What’s in Season?

Fall

Shop our 99%+ Certified Organic Produce Department.

At BriarPatch Food Co-op, supporting organic local and regional farms is at the heart of what we do. We are a community-owned cooperative and understand the importance of direct farmer relationships to build a resilient food system. At the Patch, you’ll find a colorful array and diverse selection of beautiful, fresh and delicious fruits and veggies all year long. We take great pride in knowing our farmers by name. How do we define what is local?

Alba and Brown Clamshell

The difference is in the color of the cute little caps at the end of long stems growing in clusters — albas are white. Crunchier than most, bitter when raw, they cook up nutty and sweet. Aliases include beech, buna- or hon shimeji, and pioppini.

Crimini

These are just a more mature version of the white button mushrooms you’ll find adorning pizzas from coast to coast, with a stronger and more distinct flavor. Also called “baby bellas”, since that’s what they’ll be “when they grow up”. An easy go-to shroom that’s great with a quick sauté or in a basic mushroom soup.

Lion’s Mane

These shaggy shrooms look like they’re ready to let out a roar. Grown in large clumps, their flavor compares to shellfish or lobster and they’re sturdy enough to grill and press into a steak.

Maitake

Clusters of feather-like caps give maitakes their other name — hen of the woods. Cook up a cluster like a burger patty or pull them apart to roast and enjoy their gamey flavor.

Oyster

You won’t find any pearls nestled amongst the fan-shaped, tiered gray caps. It’s their flavor that’s the real treasure, delicate and fishy enough to be included in recipes for homemade vegan fish sauce!

Portabella / Portabello

These are mature crimini mushrooms, named as such back in the 1980’s in hopes they’d become more popular… and they did! The a’s are like mid-sized teenagers while the o’s are bigger.

Shiitake

Chewier than most mushrooms with an intense and almost woody flavor, shiitakes (literally, “oak mushroom”) are a great pairing with or substitute or animal protein. Season and cook up crispy for vegan twist on a BLT!

Trumpet Royale

AKA “King Trumpet”, “French Horn”, “King Brown”, and “King Oyster”, these have a thick and meaty stem you can easily cut into sauté-able planks or shred into strands resembling pulled chicken or pork. When sliced into coins, the stem is a worthy stunt double for scallops!

Local = Watershed

Our definition of local Flows as we grow

We’ve recently redefined what local means to us. For many years, we’ve defined local relative to our flagship store in Grass Valley. As we grow, our definition expands, too.

We’re Outstanding!
See watershed map
What Local Means