Joie de Vivre

This coming Thursday is our annual owner meeting. We’ve turned it into quite a party with a different theme each year. This year’s theme is French Country with the name, “Joie de Vivre.”

According to Warren Shibles in the “Humor Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Classification and Analysis,” joie de vivre “can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do … And joie de vivre may be seen as a joy of everything, a comprehensive joy, a philosophy of life…”

What better theme to celebrate our amazing owners?

Of course, no theme is perfect without a menu that reflects it. The deli has crafted this tantalizing collection of goodies:

Coq Au Vin
Chicken cooked in a wine sauce with vegetables and mushrooms
Boulangère Potatoes
Potato and caramelized onion gratin
Jardinière De Légumes
Braised, garden-fresh, mixed vegetables
White Bean and Tomato Cassoulet
Slow-cooked stew with beans and tomatoes
Frisée Salad with Fennel, Roasted Figs, and Walnuts with Cranberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
BriarPatch Baguettes with Butter
Gateau Tatin Aux Pommes with Chantilly Cream
French apple tart cake with cream

If you’re a BriarPatch owner — and what a delightful reason to become one if you’re not — you’re welcome to come to our biggest bash of the year. Meal tickets are $5 through October 1 (until 2pm online and 10pm at the store) and are available for purchase using PayPal or with cash or check at the Customer Service Window. If any tickets are left — they’re going fast — they’ll be $8 at the door.

The owner meeting will take place at Miners Foundry Cultural Center in Nevada City from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 2. Dinner begins right away, with a presentation set to start at 6:15. Beaucoup Chapeaux will end the event in style at 7:30 p.m., so make sure to bring your dancing shoes!

The Garden Guru

Gardening in the foothills can be challenging. How do you grow veggies in the red dirt? What grows best in the shade of pines? How should I amend the soil, and what should my timing be for planting?

Kristen, who used to be the head of BriarPatch’s garden and floral sections, will be offering her wealth of knowledge on Tuesdays through the month of October. Find her on the Patch Patio from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Not only did Kristen contribute much to the Co-op’s garden department, she’s a Master Gardener in her own right. She has six years of experience teaching gardening classes. For 30 years, Kristen has been growing her own food gardens as well as helping clients maintain their own gardens. 15 of those years have been in Nevada County, so she understands the specific challenges of gardening in our foothills quite well.

Make sure to take advantage of the insight our Garden Guru can give. It should be a handful of Tuesdays worth looking forward to.

Sweet Roots Farm Tour

As part of BriarPatch Co-op’s annual celebration of eating locally, the Patch and Nevada County Grown are sponsoring a tour of Sweet Roots Farm in Grass Valley on Sunday, September 14, at 9:00 a.m. This is the third year that BriarPatch and NC Grown have co-sponsored a farm tour, free of charge, with coffee and baked goods from the BriarPatch kitchen.

Sweet Roots Farm is owned and run by Deena Miller and Robbie Martin. The farm is CCOF Certified Organic, and on top of a thriving CSA, they also help to fill food and flower orders for special events, participate in the Saturday morning farmers market at North Star House, and provide a beautiful selection of produce to the Patch.

Sweet Roots Farm is located at 14805 Auburn Road in Grass Valley. The tour is expected to last approximately two hours.