Sore subject for me today. Got up this morning and asked my youngest daughter if she wanted to go pick some chanterelles. She gladly obliged. Got to a not-so-exclusive but reliable spot and found nobody around. Looking good!

It didn't take long to figure out that the entire area had been picked clean, save for a few buttons that had popped up after the rain. The thing that really sucked was realizing that the marauders hadn't left the roots intact, and had apparently just pulled everything up. This was clearly the work of newcomers and amateurs; I know a handful of people who pick this spot, and they always cut them off and leave a couple in each patch to re-seed the colony. Not these folks.

I guess it's time to find a new patch, but I'm not overly optimistic about the prospects. I talked to a friend at the grocery store, and he said he's seen many "not the usual pickers" beind his property lately, and it's been similarly ravaged back there. Hopefully, someone will educate these people before they wipe out every local colony. I have no problem sharing the resource, but the resource will cease to exist if people don't learn to practice stewardship - much as is the case for another natural resource we discuss a fair amount on these forums.