Peach season in Colorado was sweet this year.  We took a break from the Front Range and brought in a nice haul from the Western Slope at the tail end of the harvest this year. You?

After you’ve eaten all you can, and frozen some, maybe you’re not sure what to do with the rest of your Colorado peaches.  I was pleased to find a nice recipe in the monthly newsletter we get from our milk delivery service, Longmont Dairy Farm, called Poached Peaches Served with Chantilly Cream.  And then a friend who wants to see me gain 47 pounds suggested that I skin and saute some pitted peaches in butter, and add cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, and then serve them over ice cream. You’re welcome.

And there are about a million other things you can do with them, I’m sure, including grilling, and that old standby: Making pie.  If you do, call me, my hobby is pie tasting.

For more sweet ideas, try the Colorado Proud recipes section.

In 2007, Oxford Dictionary chose “locavore” as its word of the year. Meaning “someone who eats locally grown food,” the word soon became a movement. It all began in San Francisco, when four women committed to eating only foods grown or harvested within a 100-mile radius of their homes. You may have also heard the concept referred to as foodshed, slow food, sustainable food, local first, or eating locally.

The good news is this: The principles founded in San Francisco are easily applied here in Colorado, since just about everything you could want—besides sea food—can be found all around the state. Think of the abundance of foods that Colorado produces: Corn, wheat, trout, bass, beef, chicken, lamb; winter, spring, and summer vegetables.  Game meats of wide variety, eggs, milk, juices, wines, herbs and spices, delicious green and red chilis and more. And don’t forget those famous Colorado peaches. What luck!

Getting Started

• Read the 12 key points of locavorism at the Locavores.com Web site
• Find information about Colorado’s locavore movements at LocalSustainability.net or PeakToPlains.com
• Attend farmer’s markets
• Join a locavore group, either online or in person, or both. Read locavore periodicals and blogs such as eatlocalchallenge.com
• Turn your backyard into a garden, or raise chickens
• Look for slow food or locavore dinners at your local restaurant. If there aren’t any, approach your favorite neighborhood bistro and ask!
• Shop at food co-ops
• Call or write Colorado State University’s Division of Continuing Education and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute about its course on locavorism.
• Get your friends involved for a locavore bar-b-que or party.

Happy eating!

In another attempt to ease the financial crisis heard round the world, Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) and Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-7) announced a new mortgage program to help Coloradans leverage Federal First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit into a down payment. If you’re not familiar with the tax credit afforded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it effectively “lends” borrowers the credit of up to $8,000 at 0% interest, which would have to be paid off by June of next year.

To learn more about the tax credit and how it may apply to your situation, ask a Colorado mortgage company or lender for more information.

The Anschutz Company, citing financial barriers and other complicating issues, announced that it has sold “the ski train.”  For many ski enthusiasts living in Denver, the ski train was a delightful distraction with a purpose: toting skiers in old-time luxury from Denver’s Union Station downtown to Winter Park. I guess it’s not too late to buy a home in Winter Park.

For more on this end of an era, see the Denver Business Journal’s article dated April 20, 2009.

May 4-8 is Teacher Appreciation Week, that time when parents and students take a moment to reflect on all the things teachers do.

In real estate, this sentiment applies because every home owner with a family knows how important it is to consider the school system when relocating or considering a move to a new community. Even homebuyers without children or with children in private schools outside the neighborhood are smart to check out the specifics of their local schools, as they have an impact on the market, the taxes, and the overall environment.

If you’re relocating to Colorado, and are unaware of the school system in the Colorado neighborhoods you’re considering, take a moment to find out a little about the school system there.  And if you do have children in school, thank a teacher today!

RELATED LINKS

• Why schools are a critical factor in buying a home, even if you don’t have children.
• Denver High Schools
• Aurora High Schools
• Boulder High Schools
• Arvada High Schools
• Westminster High Schools

With so much awareness around Earth Day and Earth Week, and with so many things to do in Colorado in celebration and observance of it, there are a wealth of ways to do your part.  Just for starters, I thought I’d share a few of them with you, and then celebrate the day myself by turning off my computer and taking a nice walk in the woods. (Making sure to keep an eye out for mountain lions, that is.)

• Visit the Nature Conservency in Boulder
• Walking to and from your favorite restaurant (preferably one that serves local food), or ordering takeout from someplace that uses bike couriers to deliver.  (Check out what Bimbamboo in Boulder is doing.)
• Check out the Denver Children’s Museum for their Earth Day activities for kids of all ages.
• Attend the Pikes Peak Earth Day Festival, a free, all-day festival in Colorado Springs April 25
• Start your vegetable garden, keeping in mind how to maximize your water usage.
• Visit your local farmer’s market.
• Attend the Colorado State University Earth Day Celebration and Student Sustainability Fair, going on all week in Fort Collins.
  

And because we don’t have to stop observing Earth Day tomorrow, remember that no matter where you are or what day it is, you can always use sites like FreeCycle and Zwaggle to pass along the things you no longer need without tossing them into a landfill.

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

I’m a little late, but April 12 -18 is National Library Week. Here’s why I care:

Friends to parents and researchers, businesspeople and folks just plain killing time, libraries are often an underused and unappreciated asset to citizens in every town.  But Colorado’s commitment to good libraries is undisputed. From the main branch in Denver’s impressive downtown building to the small intimate branches in neighborhoods all over the Front Range and Western Slope, if you’ve got a library near you, I encourage you to get involved with it, even if it means borrowing an old classic you pretended to read in high school. (I’m reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn right now.)

For the most part, I have to hand it to the Colorado library system for keeping up with the times. Using most systems’ Web sites, you can hold or request materials, pay fines, renew materials, and sometimes browse resources right from your browser.  What can really make the difference in your library experience is that some libraries can navigate you to the places at their Web sites where you can gain access to exclusive databases that are otherwise inaccessible or expensive to use otherwise.  These kinds of databases can often make a big difference to job seekers looking for work, and businesspeople doing research.

Another library-related resource is Ask Colorado. It’s not officially a part of the library system; rather, it’s a cooperative that literally bridges the gap between librarians and information seekers. Ask Colorado facilitates one-on-one Internet chat rooms around the clock; using the Ask a Question button, anyone with an Internet connection can ask a reference librarian any number of questions about how to find information relevant to any kind of project.

Here are a few of my favorite library branches in Colorado:

Nederland Community Library–Most small mountain towns don’t have much in the way of amenities. But Nederland (just 20 minutes west of Boulder) not only boasts a grocery store, video rental store, hardware outlet, and fitness center, it’s got its own library. It’s a rare thing, and an appreciated one, especially one that’s managed and maintained with a lot of love. If you visit, say hello to Gretchen, the head librarian. She’s passionate about literature and the arts, and always considers special requests.

Rangeview Library System (formerly the Adams County Library), Pearl Mack branch–The Pearl Mack neighborhood is in Adams County, near Denver, in what could be described as an area that’s “underserved” by other arts and culture initiatives.  If ever there was a need for a library in Colorado, this area is one of them.

Boulder Public Library, Main branch–In downtown Boulder, on Arapahoe, just off Broadway (map of Broadway). Head librarian, Tony Tallent, keeps a blog. Say hello!   Also, this just in: During the course of writing this entry, I learned by way of the Downtown Boulder and Daily Camera Twitter streams that, “Roof leak closes second floor of Boulder Public Library.”

Denver Public Library, Ross-Cherry Creek branch–In the Cherry Creek area of southeast Denver, near the Cherry Creek Mall and the whole Glendale, Cranmer Park, Denver Country Club, Bonnie Brae area. When I lived in the neighborhood, it was one of my favorite locations for a library, as I was doing a lot of shopping then. Uh-hem.

Denver Public Library, Central branch–In the heart of Downtown Denver, you’ll find floors of materials, art, and meetings for people just like you and me…and her and him.  The only downside to the DPL central branch is the parking, but if you catch it on a slow day, you’ll find the visit worth it.

I just can’t say it enough: I love libraries. If you you, too, tell me why.

Each spring, the good people of Colorado turn their attention backward, and consider the winter snowfall that was–or wasn’t.  Because snowpack from the previous several months has everything to do with the amount of water available all summer, most city dwellers face water restrictions, especially during years of reduced precipitation or drought.

Although Denver residents are used to finding themselves placed on watering restrictions during the summer months, Boulder uses more of an honor system when asking residents to consider conservation when watering gardens and grass. Check with your local water department to find out when and how you’ll keep your landscaping healthy and green, what your water allowances are, and look for tips on keeping your home beautiful while saving water.

You can find more information on Colorado’s climate and years of precipitation at the Colorado Climate Center.

Photo by Flickr–Creative Commons, by Snap

If you think the days of home milk delivery are gone, think again.  For very reasonable prices, you can wake up to a gallon or two of fresh milk and dairy products in a cooler on your front porch.

In metro Denver--Royal Crest Dairy is one of Denver oldest milk farms, in operation since the ’20s.

In parts of metro Denver, Boulder County, and Northern Colorado–Longmont Dairy Farm is bottled on the farm and shipped ASAP in the old-timey, glass returnable bottles you remember as a kid.

Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy is no longer open to the public, or for tours, but there are many retailers and restaurants that feature products from Haystack, which now ships in its milk and has sold off its livestock.

Windsor Dairy–No delivery, but their raw milk products are the talk of moms groups all over Windsor and the rest of the Front Range.

If you live in Colorado, there’s no question. You’ve got milk.

My dad was a Rocky Maountain News fan, and back then, with two major dailies in town, which paper you picked said something about you.  Usually, choosing the Rocky meant that you had adopted Republican leanings, but that’s not why my dad chose it over the Denver Post.  You might think content is king, and maybe it is for most people, but my dad, a Denver native and first-generation Colorado native, was a devout disciple to principles such as neatness and simplicity.

The Denver Post was formatted in a multi-section mess, each folded into quarters, so that Dad would have to disassemble and then unfold the whole paper, and unfold again, just to find out if there was something there he wanted to read, even if he was–and still is–a Democrat.  The Rocky was more like a newsprint magazine without a binding at the spine. You simply unrolled it, and started reading, flipping the pages as you went. You didn’t have to leave unwanted sections all over the place, unless there was special advertising inserted; you just had to turn to the next page.

As of February 27, however, there’s only one big paper left in town, like it or not.  The Rocky Mountain News closed its doors after nearly 150 years of dutiful service. Some say Denver’s not big enough for two papers, but as a town with all these professional sports teams, I don’t buy it. Times are changing, like it or not, and in any event, here’s what the front page of the final edition had to say:

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to you today. Our time chronicling the life of Denver and Colorado, the nation and the world, is over. Thousands of men and women have worked at this newspaper since William Byers produced its first edition on the banks of Cherry Creek on April 23, 1859. We speak, we believe, for all of them, when we say that it has been an honor to serve you. To have reached this day, the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News, just 55 days shy of its 150th birthday is painful. We will scatter. And all that will be left are the stories we have told, captured on microfilm or in digital archives, devices unimaginable in those first days.

‘Tis the season when Colorado denizens use the tired old saw, “If you don’t like the weather, wait ten minutes.” Now that the early springtime season is here, it’s time for Colorado’s patented weather patterns that require shorts and flip flops one day, and down parkas and snow shoes the next.  (It goes without saying that I also recommend pants of some sort.)

This week we’re looking at breaking the record high, and a snowstorm with temps in the 30s in less than a week.  The good news is this: ski season isn’t over yet, and even bigger springtime snowfalls in the city melt within a day or two. (Of course, your mileage may vary.)  And in case you haven’t noticed, it’s been windy, with the kind of gusts that make those of us near the Boulder fire of ‘09 a little nervous.

Until June, I recommend keeping the flip flops and the boots near the front door.  Soon you’ll be trading in your sidewalk salt for the stuff you line the rim of your margarita glass with.

Photo by Flicr–Creative Commons, by SuperFantastic

Is your city a Tree City USA?  If you live anywhere in Colorado, the answer is likely to be “yes.” That’s not just because most people consider even the most urban parts of the state to lean toward the natural, but because many Colorado towns and cities exhibit the following standards and qualifications:

1. A Tree Board or Department
2. A Tree Care Ordinance
3. A Community Forestry Program With an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita
4. An Arbor Day Observance and Proclamation

These fine Colorado tree lovers have been a Tree City USA for many years:

• Arvada
• Aurora
• Brighton
• Broomfield
• Boulder
• Castle Rock
• Colorado Springs
• Commerce City
• Delta
• Denver
• Estes Park
• Golden
• Highlands Ranch
• Lakewood
• Windsor
• Wheat Ridge
• Westminster
• US Air Force Academy–in Colorado Springs
• Northglenn
• Lyons
• Loveland
• Longmont

To find a list of all the Tree Cities in Colorado, visit http://www.arborday.org/programs/treeCityUSA/index.cfm

Photo by Flickr–Creative Commons, by Marina Cast.

After speaking with home buyers across the nation, it becomes clear that the quality of schools is always a concern raised by parents as well as home buyers without children of their own. It’s no secret that a solid school district is of importance to families with children, but the same solid school district can also be found to relate to solid home prices and market interest.

Some of the school-related factors that make for desirable neighborhoods include slower speed limits, invested homeowners, and a sense of community that translates into lower crime rates and higher quality of property care.

So that you can make informed decisions about the areas in Colorado you might be considering for relocation, check the Colorado Department of Education’s school rankings and report cards, online at http://reportcard.ode.state.co.us

There you can get detailed reports about how well students fare in standardized tests, and even what the average salaries are for teachers and administrators.  Of course, there’s no substitute for firsthand information, which is why most parents and concerned citizens check their neighborhood school district information well in advance, and make a visit or a phone call directly. You can easily get the name of the neighborhood public school when starting your search for a Colorado home by searching listings by school district.

Some Colorado cities with notable schools include:

• Table Mesa area of Boulder
• The Newlands Neighborhood in Boulder
• Colorado Springs, zip code 80920
• The 80124 zip code in Littleton
• Aspen
• The 80126 zip code in Highlands Ranch

COhomefinder takes the fear out of buying a home in Colorado

‘Tis the season…

with Halloween just a few days away, and the fall festivities coming up, it’s time to take the kids through that time-honored rite of passage in Colorado.  It’s time to go to the corn maze and pumpkin patch.

Where the Maize Is

You’ll find the corn mazes in communities where there’s–what else?–plenty of room for the Great Pumpkin to roam and the corn to grow tall enough to make things interesting.  Among some of the top runners:

• Brighton, in Adams County
• Thornton, at 104th and Riverdale Rd.
• Henderson, and if you want to really get roomy, Strasburg.

And for those who want to get out, without getting way out there, there’s a slightly more urban garden experience to be had in Littleton, at the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield.

Boulder, Broomfield, and Longmont feature a handful of “U pick it” farms between them, some with a hayride and petting zoo thrown in. But if you’re looking for something spooky, you’re going to have to make a trip to Colorado Springs‘ Haunted Mines.

Be safe, and pick a winner, kids.

The Pepsi Center, the site of most DNC activity

It’s all over, and the votes are in: The greater Denver area did a great job hosting the Democratic National Convention.  Who says? Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, cable TV’s best and brightest fake news show on Comedy Central. In their first broadcast of “Indecision 2008: Guess Who’s Coming to Denver” from University of Denver’s Newman Center, Daily Show’s Stewart warmed the crowd by remarking how “suspiciously friendly” the locals are. “You’re all in very good shape,” he said, and then mentioned mountains, beer, trout, and riding horseback. No surprises there.

While there were protests, there were no major scuffles with police; according to most, the convention went off without a hitch, and Denver looked great. Residents with homes in or near Downtown Denver neighborhoods, Auraria, the Pepsi Center, University of Denver/Observatory Park neighborhoods, Highlands, and outlying metro suburbs with good access to the light rail system were mostly reported unbothered by all the activity. Some even rented their homes out at a premium to attendees from out of state.

And for the types who were either uninterested or annoyed by all the traffic, crowds, and hubbub, getting away from it all was a snap.

In Boulder, there was no indication whatsoever that there was any special event at all just 30 minutes down highway 36.  The same story with areas like Fort Collins, and the corridor between Colorado Springs and Denver. Steven Colbert of the same network’s Colbert Report, however, did tease his audience about how he was staying at the Overlook Hotel, a reference to the movie The Shining which was filmed in part at the allegedly haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.