We believe everyone should be able to reliably grow clean, healthy food all year round. No matter where they live. The Growing Spaces Mission has never been as important as it is now. Design improvements, installation efficiency, gardening advice, international partnerships and food security projects have all enabled more people to grow organic food year-round all over the world. We want to give you a look back at 2020, and a glimpse forward into our plans for 2021.
On the first morning of the 26’ Growing Dome Greenhouse build, Tyrone's Uncle John told us that when constructing a new building it was Navajo tradition to always put the door on the East side of the building and work your way clockwise...following the sun. Otherwise, ‘it gets you all out of whack’.
We wanted to take a moment and show our appreciation to five outstanding non-profit charities that are actively fighting food insecurity. Navajo Nation, Mattersville Vets, Urban Growers Initiative, GoFarm Coop, and the Food Coalition 4 Archuleta County and the GGP are all working to improve the health and nutrition of the people in their respective communities. See what Growing Spaces is doing to support these great causes, and learn how you can help. We are also excited to announce a new Urban Community Garden Grant opportunity for 2021!
Udgar and I founded Growing Spaces in 1989. The process of selling it was like looking for the right partner to pass on the baton in an exciting marathon. Preparing for that moment took extra energy. Our team had become our community as we developed the agility together to master all the moving parts of an evolving company. After retiring, we decided to travel in order to mark the change and to distance ourselves from our results-driven habits.
Floating Island Plants for Your Pond Maintaining a healthy above ground pond in our domes depends on numerous factors. One of the most common questions we are asked pertains to controlling the algae growth in the pond garden. Floating pond planters are a perfect way to keep the algae away and add beauty! Why do...
She just flew up to the window as if to say “Are you Awake now?” I am slowly getting there. Attempting to summarize my thoughts, my woodpecker friend evokes the question by testing various surfaces on our log cabin home. What to say? I’m in a reflective mood. In this record heat, all I can...
As I consider the “Return of the Light” as signified by the Spring Equinox, Easter and even the Lunar Eclipse this week, I have to say… “It is welcome!” I have been very moved by the troubles we see and hear about globally, as we enter the next season. Growing Spaces® mission “to help personal...
The Winter Solstice: A time to celebrate, a time of re-affirmation, and a time of courage. In the Northern Hemisphere, the December Solstice is the Winter Solstice, and the shortest day of the year. Although winter is the season of dormancy, darkness and cold, the December Solstice marks the “turning of the Sun.” The days slowly get...
Season’s greetings! What is this season? A time of turning…turning toward snow boots and scrapers and bundling up to scrape snow off the solar panels and help Udgar mount the plow. The smell of wood smoke nurtures my sense of gratitude for our Rocky Mountain home and the outdoor life we get to live. This...
As I begin this Newsletter greeting, I was just watching wild turkeys outside our window scratching for food. I always feel wonder that they return every year and surround our cabin with their good energy, reminding me of the pilgrims and Native American’s offering gratitude. I am preparing a surprise turkey dinner for a friend and...
Yesterday, while focusing on recovery from my dental surgery and the long week of organizing and working with our stellar team, I knew I just wanted to GARDEN in my Growing Dome. I was out in my Growing Dome for about 5 hours, preparing old baskets for new plants, amending the soil and mixing up...
When we started Growing Spaces LLC in 1989, our effort was to build a socially responsible business based on the values and practices we are living. One of them was the idea to “Celebrate Everything.” For me that means the attempt to shift inside, and see the potentials in every experience as well as to...
I have just settled in by the fire, on our coldest day on record in two decades in the USA, according to N.O.A.A. Weather Service online. With the wind chill, my relatives in Minnesota are experiencing 60 degrees below zero today! Lucky for us, it is only 5 degrees below zero in Pagosa Springs, but...
Growing Spaces greenhouses was recently paid a visit by a CompanyWeek reporter. Owners of the company, Puja and Udgar Parsons, had an opportunity to take the reporter on a tour and share about our unique sustainable Growing Dome greenhouses. Puja Parsons is quoted throughout the article, and on this day she took the opportunity to...
Why are we a Socially Responsible Company? Like so many environmentally aware people, I was really affected by the reality of the unusual super-storms of the past few weeks as the hurricane in the Philippines and the recent tornadoes here in the United States, took away lives, homes, and livelihoods. The Climate Reality project...
A few years ago I was privileged to be on a panel of CEOs at our annual SW Colorado Women’s Business Conference and asked “How do women do business differently than men?” Although the moment called a response from the three of us that invited us all to recognize that we all possess masculine and...
It’s Earth Day, and this is being celebrated in many places around the globe (see Earthday.org ). In our own small town, the people of vision were out on a cold day in their booths giving away small trees to celebrate Earth Day. There were many examples of innovation and many contributions to the awareness...
Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver endorses the Growing Dome Greenhouse while visiting Navajo Nation in Arizona
What IF I could live in such balance that the energy needed for my everyday commitments was an OVERFLOW out of the peace and natural enthusiasm I carry within me? What if I could re-set myself, when I was thrown off balance? And make recovery an art form? This has been my developing goal since...
I write on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the day of our President’s second inauguration. Many synchronicities stir me as I consider this time January 21, 2013 and what it means to me. In his speech, fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us of the power of “having a dream” that is,...
This is the time of year that my inner child delights in the music, Christmas lights and spirit of giving. My excitement is an appreciation for the turning inward of the shorter days, the relief of cozying our home and coming inside for more reflection. A reverence for inwardness symbolized by the Solstice, as well...
In the November – December 2012 issue of the southwest Colorado EPIC Magazine, the co-owner and CEO of Growing Spaces, Puja Dhyan Parsons, contributed an article on “Becoming a Green Business”. Puja’s “how to” isn’t in the traditional way you would think. The article was originally published in the November-December 2012 issue of Epic Magazine...
One of our two favorite leaders of Growing Spaces, Puja Parsons, gave a beautiful keynote address to an audience of nearly 200 at the SW Colorado Women’s Small Business Conference in Durango, Colorado on July 13th, 2012. It was a bit of a new frontier for Puja because she had the opportunity to present how...
We have a great recording to share with you from an interview at the local KWUF Radio’s Positive About Pagosa radio show with Udgar Parsons, Growing Spaces LLC owner and founder. Udgar shares his journey of discovering Pagosa Springs, Colorado as the home for his family and his business as well as how he came...
If you missed it last month, we have it to share with you now! Puja Dhyan Parsons, Owner & CEO of Growing Spaces® LLC was one of 24 people representing her company in the Entrepreneur Showcase at the Slow Money National Gathering on October 13, 2011 in San Fransisco, CA. A hallmark of the Slow...
On October 13th, 2011 tune in around 11:30am PST and wait to see Puja Dhyan Parsons present for 5 minutes at the Entrepreneur Showcase! We’re expecting her to be sometime between 11:30 and 11:45 am PST (that’s 12:30-12:45 pm Mountain Time). We’re so excited and hope you have the chance to join us! We’re excited...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SUBJECT: Local Business Presents at Slow Money National Gathering Puja Dhyan Parsons, Owner and CEO of Growing Spaces® LLC has been one of 24 people selected to represent her company in the Entrepreneur Showcase at the Slow Money National Gathering on October 13, 2011 in San Fransisco, CA. A hallmark of the...
Did you realize that Growing Spaces is a solar powered business? The solar panels installed outside our workshop provide enough to run our shop and offices while leaving power left to send back into the grid. Our staff also participates in energy saving activities that help us make the most of the sun power we...
We are excited to share this very valuable opportunity for our small community in southwest Colorado. Pagosa Springs will be hosting this two-day conference offering small businesses owners educational and networking opportunities. The conference is extremely affordable at $30 per day or $50 for both days and includes tours of two companies in Pagosa...
As we celebrate the interest from children and young adults in growing organic food, we want to point to major influences over the last few years. I thank the efforts of Jamie Oliver, Will Allan, and Michelle Obama and many Moms and Dads who are convinced that learning “where food comes from” is the beginning...
I was looking at an old journal from January 2010 this morning and found that I had written “Growing Spaces has a new face! As we begin the new decade in times of uncertainty and challenge, Growing Spaces is restructuring to provide more education about the life-style our Growing Domes® support and our intent to...
I am writing after the Japanese Tsunami, the upset in Madison, the revolution in Egypt, and many other newsworthy events. It is a time of questioning and a time of “upset” I am sure, to most of us and we all have to integrate new fears, like the potential for Nuclear Fall-Out from the power...
We at Growing Spaces® are motivated by an awareness of the need for change in the ways mankind lives inside the Earth’s eco-system. Creative and intelligent use of resources is a prime value, as we realize that the earth is a finite system with finite resources. Respectfully, our company offers solutions to some of these...
Spring is a very fun time in our Growing Dome greenhouses. Usually all the winter crops that we have been harvesting and eating over the winter are starting to go to seed. Do not despair! A lot of these vegetables have edible flowers. For example, arugula, tatsoi, mizuna, and a lot of edible greens also...
It is obvious that we live in unprecedented times. The combination of environmental and economic degradation are catalysts to review how we do business as well as how we live our lives. Growing Spaces has always been “alternative” in a way because we have a product that uses and teaches the use of natural energy...
