Weekly Archive…

December 9th

The holidays are in full swing! Make sure your venue is decked out with fragrant, green boughs from our local farmers!

And make the holidays extra special with decadent white alba and perigord truffles in season now for two months with the lowest prices of the year!

Our stocks are full with our favorite winter crops and all of us are going full throttle to close out the holiday feasting season with a bang. Our offerings are set now through the end of the year and we’ll reach out to you then with our newest items and some other fun things up our sleeves. Happy holidays and NYE!

December 2nd

Just in time for your holiday feasting season, we have a season low price on white alba truffles this week! We also are seeing good quantities of perigord black truffles, as well, so treat your customers to something special this holiday season!

Our winter crops are still coming in strong: Mighty Vine Tomatoes, Baby and Full-Size Beets, Broadleaf Spinach, Chinese Cabbage, Turnips and Turnip Greens, Green Cabbage, Sweet Potatoes, Baking Pumpkins, Winter Squash (butternut, acorn, spaghetti, delicata).

We also have Sage, Flat-Leaf Parsley, Matsutake Mushrooms, Chanterelles, Maitake, Jumbo Dried Morels, Dried Porcinis, Truffle Bitters, Porcini Dust, Trumpet Royales, Piopinni, Beech, Shimeji, Microgreens, Frozen Huckleberries, Frozen Blackberries, Frozen Elderberries, Pine and Fir Tree Boughs, Local Honey and Honeycomb.

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November 25th

On the heels of the Thanksgiving feasting is the holiday season and we’ve got fresh green boughs for your venue decorations! Picked fresh and delivered to you, the bright greens are festive and smell heavenly.

We have hit a honeypot of quality white alba truffles and are bringing them in in abundance at a nice price. Chanterelles are still available, but supplies are tapering off for the season.

And, what goes better with green than red tomatoes! Celebrate the Midwest’s second tomato season with hydroponic tomatoes from Mighty Vine and taste summer all winter long!

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November 18th

That’s right, it’s the second season for tomatoes here in the midwest! Our winter tomatoes come from Mighty Vine’s 15-acre glasshouse located just outside of Chicago. Nearly 30 feet high and covering over 14 football fields, the structure uses diffused glass and radiated heat, keeping the air at the perfect temperature to create great tasting tomatoes year-round. Grown under pristine conditions, our tomatoes are picked fresh and delivered to the market in hours, not weeks. Taste summer all winter long!

New this week are baby beets and frozen blackberries.

The season has ended for: collard greens, slick back greens, Tuscan kale, Lura apples, frozen blueberries, pansies, assorted microgreens: anise hyssop, chicory.

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November 11th

The first official freeze has arrived and farmers are harvesting their crops and putting their fields to bed for the year. Our traditional summer crops will be back next year!

In the meantime, Mighty Vine has transitioned into full production and red beefsteak tomatoes are back! New this week is also broccoli, cauliflower and fresh holiday greens for wreaths – ask us about custom designs.

The season has ended for: Swiss chard, red peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, thyme, rosemary, summer truffles, summer perigord, black pernoid, burgundy truffles, lobster mushrooms, chicken of the wood mushrooms, chanterelles, Jonagold apples, Jonathan apples, Empire apples, Golden Delicious apples and chrysanthemums.

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November 4th

Mighty Vine production is swiftly coming to full steam and we are entering the year’s second tomato season – winter! That’s right, we have REAL TOMATOES all year long!

Coming in now are gorgeous and mouth-watering Mighty Vine yellow beefsteak tomatoes. We are in the middle of apple season and new this week are Jonagolds, Jonathans, Lura apples and Empire. We also have cabbage and slick back greens.

We have tripled our production of microgreens and will have a bountiful supply all winter long.

The season has ended for: hoop house tomatoes, Fuji apples

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October 28th

With our early first frost this year, local field tomatoes are done for the season. We have a limited availability of high tunnel tomatoes, but those will peter out shortly. Mighty Vine is ramping up with summer-flavor cherry and on-the-vine utility tomatoes in full production! Full-size slicing tomatoes are coming soon. Don’t cook with fake tomatoes, we’ve got full-flavor tomatoes for you all year long!

New this week is local broadleaf spinach and white Alba truffles are finally here! White Alba Truffles. These prized truffles are known their pungent aroma and distinct flavor.

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October 21st

Fall is here and we’ve had a good round of cool temps that have shut down many of our summer crops.

This week we harvested all of our remaining local tomatoes. They are currently ripening indoors and will be available until they sell out. We have a limited supply of local hoop house tomatoes while temperatures are still fairly mild.

We are transitioning into Mighty Vine tomato season! That’s right, we have summer-delicious tomatoes ALL YEAR through our partnership with this stunning greenhouse located just outside of Chicago. We’re starting the season with on-the-vine cluster tomatoes and a few cherry tomatoes.

The season has ended for: local field tomatoes, grande poblano peppers, jumbo jalapeno peppers, squash blossoms, sweet corn, cilantro, oregano, watermelon and hanging plants.

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October 14th

Summer is slipping away… relish the last of the summer crops before they are gone! (Except summer-delicious tomatoes — we’ve got you covered ALL year long!)

The season has ended for fresh sweet basil.

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October 7th

New this week are matsutake mushrooms! These rare and flavorful mushrooms come from the pine forests of Washington. They have a slightly spicy, cinnamon taste and fragrance and symbolize fertility and happiness in the Japanese culture.

Halloween is almost here and we’ve got you covered with 150-lb. display pumpkins, a bounty of baking pumpkins and winter squash and sweet potatoes!

We continue to have a strong harvest of chanterelles and are continuing our price cut through the close of the season.

The season has ended for purple beans, sea beans and white corn.

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September 30, 2018

New this week: baking pumpkins (including the gorgeous Kershaw pumpkins) and gargantuan 150+ pound display pumpkins. Cherry tomatoes from Mighty Vine are in an “autumn slump” due to colder temps in the northern Midwest but we’ve got a bumper crop of gorgeous local heirloom cherry tomatoes!

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September 23, 2018

We’re starting to transition from summer to fall — greens and apples make their debut this week!

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September 16, 2018

We have thousands of pounds of freshly harvested chanterelles from northern Oregon and the Washington coast. They are superb quality and our supply is endless right now. Stock up and freeze, make butter, vacuum-pack… save that flavor for winter!

We are having a heck of a season for fresh huckleberries from Oregon! These are excellent in cocktails, baked dishes, almost anything you can imagine. They contain 4x the antioxidants of blueberries. We’ll have these likely through early October. Prices are good now so get ’em in and enjoy the season!

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September 9, 2018

In the face of intense rain and flooding over the weekend, many local tomatoes will burst and crack with the abundance of water. We just shake it off as we are extremely fortunate to work with Mighty Vine and their 15 hydroponic acres of controlled tomato farming that produces 12 months of the year. And, ICYMI, they are doubling their acreage to 30! We are the only distributor in St. Louis, so you’ll always have homegrown flavor year-round!

The season has ended for green cabbage, spicy mustard microgreens and melons.

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September 2, 2018

A few early fall crops are coming into the market, but we still have a bounty of gorgeous summer heirloom and cherry tomatoes – and they are at their peak of flavor right now. These will stick around until the first hard frost (mid/late October) so don’t drop those salads from your menus!

The season has ended for cantaloupe.

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August 19, 2018

It’s wild mushroom week! Lobster mushrooms are here! These are meaty and dense with a nutty, sweet smell similar to steamed lobster. The Chicken of the Woods has a nice mild flavor with a chicken-like texture. The Maitake’s texture is semi-firm with a fruity, earthy and spicy flavor.

Since we have so many tomatoes in the fields, we always have a bounty of unblemished tomatoes for your slicing plates. However, we are hearing of shortages and a lot of cracking tomatoes out west and in Illinois where summer rains have been fierce. We do have some, though, and they make for excellent sauces, salsas and Bloody Marys!

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August 12th, 2018

Chanterelles are here! We’ve been on watch for weeks. Our buyer has been scouring the world and the quality has simply not met our expectation until now (a colleague received 400 pounds last week and had to throw them all out!). These chanterelles from the Ohio / Indiana border are incredible – meaty and nutty.

ALSO NEW this week! Red bell peppers, grande poblano peppers and jumbo jalapeno peppers

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August 5th, 2018

NEW this week! Seedless Crimson Sweets watermelon, huckleberries, flat-leaf parsley and cilantro

Buyer Beware: The market is showing small amounts of European truffles for a low cost. While significantly cheaper, know you are getting the tail ends, the crumbs and they are not as fresh. This is not a good buy!

COMING SOON: lobster mushrooms from Oregon, Flathead cherries from Montana, Honey Truffles (dessert truffles from Hungary and Bulgaria)

Congratulations, St. Louis, for hosting the 100th PGA Championship! The world will be introduced to St. Louis chefs and food! Clients, please note: We are supplying tomatoes for the tournament. We are still open for business! But, please treat this week as a holiday week. We will have extended work hours, but get your orders in early to ensure supply.

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July 29th, 2018

The season has ended FOR NOW for fresh morels — stay tuned for early fall crops!

NEW this week:

  • Jumbo Dried Morels — we dried some of our early crop in preparation for this time without. Plenty of flavor!
  • Local Honey
    Fresh-cut herbs!
  • Basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary

This year’s Operation Food Search Tomato Explosion was an incredible success! THANK YOU to everyone that participated! #healhungerstl

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July 22, 2018

Summer is in FULL SWING. We have a bounty of just-picked, full-flavor, fresh summer vegetables and fruits for true in-season cooking. This is what it’s all about!

NEW! Périgord truffles from Australia have just arrived in and the aroma and flavor are heavenly! These are only available through August, so order now!

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July 15th, 2018

Meaty, triple-walled Gray Morels are coming in strong from the mountainous areas of Montana (where a grizzly was spotted this week!) and Oregon. Prices holding steady.

NEW this week: Wild Plums from Montana and Idaho (only available for two weeks – order now!), Local Sugarbaby Watermelon, Yellow Sensations Cantaloupe, Fresh Basil

Tis the season! Delicious, local tomatoes are coming in by the truckload!

We have a bounty of dried porcini mushrooms! Add some to your next order!

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July 8th, 2018

Gray Morels are coming in now from Montana. These are the elite of the elite with a meaty texture and thick, triple walls. These mushrooms are challenging as they are harvested high up the mountains from black ground where the fires burned the hottest. Prices holding steady.

NEW this week: Local Yellow Melons (with seeds) and Local White Corn.

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July 1st, 2018

Gray Morels are still coming in from southern Oregon and we have begun harvesting this week from northern Montana. Quantities are still strong and should be through early September. Prices are slightly up due to hot temperatures and challenging conditions (long hikes, difficult terrain and grizzlies, oh my!).

The season has ended for lettuce, radishes, porcini mushrooms and black morels.

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June 24th, 2018

Summer is here and so is the produce! We have a bounty of new local items for you this week — Sun Gold cherry tomatoes, squash blossoms, pickling cucumbers, bi-color sweet corn, collard greens, green cabbage and blackberries!

Oregon gray morels are still coming in, but harvests are thinning and pickers are going into more challenging areas. Prices will be going up slightly.

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June 17th, 2018

This week I traveled to our forest camp in Sisters, Oregon and got a first-hand look at what our circuit mushroom pickers do each day. This was an eye-opening experience of the lengths these people go to to bring us top quality mushrooms each week. Our team lives out of tents and follows the melted snow line up the mountain, dodging timber rattlesnakes, bear and cougars so that we can offer exceptional quality mushrooms to our restaurants. Yesterday, the team picked 589 pounds of Grade #1 morels!

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June 10th, 2018

NEW! Local zucchini, golden zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan squash (small) and cucumbers

LAST 2 WEEKS! Porcinis
This is the best crop our picker has seen in his lifetime! And it will be gone before you know it.

HOT PRICE! Black Morels
Low prices are holding. We are harvesting this week from the High Cascade Complex fire in southern Oregon (a burn from 2017) and also the Millie Complex Forest Fire in central Oregon (a burn from 2017). Volume is a bit low due to high demand, but we have plenty and there is a lot of season left.

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June 3rd, 2018

Summer is kicking into gear! This week we have fresh, local blueberries  — extra large berries grown in enriched soil. We also have crisp, shiny zucchini. And, we have found another honeypot of Oregon morels! This week’s price will be at the season’s lowest point.

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May 27th, 2018

Local summer produce is coming into season! This week, we have local strawberries, lettuce, greens, beans and radishes!

Morels are continuing to flourish! Despite price creep from other suppliers, we are keeping our prices low and focusing on getting the best quality product to our customers.

Wild foraged porcini mushrooms from Sisters, Oregon are at the peak of their season! We expect about three more weeks in the season.

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May 20th, 2018

Black Morels
(aka Oregon morels or natural morels)
All areas in Oregon and Washington are producing a bounty of morels and prices are at an all-time low. Everyone should be able to enjoy morels now at these prices and availability!

Fire Morels
(aka burn morels)
Fire morels from Washington are going strong. We are not carrying from Montana this week, however, as there has been several days of rain causing “ash flash” – ash gets stuck in the membrane and will not wash out.

Porcini Mushrooms
Wild foraged porcini mushrooms from Sisters, Oregon are in full swing and we have a major price drop for you this week. Flavor is rich and woodsy.

The season has ended for local spinach.

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May 13th, 2018

Our chefs are giving us incredible feedback on the beauty and quality of the mushrooms we are bringing in. Remember, we grade twice — in the field and then again when it’s packed before shipping.

Black Morels
(aka Oregon morels or natural morels)
We’ve reached the honeypot of meaty, double-walled morels! The weather is perfect in Oregon: rain, sun, rain, clouds… Our foragers are picking more than 100 pounds/day and our prices have dropped by 50%! We have all sizes, including “stuffers” big enough to stuff with crab, cream cheese, etc!

Fire Morels
(aka burn morels)
This week we have bountiful fire morels from Washington and Montana.

Tomatoes
We still have plenty of MightyVine hydroponic tomatoes, though these will be ramping down in production leading up to summer. With a lack of sun this spring, we are in a bit of a lull in local heirloom tomatoes. We’ll be in full spring beginning in late June and July.

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May 6th, 2018

Missouri Morels – Good If You Can Get ‘Em!
Missouri morels are coming in and they are gorgeous! (We don’t source these.) But, whereas local pickers bring in Missouri mushrooms by the dozen, we count our morels by the pound. Our Oregon morels are delicious, prized worldwide and have an extended season, offering you consistent quantities for your diners.

Heirloom Tomatoes – Buyer Beware
Heirloom tomatoes are starting to show up in the local market. We are not carrying these yet, however, as their flavor isn’t what should be expected from a hot-summer ripened tomato. These are being picked too early so that they will ripen without cracking and, as a result, they don’t develop in flavor and they flatten from their water weight. We will have a ton of heirloom tomatoes when summer officially arrives!

Black Morels
(aka Oregon morels or natural morels)
This week we have a bounty of gorgeous, earthy black morels from eastern (Blue Mountains), northern and southern (Washington border) Oregon. Demand is still very high.

Fire Morels
(aka burn morels)
The fire morels are back! These are from the Cascade Mountain range in central Oregon.

NEW! Local Asparagus
Pencil-thin, local sweet first-of-Spring asparagus!

NEW! Local Spinach
Fresh-picked Spring greens from the metro area.

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April 29th, 2018

Black Morels
(aka Oregon morels or natural morels)
These gorgeous, earthy mushrooms are the cream of the crop. However, these are the only morels currently available from the region, so demand is high and availability is tight.

Ramps
Ramps continue! These are beautiful, fragrant and plentiful. Ours are picked using sustainable harvesting practices, leaving plenty behind to thrive for the next season.

NEW! Herb Garden Assortment
For the chef’s garden, a 48-pack (12 4-packs) of assorted herbs (basil, mint, thyme, oregano, etc.) ready for planting.

The Season Has Ended For…
Fiddlehead ferns, spring onions and wild-harvested lobster, black trumpet and yellow foot chanterelle mushrooms — we look forward to their return next spring!

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April 22, 2018

A Note On Our Mushroom Pricing….
You might notice our prices are a little higher than others. This is due to our high operational standards. From our permitted harvesters to our painstaking inspections, careful storage in coolers and our same-day FedEx shipping just miles from the field, our product is days fresher than the competition and traceable by date, field and picker. We also don’t require a 30-pound minimum purchase, giving you more flexibility.

NEW! Black Morels
(also known as Oregon morels or natural morels)
They are finally here! These gorgeous, earthy mushrooms are the cream of the morel crop and prized across the country. Supply is low as these are just starting to come out in the forests of Oregon and demand is high. Did you know? These very mushrooms were served to the pope in Washington D.C. six years ago and are also loved by Michelle Obama, Julia Roberts, President George W. Bush, Robert Wagner and the Colorado Rockies!

NEW! Fire Morels
(also known as burn morels or conica morels)
Fire morels grow the year following a forest fire as their growth is triggered by heat. Our current supply is beautiful, coming from the upper elevations of southern Oregon; lower elevations morels are too poor quality right now with hoppers and other bugs.)

Orchard Morels
The season is wrapping up for these as temperatures are warming up and California is transitioning to Summer.

Blonde Morels
The mushroom superstar of the past couple of weeks, blonde morels from Applegate Valley in Oregon, are on their way out as the season draws to a close in the upper elevations. Note! There are still blonde morels being sold in the market, but they will not be from us! The quality has suffered considerably this week which results in crumbling textures (due to cold temperatures) and the presence of hoppers (fleas that begin to consume the older mushrooms). Buyer beware.

PRICE DROP! Ramps
The ramps are HERE. They are beautiful, fragrant and plentiful. They are also picked using sustainable harvesting practices, leaving plenty behind to thrive for the next season.

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April 8, 2018

Blonde Morels
Blonde morels have just started blooming in the northwest. Also known as the white morel, this mushroom is the most desired morel by many chefs because of its striking color. It’s also the most similar to our Missouri morels. Ours are harvested from Applegate Valley in southern Oregon in an area with extremely steep terrain. Our supplier quips, “You have to be a damn mountain goat to pick these.” As a result, instead of the typical 60-pound harvest for other mushrooms, only about 6-10 pounds of blonde morels are able to be harvested by one picker in a day. Also challenging is the fact that the patches are often located on private property, requiring special permission to access. All of this adds up to a higher price tag, but these prized fungi are worth every penny.

Orchard Morels
Back again this week are our orchard morels, so-named because they are found in olive orchards and grape vineyards due to a mutual affinity for alkaline soil. These smaller morels are gorgeous and bountiful this year.