Category — Shopping

On Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings, downtown Boulder hums with the chatter of crowds and the almost tangible aromas of fresh produce, cheese, baked goods, and cooking foods.

What began in 1987 a small gathering of farmers has expanded into a group of around 150 participants coming together to bring produce and homemade goods to Boulder residents and visitors alike. As a non-profit membership organization, the Boulder County Farmer’s Market works to support Boulder County farmers and make a lifestyle of sustainable and local agriculture possible.

At the Farmer’s Market you’ll find all your traditional produce favorites like carrots, peaches, tomatoes, apples, and beans, as well as some unconventional products like seedless yellow watermelon and crayfish. Other vendors sell flowers, eggs, homemade soaps, and goat cheese. If you feel like browsing rather than buying, you can fill up on the wide variety of samples of everything from granola to salsa.

The vendors at the Farmer’s Market use sell both conventional and certified-organic produce. Because they don’t sell their goods to grocery stores, these farmers make a substantial part of their living at the Farmer’s Market. Prices at the Market are generally higher than you would find at the grocery store, but many find it well worth the price to support local farmers and walk away with freshly-picked organic and sustainably grown food.

The Farmer’s Market also holds monthly craft and art fairs as well as giving space to local musicians to play and get their names known. The Market is open:

• Every Saturday morning 8 am to 2 pm April through November
• Every Wednesday evening 4 am to 8 pm from May to October

If you want a chance to wander the Boulder streets and enjoy an assortment of fresh foods and funky people, the Boulder County Farmer’s Market makes for a memorable and delicious place to explore.

Walking along the street on Boulder’s University Hill, you’ll encounter myriad eclectic shops and eateries that form the perfect hangout for CU students and community members alike. Nestled amid the shops on 13^th Street, one inconspicuous store holds a welcome treat for those who wander inside.

Innisfree Poetry Bookstore and Café opened in January of this year, becoming the third poetry-only bookstore in the United States. The shop has a delightfully comforting and faintly magical feel about it, brimming with wooden shelves of verse. It is a place one could easily forget themself in—which is just what its owners Brian Buckely and Kate Hunter want.

Both poets themselves, they named their shop after a poem by William Butler Yeats that begins, “I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree.” Yeats paints Innisfree, a small island in Ireland, as a place of peace, refreshment, and spiritual affirmation, and Innisfree Bookstore echoes that sentiment.

Buckley and Hunter intend it to be a place where poets and people of all interests and backgrounds can mingle and share their creativity. Though new to the Hill, Innisfree has already earned a reputation as a favorite place to hang out, study, and enjoy coffee and conversations.

Innisfree serves Conscious Coffee, this year’s winner of Roast Magazine’s Microbrew of the Year Award. They also holds poetry readings and open mics every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm. Arise and go to Innisfree to sip a warm mug while you drink in imagery, meter, and rhyme to your heart’s content.