Dome Greenhouse Kits, By Growing Spaces

Our desire, as the founders of Growing Spaces, is to support others who want to live sustainable, healthy lives. The innovation of our own company’s product came directly out of our desire to live in health and balance. These greenhouses demonstrate a solar self-sufficiency that keeps fresh food on the table, even within the challenge of environmental and economic changes.

Our Growing Domes handle wind and weather and sustain themselves with only five hours of sun a day. They hold a carefully crafted eco-system inside the strongest structure in the world. The synergy of components in our greenhouse makes it possible to have a year round indoor garden.

One of the best ways we can serve the future is to support the work and designs of communities intending to “go green” around the world. Neighborhoods are very important in our era and groups who band together can often become more self sufficient and safe in their way of life. Udgar and I spent two careers participating in the growth and development of several communities whose purpose was to demonstrate the viability of alternative methods of energy efficiency in organic gardening and farming and the disciplines that promote holistic health and personal balance. Each of these proved that the commitment of a group of people whose values form a common ground could increase their quality of life incredibly.

It is our privilege as a small company based on this foundational experience to have provided Growing Domes for schools, intentional communities and neighborhoods, as well as backyard gardeners. Due to the short growing season, our domes were designed for the Rocky Mountains. Our hometown of Pagosa Springs, Colorado has over 80 of them. Typically, when someone buys a Growing Dome, the neighbors observe its performance over a few seasons, and then decide to buy one themselves. Therefore, our market spreads demographically in clusters and mostly by word of mouth.

Now, more than ever we feel a responsibility to show that our society can thrive beyond the dependence on fossil fuels that is abusing our natural habitat. According to the latest studies the world may be out of oil and natural gas by 2032 or sooner. This means that our children and grand children will be a part of the quest for in alternative energy resources and development that has been a part of our own lifestyle for the last thirty years.

To support them we have created a new paradigm in business that is “part of the solution” of restoring balance for our natural world. The company vision also grew out of the values we hold dear. The innovation of our own company’s product came directly out of our desire to live healthy balanced lives.

Now, people who are committed to living naturally are encouraged to add the Growing Dome to their lifestyle. They are sold as a kit with instructions to install or we can provide a installation crew or supervisor to deliver and help set up the dome.

We know that the beauty and efficiency of growing in our domes, creates a natural learning opportunity for children of all ages. There, as our domes become a living laboratory where kids are learning ”where food comes from” and the miracle of life is celebrated from seed to fruit.

Because our beginning as a company came from making a “choice for health,” we have decades of experience to share as a family who know that we can all “help ourselves” to increased self sufficiency and quality of life.

--- by Puja Dhyan Parsons

Our Mission

To make the Growing Dome available to all. The Dome provides people with an optimum indoor ecosystem for completely natural year-round gardening and retreat with minimal, if any, reliance on electricity or fossil fuels.

Our History

In the late 60’s Udgar Parsons, a Dentist and Orthodontist, made a career change and moved his family to a remote and beautiful place called Scoraig on the northwest coast of Scotland. There he pursued farming and practiced the art of self-sufficient living off the grid. A fascination with alternative life-styles that "care for the environment and our fellow humans," motivated Udgar and his family to participate in several alternative community experiments around the world. The success of turning one overgrazed sheep ranch into a self-sufficient oasis led to his interest in cultivating food in challenging situations.

After helping to build a sustainable eco-community in Oregon for four years, Udgar found himself working with the Biodome at the Windstar Foundation, in Snowmass, Colorado in 1987. Windstar’s founders John Denver and Tom Crum were mentored by Buckminster Fuller who was convinced that if we learned “to do more with less” we could feed the world and solve our environmental problems. Eight years of research went into their large Biodome model, which was to target large Institutions in marketing. In 1989 Udgar founded Growing Spaces. He was inspired to create an affordable dome greenhouse for backyard gardeners and continued to enhance the dome’s efficiency by adding several new features. While pursuing the ideal of sustainability, he noticed that he was a part of a newly emerging business culture, dedicated to the entrepreneurship of creating practical solutions to our environmental challenges.

Our Values

Sustainability: We are committed to modeling a sustainable business which promotes the use of renewable resources wherever possible and “Living lightly on the earth”. Using existing technology in combination with the natural forces of wind, sun, water and earth, we produce a product that is as efficient as possible, while remaining affordable.

Health: Conservation and Natural Gardening: In order to conserve the finite resources of the planet and renew life in ourselves and in our world, we promote organic gardening without pesticides and other harmful chemicals. This is the basis of sound health, healing and a balanced lifestyle.

Sanctuary: Helping our clients to take charge of their diet and health by growing fresh, safe, organic food in the Growing Dome environment has the added benefit of creating a peaceful sanctuary away from the stresses of modern life. The extra space of a beautiful enclosed garden can be a retreat space that nurtures peace, harmony and inner balance. Our product increases quality of life and enhances the life-style of those who value finding a sense of solace through connection with nature. We are currently developing a Sanctuary Dome for those who wish to emphasize this focus.

Education: Our background in holistic, sustainable and off-the-grid living leads to knowledge and wisdom from experience that may be of service to various clients and schools. We offer a consulting group to help our clients make the transition to a more natural way of life and provide support for schools who would like to use the Growing Dome as a living laboratory for learning about living in harmony with nature.

What is the Global Significance of the Growing Dome?

On giving this question a lot of thought I came to the conclusion that the Growing Dome is a profound demonstration of the direction we need to move as inhabitants of this planet. Firstly, creative and intelligent use of resources is a prime value, as we realize that the earth is a finite system with finite resources. The Growing Dome is a model for this and also demonstrates energy efficiency; with the looming energy crisis due to the upcoming or even current Peak Oil situation this efficiency is more and more needed.

The dome shows the use of naturally occurring energies: the sun, conduction, convection and radiation as natural methods of heat storage and transfer. The use of alternative energy sources, eg solar panels to generate power is also modeled. There is increasing concern about the vast distances food is being shipped, using large amounts of fossil fuels and creating increasing amounts of greenhouse gases. Local food production becomes increasingly more sensible. The Growing Dome enables the individual to accomplish this even in harsher climates with minimal use of fossil fuel energy for heating or cooling.

Fresh organic produce is being increasingly seen as a preferred alternative to food grown using pesticides, insecticides and artificial fertilizers that continue to pollute our environment, waterways and aquifers. I believe Buckminster Fuller would have been delighted to see the Growing Dome as a direct outgrowth of his vision and foresight in caring for "Spaceship Earth".

About Growing Spaces

“Helping People to Help Themselves”

Our Mission

Our History

Our Values

What is the Global Significance of the Growing Dome?

What is the Growing Dome and what makes it so Unique?