Scott Moran, a Kelowna forager, will have challenges selling his greens as restaurants have closed in Vancouver.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Scott Moran

It’s spring, and the leafy greens that Scott Moran would normally be harvesting for Vancouver restaurants will soon be ready to pick.

Moran is a forager and sells the mushrooms and greens he collects from the bush at local farmer’s markets and to high-end Vancouver restaurants. Except now demand for the greens has shrivelled up with the closure of restaurants and farmer’s markets.

“It’s really interesting that we’re having these issues as spring is happening and all the most powerful and beneficial food is just about to pop and it’s going to be extremely abundant for the next eight weeks,” he said.

With the Kelowna Farmers' and Crafters' Market moving online, along with other BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, Moran plans to sell through the market online.

READ MORE: B.C. farmers' markets hoping online deliveries will offset market closures during COVID-19

For his usual season, which begins in April, “most of the week I would spend selling to restaurants and then Saturday was the day I would sell to the public," Moran said. “(Vancouver restaurants would) usually be buying hundreds of pounds of my pre-picked stuff and that’s usually my pre-season… so I’m missing out on quite a lot of business.” 

He’s also missing out with new customers, who he said were eager to work with him this season.

READ MORE: MORAN: Yes, you can eat stinging nettles

“Things really slow down for me in the winter and sometimes in the summer, so it’s going to be a very big loss,” he said.

Morel mushroom sales are also taking a hit, he said.

In the meantime, his plan is to fill his fridge with greens and hopes to sell them online through his Facebook and Instagram pages.

He makes most of his income in the first six months of the year he said. “We’ll see how it goes… it just depends on much online support I get.”

Moran will also teach small classes of between two to five people, teaching them how to collect their own greens.

READ MORE: MORAN: How you can eat your medicine, straight from B.C.'s forests

He's also planning to create YouTube videos to give people foraging directions so they can harvest their own greens and mushrooms.

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