Posted 07.01.2010
Colorado cool stuff
Cotton snack bags, waterproof cameras and a garden for the yardless
By Eric Peterson
ECO-DITTY
When their daughter Ande was 2, Jennie and Scott Hammers learned she was allergic to PVC plastic - meaning many traditional food containers were out. "Tupperware is no good," Jennie says. Looking for a solution, "We thought, ‘Why not organic cotton?'" Jennie sewed her first cotton snack bag in 2007 and launched eco-ditty the following year due to high demand at Ande's Nederland preschool. After use, eco-ditty's products - the snack-sized snack ditty and the larger wich ditty for sandwiches - can be washed by hand, dishwasher or washing machine. "They hold up pretty well," says Jennie, labeling the company's growth "on a scale of one to 10, right about 10." $9 to $12 retail.
Made by eco-ditty LLC Nederland, (302) 258-9659, www.ecoditty.com. There is a list of retailers on the website.
LEFT HAND 400 POUND MONKEY IPA
Left Hand honed the recipe for its English-style Imperial Pale Ale for nearly two years before launching it earlier in the year. The ale was named for an old quote from Left Hand's Director of Brewing Operations Joe Schiraldi that raised the ire of some of Left Hand's microbrewery peers: "Any monkey can throw 400 pounds of hops in a kettle." But this is not just any IPA: 400 Pound Monkey uses lesser-known hop strains Boadicea and Sovereign to offer an entirely different flavor than common varieties. Left Hand VP Chris Lennert dubs them "herbal and earthy and strong," noting, "If we can't do anything different, why do it at all?" Noting that hops are often used to mask an inferior beer, Lennert says that "it's harder to make a pilsner than a triple-hopped whatever." $8.99 a six-pack retail.
Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, (303) 772-0258, www.lefthandbrewing.com. Available at numerous bars and liquor stores throughout Colorado.
MYGROFARM
Inspired by Mel Bartholomew's book, "Square Foot Gardening," Brok McFerron started making myGroFarms, raised gardening beds for the yard-less, in his native Baltimore in late 2008, then moved the operation to Denver last year. Six feet tall with 10 square feet of bed space, myGroFarm is perfect for city-dwellers with balconies or decks but not a yard.
"You get a whole lot out of a small space," says McFerron, estimating that a myGroFarm will sprout more than $500 worth of produce in a year. The high productivity is owed to several factors, he adds: "You're not walking on it so the soil isn't getting compacted, you don't need space for rows, and you don't have any weeds."$345 retail; enter "coloradobiz" as a coupon code for a 30 percent discount.
Made by Sunshower LLC, Denver, www.mygrofarm.com.
PENTAX OPTIO W90 DIGITAL CAMERA
The eleventh iteration in PENTAX's long-running line of waterproof cameras, the Optio W90 hit retail in April and immediately started turning heads. Not only is it waterproof to 20 feet, the 12.1-megapixel camera is also dust-proof, cold-proof, and shockproof, says Michelle Martin, PENTAX Imaging's marketing manager.
"There's a whole cult of fly-fishermen, kayakers, and skiers and snowboarders who need a camera that's durable." Martin also touts the Optio's built-in digital microscope that allows shooters to place the lens a centimeter from their subject, with an appropriate flash setting to boot. "We don't think that anybody else is doing that with a point-and-shoot." (Owned by a Japanese parent, PENTAX Imaging's U.S. headquarters is in Golden.) $329 retail.
Made by PENTAX Imaging Co., Golden, (800) 877-0155, www.pentax.com. Also available at numerous camera and electronics stores throughout Colorado.
Denver-based writer Eric Peterson is the author of Frommer's Colorado, Frommer's Montana & Wyoming, Frommer's Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks and the Ramble series of guidebooks, featuring first-person travelogues covering everything from atomic landmarks in New Mexico to celebrity gone wrong in Hollywood. Peterson has also recently written about backpacking in Yosemite, cross-country skiing in Yellowstone and downhill skiing in Colorado for such publications as Denver's Westword and The New York Daily News.
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