Every year the Nevada County Farm Bureau organizes a tour to showcase some of the local agriculture in our community.  This year the tour included Forster Herb Garden, Cone & Hill Christmas Tree Farm and Naggiar Vineyards and special guest speaker Nevada County Free Range Beef’s Jim Gates.  Everyone agreeed that supporting our local farmers is benefical on many different levels, from fire prevention, quality of food to creating jobs.  While all the farmers agreed that it is extremely difficult to be a farmer, Jim Gates sumed it up well when he said he loves his job “every day is a new adventure.”  Support your local farmers, either by shopping at a farmer’s market, subscribing to a CSA or buying locally grown products at Briar Patch, California Organics or SPD.  You can access the Nevada County Farm … Read More »

The 2012 summer season at Mountain Bounty Farm kicked off this week with a box full of fabulous fresh goodies including zucchini, butter lettuce, carrots and more.  The local North San Juan farm is celebrating their 15th season and excited to have expanded their drop off points to include Reno, Truckee and South Lake Tahoe (plus Nevada City & Grass Valley).  Sign up online, new subscribers welcome throughout the season if space available. I’ve included a few photos from last year’s CSA to get you in the spirit.  This week’s giveaway is a one week veggie share from Mountain Bounty.  Please post a comment below about your favorite veggie and I’ll draw a winner on Monday, June 4th.  Please note that giveaway is not available to current Mountain Bounty subscribers and must be picked up in … Read More »

Happy New Year’s Eve from all of us at the Outside Inn.  The Innside Nevada City blog has grown and evolved over the last 12 months and I’m excited to continue to share our love for the community in the year to come.  I’ve done a recap on the best hiking, best restaurants, best coffee and best wineries, but today’s list is on the best of Nevada City.

South Yuba River
Outside Inn Veggie Cart
Wild and Scenic Film Festival
Nevada City Farmers Market
Nevada City Summer Nights and Victorian Christmas
Celebration of Life Triathlon
Community Supported Agriculture
Halloween
Fall color
Outdoor Activities (mountain biking, road riding, hiking, fishing, swimming, kayaking

Thanksgiving is a time of giving thanks and appreciating the food on the table and the community that surrounds us, so with those thoughts in mind I thought it would be nice to give a big thanks to the Nevada City community who helped make the Outside Inn Neighbors Vegetable cart such a success this year.  The free cart has been retired for the season, but throughout the summer and early fall the Outside Inn was happy to host the free trade of extra fruits and vegetables (click here, here and here to read a few other Outside Inn blog posts on our fun little cart).  Below are a few photos from this year, for more photos please click here to see our Flickr album.  Some days the fruit and veggies would be gone in a blink of an eye, … Read More »

This week’s gift guide guide is for the food lover on your shopping list.  Nevada City and Grass Valley have so many great local options for the person who either likes to cook, eat or just enjoys reading cookbooks.  Stop by JJ Jackson’s for some amazing choices for the entertainer who needs the perfect tablecloth or serving bowl.  Maiden Lane has a great selection of cookbooks, and they’re always 15% off!  If you’re looking for a eco-friendly gift, stop by Being Green and check out their fun portable Tiffin food carrier or bamboo utensil set.  In Grass Valley both The Wooden Spoon and Tess’ Kitchen Store offer a huge selection of items for the food lovers.  Check out some of the photos below for a few small or big ideas.  Now if you’re food lover already has a fully stocked … Read More »

It seems every where I turn these days someone in Nevada City is talking about their CSA box.  For those of you who haven’t subscribed to one of the many Community Supported Agriculture options in Nevada County, it’s a way to support local farms by subscribing for a certain length for a box of fresh, local, organic vegetables or fruit.  If you need to find the nearest CSA to you, either stop by the Nevada City Farmers Market or the Nevada County Growers Market or check out the Nevada County Grow Farm Guide. The Outside Inn is one of the pick up points for Mountain Bounty Farm and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the amazing variety of vegetables and fruits every week.  Below is a sampling of some of the boxes, you can look through the rest of the photos on … Read More »

Nevada County has a rich diversity in local farms, Nevada County Grow offers a complete Farm Guide online.  I figured I’d start my farm tour with Mountain Bounty Farm, as the Outside Inn has been the CSA Nevada City pick up location for the fruit and veggie shares for several years.  John Tecklin, owner of Mountain Bounty, was happy to show us around and point out the rows and rows of fresh vegetables, just waiting to be picked.   Mountain Bounty Farm has provided fresh, organically-grown produce to community members through their Community Supported Agriculture program for the last 14 years. The summer veggie season starts this week, but there’s still time to sign up, with pick ups throughout Nevada County.  Who can beat fresh fruit and veggies, especially when you know they’re grown with love right in your own … Read More »

Grass Valley Grains is a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for grains.  Reed Hamilton’s one man farming operation mills wheat, oats, rye, barley, dry beans, and flour corn.  His monthly pick-ups could include any flour, cornmeal, polenta, ground oatmeal, cracked grain, or baking mixes. His products can be found in a number of local restaurants, including Ike’s Quarter Cafe, New Moon Cafe and Flour Garden Bakery.

Ike loves Grass Valley Grains because “everything is fresh.”  They use a number of products in their restaurant, but Ike says his favorite is probably “the cornmeal.”  He loves the flavor and the variety of the yellow, red, white and blue cornmeal.  Peter at New Moon’s personal choice is the white polenta.

The Outside Inn product test crew decided to try out the muffin mix and they were a huge hit in our household.  Sign up for your monthly … Read More »