Mention the name Munson to any Boulderite, and the first thing she’ll think of will be sweet corn. The deliciousness of Munson Farms’ peaches and cream corn is a local delicacy that’s a Boulder staple every summer. During fall’s harvest time, there’s no better place to get one’s pumpkins than Munson’s Farm, during October when scarecrows, ghosts, and witches fly above the delicious crops for a Halloween scare (and photo op).
Bob Munson, the patriarch of Munson Farms, passed away recently, and the Boulder community came together to celebrate not only the head of our favorite farm stand, but a fascinating figure beyond the farm himself. Munson was an electrical engineer, and worked at Ball Aerospace as well as on his own farm, earning a stellar reputation amongst Ball’s engineers as a leader of antenna development from the former, from restaurateurs and foodies for the latter. His family said of him that he had a “5-9 job and a 9-5 job.”
Though the Boulder institution of Munson’s Farm on 75th and Valmont still reigns supreme amongst especially the corn growers of the area, Munson the man will be missed, for his boundless energy, his intellectual brilliance as an inventor, and his immense caring and contributing to the local food scene. If you’re new to Boulder and haven’t yet sampled the joy that is Munson’s farm corn, get there soon–the wares there will be changing from corn to squash before you know it.
FUN FACTS
- Bob Munson invented a new type of antenna called the “microstrip antenna,” which changed the course of communications as we know it.
- Munson worked closely with the food banks of Boulder and Broomfield. In fact, his was the first organic farm to work that closely with Community Food Share.
- Munson Farms’ daily hours are 9am – 6:30pm.
Image courtesy of Bob Gordon
