GROWING SPACES NEWS

This year we are changing the format of our news bulletins and posting the news up on the web page rather than sending out newsletters as in previous years. This is the up-to-date news for August, 2002.

Domes in Over Thirty States

We have experienced a sudden boost in expanding the popularity of the Growing Dome and so far this year we have domes in six states that we have not had domes in before. We built 18' domes in Michigan, Maryland, and North Carolina and a 22ft in Oklahoma. We also built a 42' dome in Kansas and two domes in Wyoming. Due to the increased popularity of the Internet and our expanding web presence, we are experiencing inquiries from many different states.

At the moment, plans are underway to host a nationwide map on our web page showing the states in which there are existing Growing Domes and with the owner's permission to reference the particular dome. We have continuing inquiries on a worldwide basis including England, Switzerland, Germany, South America, India and Sweden. Soon Growing Spaces will be international.

Marathon East Coast Trip

In the Spring of 2002, our two intrepid dome builders, Nick Parsons and Wirt Wolff embarked on a major expedition with Nick's new truck and a rented U-Haul trailer, carrying three dome kits - two 18' kits and a 22' kit. The 18" was installed in Michigan, a 22' in Long Island, NY, and the other 18' in Maryland. The whole trip including journey time and installation of all three domes was accomplished in 2 l/2 weeks. A marathon voyage and the guys are not sure if they want to do it again soon!

The trip was glitch-free except that the truck broke down within 100 miles of home. That was after traveling almost 5000 miles, but luckily the breakdown occurred within a 100 mile tow truck free towing range, so the Angels were watching over as always.

Expansion on the East Coast

There seems to have been an increasing amount of interest in Growing Domes from upstate New York and Growing Spaces is contemplating an East Coast expansion. We have several people interested in becoming Growing Dome installers and sales representatives in that area, so the residents of New York and surrounding regions will be seeing increasing numbers of Growing Domes popping up in their state. The area around Syracuse and Binghamton is the main focus for this new expansion and it should be very interesting to see how well the domes perform in winters there, as it is reputed to be one of the most cloudy areas in the country. Udgar Parsons paid a visit to the area at the end of August and prospects are looking good at this time for the expansion to go ahead. Stay posted for details.

We have a new web page concerning opportunities with Growing Spaces and on this page we are pleased to make more available the Growing Dome network. This Growing Dome network was instituted in 1992 and has been going every since. The new level recently introduced is that of a dealer. A person or company qualify as a dealer if they have an up and running business with potential clientele who may be interested in the Growing Dome. By informing the clientele or displaying information or even having a demonstration Growing Dome, the dealer can sell the product and create commissions on dome sales. See dealer pages.

We have our first up and running franchise in Fort Collins, CO, and Gordon Minney from this area from July, 01 to Spring of 2002, had six dome sales. A somewhat slow start but hopefully the beginning of a long and successful career with Growing Spaces.

We are also contemplating expansion to the West Coast, especially Oregon and Washington, and setting up an operation to serve the needs of customers in that area.

Third Annual Tour of Domes

In Pagosa Springs this year, Growing Spaces hosted the Third Annual Tour of Domes. Proud dome owners opened their growing greenhouses for public delectation and delight, and over 100 people attended the tour. It was reported to have been enjoyed by everyone. The highlight of the tour was the twin domes owned by Barbara and Danielle of Enchanted Valley Farms. These two are production domes for organic greens, sprouts, wheat grass and a host of organic products. These two ladies are certainly persistent. The first 33' dome they built which incidentally they lived in for a year, and endured a very harsh Colorado winter, unfortunately was burnt along with all their property and possessions. Ultimately all turned out for the best as they bought a piece of property that already had two 26' Growing Domes on it. Everyone is looking forward to the Growing Dome Tour in 2003. Next year we hope to extend the tour nationally.

Also this year we had a Growing Dome tour in Durango mainly for the members of the Master Gardeners Club at which Udgar did a presentation on year-round growing in the class.

Water Gardening and the Growing Dome

As you probably know if you've studied our web page or if you have a dome yourself, the large water tank is an integral part of the efficiently and effectiveness of the Growing Dome. Over the years, more and more people are experimenting with treating the water tank as an above ground pond, and very successfully growing a series of aquatic plants and fish. Some of the plants that seem to do very, very well in the Growing Dome water tank are water hyacinth, water lilies, water lettuce, taro, papyrus, water cress, and I'm sure we are just touching the surface of this exciting new area. Also, people have experimented with coy, catfish, goldfish, tilapia and other types of fish. We have had a couple of dome owners who have also installed smaller ponds for frogs, lizards and iguanas. We are not aware of anyone who has had a pet snake in their Growing Dome but we have had bunnies, goats and chickens which, incidentally, are a good way to get rid of your population of roly polies.

Pests and Diseases

There is always a potential risk in Growing Domes for pests and disease and Growing Dome owners continually, creatively come up with new solutions for the more common pests and diseases. We hope to have lots of input on our new Growing Dome forum web page.

New Web Site

We are excited to have a new webmaster on board with Growing Spaces and we are grateful for all the previous webmasters. We would like to acknowledge Michael Rader for initially setting up the Growing Dome web page back in 1995, and then Dana Smith for doing a significant of up-levelling and update. Since then we have had Joseph Dernoga and Wirt Wolff on board to enhance the web page. Thank you folks for your dedication and participation.

At this time we are pleased to have Bob Funkhouser as our current webmaster. Bob has been an organic, biointensive gardener for many years, and has been working with Celtic Jewelry by Reflective Images for the last two years, and has propelled them to top web presence for their market niche. At this time he is improving and up-leveling the website to make it friendlier to search engine access, so that many more people can find out the value and uniqueness of this wonderful product. When people find out how well the Growing Dome works and how energy efficient and long lasting it is, all gardeners would like to have one. The experience we have had in Pagosa Springs, where we have 10,000 people in the county and already 50 Growing Domes, hopefully can be repeated nationwide as people get to know about the Growing Dome.

The new web site includes discussion forums for gardeners and dome owners or would-be dome owners. The forums will provide a space for gardeners to share their experiences and gardening tips.

We plan to add many new photographs of owner's domes to the our website and we will keep you posted on new developments as we continue expanding the exciting world of the Growing Dome!

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Please send questions to: info@growingspaces.com / P.O. Box 5518 / 1868 B Majestic Dr. / Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
1-800-753-9333