canes. He markets these numerous ways with home shows and sport shows being his number one profit maker.

Bob living in a small town in Western Wisconsin has a tidy business that uses cast-off’s from the logging industry….Sells these limbs no one wanted for $35.00 – $40.00 a piece. That is the next post!

Yours In Wild Harvest For Profit Success!

5Rivers Jim

Don’t forget to check out the Review Page of the blog. I will be updating tools, books, and items that make our profession a little easier and safer.  You can check it out here Reviews and Tool News

My last post was primarily on the strange emails that I get from folks demanding that I stop my blog, or take it off the net because I am plundering Mother Earth and ripping apart Nature. They never take the time to read my posts, and learn that I only adhere to ethical and sustainable harvesting.

Must be the name of my Blog….Wild Harvest For Profit

I made reference to a email that I got from a reader that said that he had a “30″ year old Ginseng Root and want to know if there was somewhere he could market it.  (It looks like a “female” human form).  I thought that it was one of those set-up emails that I get and did not take it seriously. I made reference to that in my post.

Well I was wrong.

Today I got a letter from F.B. and sure enough he does have a root, the pictures show it is shaped like a woman, and he did dig it 30 years ago.  He hung it on some antlers all these years, and only thought of selling it when he read somewhere that Oriental Buyers sometimes pay great sums for roots in a human shape.

F. B. I eat my Crow plain, and will be having it later tonight.

I will be getting in touch with my sources and see if they have any ideas on where to market your….Lady!

I will not be climbing on my soap box as fast in the future.  Sorry to doubt an honest inquiry.

Enough said

Yours in Wild Harvest For Profit Success!

5Rivers Jim

See my review page for some excellent resources or presents for the Wild Harvester and Forager in your life.