I love our parks. The open spaces in and around Boulder are part of what makes it such a special place. We live in a beautiful bubble; open forested foothills to our west, gradual open slopes to our north, and thriving farms and grasslands to our south and east. Many Boulderites know that the open space doesn’t just benefit the citizenry, but a huge array of life. In fact, Boulder County has the highest number of unique species of birds, plants, and mammals in Colorado. Unfortunately, this is all threatened by invasive species. One such weed is purple loosestrife, both pretty and evil. About... Read More

Fear over food shortages has prompted people to take matters into their own hands by planting vegetable gardens. Oregon State University’s Master Gardener Program has  made their online vegetable gardening course free through the end of April. George Ball, the executive of Burpee Seed Company, has said that there has been a huge surge in online orders of seeds, and noted that the same happened during the stock market crash of 1987, the dotcom bubble burst of 2000, and he remembers the two oil crises of the 1970s from his childhood. But he says he has not seen a spike this large and widespread. If... Read More

School is coming to a close, the weather is warming up, summer is on its way. For many of us in Boulder this means enjoying the sunshine as much as possible, whether it be through extreme hiking and climbing or just some good old fashioned lounging. If you’re looking for a novel way to reconnect with your sun drenched self, you might consider checking out one of Boulder’s brightest gems, its community garden system. Boulder County is home to 12 community garden sites, eight of which are located within the city limits. Growing Gardens, the organization responsible for the garden spaces, is... Read More

I’m with Neil, who is the co owner of Tangles Salon in North Boulder. Her and her business partner opened Tangles in 2009 after  working at another salon for 24 years. Neil has been in Boulder since 1977 from Madison, WI where she attended beauty school and started working. She came to Boulder to escape Wisconsin. She’d been in Colorado and didn’t like Colorado Springs. Boulder seemed closer in spirit to Madison, but with better weather. Neil came to Boulder one January on vacation and people were wearing shorts. That sealed the deal. Neil met her husband in Boulder on a blind... Read More

When I was a barista in Brooklyn, I remember a customer asking for the café’s unwanted coffee grounds for his home composting. We had tons of it—leftover from the espresso grinder and from making drip coffee—filling up our trashcans so we were happy to pass some on to him. Recycling coffee grounds into your compost or fertilizer is a fantastic way to cut down on coffee waste. It’s also a great way to add valuable nutrients to your garden, since coffee is full of nitrogen and antioxidants. Another fun use for coffee, which I also learned while working at that shop in Brooklyn, is for skincare.... Read More