Tarps are used to provide protection from the weather as well as privacy. The pickers deliver their mushrooms to the buyer and the mushrooms are cleaned. Here a couple of local kids brush off the fresh mushrooms. To speed their way through the buyer's station, some pickers clean their own mushrooms while they wait for just the right price. Next, the clean mushrooms are examined for possible defects.
Experienced buyers assign each mushroom to one of six possible grades.
The pickers watch intently because higher grades mean more money. As each mushroom is graded it is placed into the appropriate basket. When done, the mushrooms are sorted by grade into a series of baskets. The grade reflects the value of the mushroom. Often pickers will find a number one mushroom in the forest, but by the time it gets to the buying station in the evening it has matured just enough to be a number two mushroom.