Key Features

Cranberry Junction is known as the "Zoo," and this photo hints at why. There are no accomodations there. During the season, it is a center for mushroom foraging, so in one area there could be 30 mushroom buyers, and many hundreds of mushroom pickers. The business of buying matsutake is very competitive, and filled with "intrigue" and strategy. Most buyers send out "moles" who take a few mushrooms to a competitive buyer, to sell product and find out what is the true price they can obtain. Some field buyers will make special deals with high volume pickers. Since the money involved is substantial, pickers and field buyers can profit from rumor. The stories about prices paid are as complex and confusing as the mushroom's mycelium.