gardening tips


5 Charities Fighting Food Insecurity

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!

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The Innate Value of Seed Saving

Seed saving as a means to restore and promote the regenerative agricultural movement Seed saving has saved my relationship with the land. A few years into my gardening journey I felt helpless as to how my work was impacting the environment. Sure, I was growing my own produce, lowering my carbon footprint, and sharing an...

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Replenish Your Garden’s Footprint

Let’s start out by first acknowledging that gardening is an inherently Earth-friendly activity. The basic acts of turning the soil, sowing seeds, watering, and nurturing the plants literally consists of acting in a loving, gentle and kind way toward the Earth. Gardening is also eco-friendly in less direct but as conspicuous ways. The most obvious...

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Floating Row Covers in the Greenhouse

It’s been an especially cold winter for many parts of the country. We here in Colorado had the brunt of it during December and now the Midwest and Northeast are experiencing exceptionally cold temperatures. We’ve received a flood of questions about when and how to heat the Growing Dome. It largely depends on the amount...

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Homemade Organic Pest Control Sprays

On October 8th we hosted an “Ask the Gardening Experts” Interactive Workshop attended by over 50 students and presented by 5 panelists. It was an information packed day that offered many solutions for problems gardeners face. We will be releasing the full class on video for the public to purchase. Until then we wanted to...

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Greenhouse Helps New Gardener Learn Quickly

We love hearing from our Growing Dome owners, so when we received a very encouraging email from Lori Binczak, we had to share it with you guys. It’s so great when we get little reminders like this that remind us why we do what we do. We can’t believe what she’s accomplished in her 18′...

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Unusual Spring Weather

This early spring has been a guilty pleasure for what it seems like everyone in the continental United States, but we’re all secretly wondering what this means. Are we in for a major drought? When will the strong winds and tornadoes die down? Is this what global warming looks like? We definitely can’t answer any...

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Spring Planting, Inside & Out

This is the most exciting time of year to be involved in gardening and we can’t help but join in and share spring planting info. When the bug hits to get growing it’s hard to resist, but when REALLY is the best time to sow what seeds in spring? And is there a way to...

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Monday, March 12 #gardenchat host: Stacey Couch

Stacey Couch was the Creative Media Coordinator for Growing Spaces LLC. She wrangles social media, navigates our online presence, and harmonizes overall marketing efforts. Her background includes a degree in Conservation Biology, Evolution, and Ecology, and years working in the field studying ornithology and botany. More recently she’s worked for animal welfare non-profit organizations and...

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Join Us on #gardenchat on Monday, 3/12 at 9pm MST

We were fortunate last summer to come upon a great community of gardeners on Twitter that gets together once a week on Monday nights at 9pm EST for an event called #gardenchat. #gardenghat is presented by Bren of Creative Living and Growing with Bren Haas and includes hundreds of well-educated professional and hobby gardeners from...

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Testing the Foundation of Your Garden

From time to time, we receive questions about the soil in the gardening beds of the Growing Dome. The question of soil, like many things in gardening, can be a life-long pursuit or can be a spontaneous leap of faith. Examining the interactions between micro-organisms, fungi, minerals, biomass and more keeps laboratories at the most...

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Visioning the Balance

“For Puja and I, everything is connected, and we are ever awed by the complexity and beauty of the natural world. Offering a product which helps people enjoy and support this beauty and the bountiful ways of nature – while growing an abundance of food – is very fulfilling for us.” – Udgar Parsons, Co-Owner...

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Dealing with the Pests in Your Life

When the summer sun provides a daily flush of fresh produce we are lulled into a happy, comfortable state. Then the daylight begins to escape us and the warmth dissipates. In the last month or so you may very well be asking yourself, “Why are the spider mites, aphids, and white flies having a heyday...

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A Worthy Journey: Putting youth gardening into perspective

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...

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Gardening How-To Video Series

If you haven’t been on our YouTube channel lately, we’d like the chance to share the episodes from this Summer’s Gardening Tips video series. Our favorite is the most recent Hand Flower Pollination video: Also check out these fun videos on cooling your greenhouse in the summer:

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Gardening & Beyond Video Series

To follow the theme of the Growing Domes®, we like to promote “going local”. You can’t get any more local than growing your food at home and we support local gardeners as part of this movement. In 2010 Udgar Parsons, Growing Spaces Owner & Founder, taught at a “Gardening & Beyond” educational program that was...

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Control Whitefly Infestation Naturally

Whitefly infestations can be recognized when a plant is disturbed and a giant cloud of tiny flies fills the air. Although the Whitefly hatches and lives in the soil, it feeds on the undersides of foliage and often leaves a sticky residue. Unfortunately, this residue attracts aphids, and the aphid + residue combination attracts ants....

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Adding Composted Leaves to the Soil

So Richard Miller, our resident Master Gardener here at Growing Spaces, and I finally made it to my Growing Dome for a little gardening evaluation.  Turns out that my concerns about my gardening skills have a lot less to do with the results this year in my Dome, than the soil or rather in this...

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RFHS Students Get Going

With the help of many – 42′ Growing Dome is complete! As far back as I can remember, my grandmother always said, “If you want something done right – do it yourself…” As of today, I thoroughly disagree. The brand new 42′ Growing Dome greenhouse installed at Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale, Colorado has brought...

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Paying Attention to Seed Spacing

After punching in this morning I went out to the 33′ Dome here at  Growing Spaces to check on the lettuce seedlings surrounding the new strawberry transplants. Once again it appears we have planted way too densely, not hard to do with fine little lettuce seeds. So I spent about 10 minutes plucking out some...

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Growing in The Growing Dome Presentation

The following topics will be covered in the class Gardening & Beyond  Class on Tuesday April 13th, 2010, 5:30 – 8:00pm at the Archuleta County Extension Building Pagosa Springs: Planting with the Seasons Micro-climates within the Growing Dome Tropicals and Warm Weather Crops Fruit Trees and Perennials Watering Seed Sowing and Transplanting Growing Fish The...

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Maintaining a Healthy Garden

WATCH WHAT “CIDE” YOU’RE ON or Maintaining a Healthy Garden in a World of Chemicals   I don’t care what Punxsutawney Phil said, I’m dreaming of a green garden. I see fields of snow melting away to crocus and daffodils and emerging grasses, or are they weeds! Quick, to the herbicide. Ah, digging in the...

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March Tomatoes in Growing Dome Greenhouse

Can you guys believe we already have tomatoes sprouting in the Growing Dome, in MID-MARCH, in Southern Colorado, from last years plants that have been ripped out!!! You won’t see a single green leaf outside the Dome, for at least another month or two!!! (We’ll be eating tomatoes from this plant by then!)

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Growing Dome Planting Schedule

Planting Schedule: There are three main seasons for planting in the Growing Dome. The time to begin planting is in the spring, around mid-March, when the soil is warm enough for seeds of warm weather plants to germinate. To ensure proper germination, the soil needs to have an average temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. This...

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Growing Spaces Supports Economic Recovery in 2010!

We are happy to announce our choice to keep prices stable! Although Growing Spaces® also faces the economic challenges of our times, we have decided not to raise prices in 2010 in order to support the process of economic recovery. The security and independence of growing our own food leads us to a more stable and...

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