I was able to unlock Berries when my relationship with Orlando (I couldn't stop picturing Orlando Bloom from Pirates of the Caribbean as the bard) was at a 9 and had also already purchased the Dessert cookbook. Which makes sense, because the nerd unlocks the Fish and the girl unlocks the Mushroom.
My experience from visiting an intentional community/commune for a while was that most of the people who lived there were queer, so that part is actually quite realistic.
Thanks for mentioning the game here- I would never have heard of it if it wasn't for this thread. I was able to beat the game on my first playthrough. I had some quibbles with the author's choices, but it was overall still an outstanding game, especially if you enjoy Hot Dog Stand-style resource management games.