But if you made it through another summer and never got around to building that raised garden bed, or transition your landscaping to require less water, here are a few ideas…

Community Garden. Condo/townhome and small home living is great as it usually requires less maintenance, but sometimes there’s just not enough space for the vegetable garden of your dreams.  If that is the case, consider a community garden. Recently, CU researchers published that community gardens have a positive influence on both the individual gardener and the neighborhood.  The study finds that they “eat more vegetables, exercise more, weigh less and feel healthier than nongardeners—and even home gardeners—in the Denver-metro area.”

Landscaping.  For those who live in Boulder county, check out the Center for Resource Conservation’s Garden-In-A-Box.  These carefully designed xeriscape gardens are low-water landscapes, which utilize water-wise plants specifically cultivated to bloom in Boulder’s arid climate.

Container Gardening. If you have at least a porch but are otherwise limited with space, consider a container garden and plant your favorite herbs, flowers and small veggie plants.  It’s also great for keeping a garden as we get into the winter months.

Home Gardening. And, if you have the space, there is little more satisfying than producing your own harvest from your own backyard. David, a Colorado homeowner, blogger and gardener writes of his garden: “Even with all of that going on, our garden is still producing food like crazy! The weather is markedly cooler (no more 100 days!) and we’ve been having some fluctuation in the amount of moisture coming from the sky. Autumn is coming, but that doesn’t seem to stop our garden from tossing out the last of the season’s bounty.”

Just check out a few of his photos and you can’t help but want more garden space or start your own garden.

Garden with peppers ready to harvest, courtesy of NotQuiteHippie.com

Did you have a garden this season?  If you did, and your crops are growing strong, consider canning.

A garden's harvest turned to preserved food

And gather the cherries from the neighborhood fruit trees to make a delicious jar of cherry preserves with this recipe.

Remember it’s never to late to start planning your garden, whether it’s contained to a potted plant or a series of raised garden beds.

http://8z.com/articles/my-secret-micro-garden

The millennials are the largest demographic category in U.S. history with an estimated 80 million members in the US. They were born from 1982 to 2000. This generation, coming to age, at least in terms of real estate purchases are an interesting group to consider.

The millennials are important for the real estate industry. There are more than the Baby Boomers, but they have a very different view of real estate.

As Lane Hornung said, “The ones who have already bought, may already have been burned by the downturn. The ones who haven’t bought are skeptical. They’ve seen what has happened to their parents, friends or other family members.”

Rather than looking forward to buying a first home many prefer to continue renting. Yet this, like many things will likely pass.  ‘They will want home ownership. But they will be buying for different reasons.  They will be buying for community, not so much for an investment.

For the full interview and more insights visit John and Lane’s article on 8z Real Estate

The economy has many home owners and potentially home buyers thinking carefully whether or not they can or want to buy a home at this time.

It should be no surprise then that in Colorado rents are rising and vacancies are falling. John Rebchook reported this in a recent article.

He and the experts in his article discuss the falling vacancies are influenced by a multitude of factors, from local real estate to the local economy including employment.  A few considerations include,

• The expiration of the tax credit and many first time home buyers being hesitant to buy or unable to qualify for a loan.
• Many young people moving to Colorado, where more jobs are perceived to be available.

He also reported the vacancy rates and average rents throughout the Denver metro and Front Range, in a separate article,  including:

2011’s first quarter vacancy rates by county were :

• Adams, 5.6 percent.
• Arapahoe, 6.4 percent.
• Boulder/Broomfield, 4.9 percent.
• Denver, 4.8 percent.
• Douglas, 5.3 percent.
• Jefferson, 4.7 percent.

Median rents for all counties were:

• Adams, $871.
• Arapahoe, $825.
• Boulder/Broomfield, $961.
• Denver, $818.
• Douglas, $1061.
• Jefferson, $828.

Currently the prices for renting are still less than buying.  There could be a shift in vacancies when more first time buyers choose to buy when it makes more economic sense in comparison with buying.

Trying to consider if buying a home in Colorado makes sense for you? 8z Real Estate has Colorado real estate brokers who can focus you property search for homes that meet your criteria and budget.  Or are you wanting to own Colorado real estate investment property?  We have brokers with experience in investment properties from Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs.

Loveland Colorado has been voted as one of the best places to retire, including being recognized by US News.

Some of the most popular neighborhoods in Loveland include:

• Boise Village North
• Kendall Brook
• Mariana Butte
• Alford Meadows
• The Cottages At Enchantment Ridge
• The Enclave At Enchantment Ridge

Think Colorado right be the right place for you?  There are several age restricted communities, also known as 55+ communities.  They include:

• Valley Hi in Colorado Springs
• Ridge at Stony Creek in Littleton
• Anthem Ranch in Broomfield
• Gate N Green in Broomfield
• Mackenzie Place in Colorado Springs
• West Point Village in Longmont
• Windsor Gardens East in Denver
• The Centennial at Riverwalk in Littleton
• Sunflower in Fort Collins

All you need is:

• Pots
• Potting soil
• Herb seeds such as Basil and Parsley
• A south facing window

For more information about gardening visit your local CSU Extension Office or Master Gardeners group.

For those who enjoy gardening and are looking for a Colorado homes or Colorado land for sale, be sure to visit COhomefinder.  If you find your perfect Colorado property now, you should still have time to plant the first seeds in your garden for the season.

Westminster Colorado has over 100k residents and nearly 40k homes as reported by city-data.com.

Not just a commuter’s town Westminster has luxury neighborhoods too which draws residents in, including The Ranch Reserve and Lexington Shores.

According to COhomefinder data there are 978 properties listed in Westminster ranging from  $32k to $2.69-million.

But Westminster is still more than just homes, its about the community. A few popular highlights to Westminster for families include:

The Butterfly and Insect Pavilion which is entertaining for family of all ages.

Westminster also has several golf courses including Legacy Ridge, Hyland Hills and Heritage at Westmoor.  (For those who want to live on or near a golf course, there are lots of homes that add convenience for golfing too)

As Westminster has grown in the past several years so have the number of trails, recreation centers and shopping for everyone in the family.

And if Westminster is right for your, meet your local 8z Real Estate brokers to take a look at the homes and neighborhoods best for you.

If you live in the Denver metro area and haven’t started to take a look at the holiday schedule, it’s best to plan ahead and keep from missing out on the best attractions.

This year visitors to the Denver Downtown area will have a new free public ice arena to enjoy – it’s the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park in the 16th Street Mall vicinity, and Arapahoe.  Of course Boulder residents have known now for several winters how much fun a trip to the local ice rink is just off of Pearl Street.

And coming up soon, is Denver’s Parade of Lights – it’s always the first weekend after Thanksgiving.  The themed parade is free to watch along the route, or you can purchase tickets for the grandstands by the City and Capitol buildings.  People from across the state visit to kick of their holiday spirit.

This year popular Denver venues will also be exhibiting their light displays for the holidays including The Botanic Garden’s Blossoms of Light, The Denver Zoo’s Zoo Lights, and the Butterfly Pavilion’s Living Lights.

So just remember that there is a lot more to the holidays than bumper to bumper shopping center parking lot traffic and be sure that you stop and enjoy the Holiday spirit this year!

So what is it about Evergreen and Conifer that allures its residents?

Many of the homes have larger lots. A home still within an Evergreen or Conifer HOA may still have larger lots. It’s not infrequent for home owners to find properties with 2-4 acres or even more.  This allows great privacy, and also, a little bit of wildlife viewing from their living room or kitchen windows.  One friend regularly snaps photos of elk wandering through her yard from the kitchen of her Conifer home. It is noteworthy though, that bears and mountain lions live nearby too, which requires a couple more precautions from those who relocate to these mountain communities for a change of lifestyle. This includes supervising children and pets when outdoors, carefully securing doors and windows, along with keeping garbage inaccessible by wildlife. However many residents find these precautions of little inconvenience for the mountain lifestyle.

The mountain lifestyle and community amenities are preferred by many.  There are great parks and open space to venture throughout the year.  This includes the Upper Bear Creek which not only winds past many Evergreen homes but also runs down to Evergreen Lake. This is a popular community spot where 5k races such as the Evergreen Town Race, benefitting the Alpine Rescue Team, are held, a spot to find fishermen on the shores or in a boat, as well as ice skating in the winter months.

Other residents also prefer the small town feel these mountain communities have with local businesses and restaurants that are unique to the area.  For those who don’t mind the cooler winter temperatures and heavier snowfall, these communities are accessible to Denver but provide an adequate retreat from it as well.

If you live in the Denver area there are lots of great day trips not to miss.  A great site for you to take a look at to plan the family’s Denver activities is provided by the Denver gov.  There are great museums such as the Denver Arts Museum, Museum of Natural history with IMAX presentations that are worthwhile to make your summer visit to, or send the kids to for educational entertainment.

If you are living in a suburb, you can also find listings for arts and entertainment by Denver suburbs such as Broomfield, Arvada and Thornton at your finger tips

There are also a lot of great non profit organizations in Colorado that are always in need of volunteers, some of which also benefit Colorado youth.  As the college selection process often looks in favor of those who teenagers who are involved with extra-curricular activities and volunteer work, summer is a great time to get involved.  For families that live in Fort Collins or Northern Colorado, a great local non profit is the Fort Collins Youth Broadcasting Inc which gives high school age teenagers to learn and participate in local broadcasting.  For those who live in Fort Collins and volunteering outdoors there are eco-adventure volunteering activities to clean trails and streams so you can continue to enjoy in the future.

Wherever you live in Colorado, be it, Boulder, Evergreen or Windsor, there are great things to do outdoors too including parks and trails within a short drive.  Enjoy your summers!

Generally the traffic is not as bad heading up to the mountains in the summer time as it is in the winter with skier traffic.  Even if you prefer not to wander too far away with your all too short weekend, there are lots of places nearby that are entertaining and relaxing for the whole family.

Two of my favorite nearby summer destinations are Estes Park and Winter Park.

Estes Park is the gateway community to Rocky Mountain National Park, and boy is it beautiful in the summer time!  When heading into Estes Park it is hard to miss Lake Estes and downtown.  Summertime at Lake Estes has lots of outdoor activities.  At the marina  you can rent a kayak or boat to explore.  Or if you would rather stick on land, bring your bike or rent one to go along the Lake Estes Trail.  It is also a nice spot to sit on their small sand beach to soak in the mountain sun or for a picnic.

For those looking for dining and shopping Estes Park has the cutest little downtown which is easy to walk through.  There are galleries, souvenir shops, and food and snacks aplenty.

Summertime is also the best time to visit Rocky Mountain National Park while you stay in Estes Park.  There are numerous easy hiking trails that you can walk to see scenic lakes and streams.  Trail Ridge Road is only open in the summer and is a site to see for those who haven’t driven on the highest paved highway!  There is a visitors center that you can stop at and look out at the scenery, high above treeline.

Estes Park, being located near the North Central part of the state is very accessible to front range residents, particularly from Boulder or Fort Collins.  If you are travelling on a busy weekend, you can avoid I-70 altogether—just another perk of Estes Park for a day or weekend destination.

Winter Park is another great destination not to miss.  During the winter, it is a popular ski town to Denver residents, but in the summer time it is just as fun with activities to do on the mountain.  Once the snow melts you can take a ride on their alpine slide—it’s the longest in the world.  Or if you find adventure in mountain biking, the mountain’s ski trails open up for the fearless mountain biker.  There are also Frisbee golf and miniature golf courses for those who prefer not to participate in gravity accelerating sports.

One advantage of weekending in a ski town during summer is that there are usually great last minute rates to book a room or condo for a Denver getaway.  The drive from Denver to Winter Park has only a short distance on I-70, with a scenic drive over Berthoud pass.

These are a few popular destinations.  If you’re feeling stir crazy and need to hit the open road, there are lots of great Colorado destinations within a short distance to your home in Colorado!