I worked at Growing Spaces from 2015 to 2023 and returned in 2025. I’m here to guide you through purchasing a Growing Dome® greenhouse—from planning and site selection to choosing the right accessories for your climate. My goal is to help you create a thriving space for plants (and people!). I also manage the Growing Dome Advisor team and help with technical questions, installation documents, and day-to-day operations. I love empowering people to grow fresh, nutrient-dense food and watching a Growing Dome transform empty land into a personal sanctuary. I enjoy collaborating with our team to solve challenges and make it easy for anyone to buy a Growing Dome. I graduated from Western Colorado University in 2013 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies. In my free time, I enjoy hiking with my wife and our two big dogs, skiing, backpacking, and exploring the outdoors with my camera. My photography business, Kinetic Exposure, is rooted in a simple belief: people seek artwork that changes how they feel. Whether it’s a night sky bursting with stars, a quiet wildlife encounter, or a mountain peak glowing at dawn, I’m not just documenting moments—I’m transporting viewers into them.
Articles by Kyle Brookens
Peace as a practice taught through gardening
July 1, 2013
There is an intangible, but equally empowering peace that comes with the practice of growing our own food. Have you taken the time to understand where this peace comes from? In understanding the roots of this peace we can find ways to expand on it and move the practice over into other parts of our…
Growing Dome at the Solar Living Institute
June 28, 2013
Solar Living Institute Update: Unfortunately due to COVID the Solar Living Institute closed it’s doors in October 2020. They are still offering on-line classes. Recently we received an update from the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, CA of the 26′ Growing Dome greenhouse built in 2012. “The Growing Dome is one of the main attractions…
2013 Growing Spaces In-Kind Grant Winners Announced
June 28, 2013
We are pleased to announce the top three winners of this year’s Growing Spaces In-kind Grant Awards. Each of these well deserving organizations has diligently planned and raised funds for their education programs that will include a Growing Dome® greenhouse. It is with great joy that we join the movements to contribute to and support…
Growing Year-Round in the Sierra Nevadas – June 2013 Dome of the Month
June 26, 2013
Truckee Community Farm is a winner. Congratulations to Truckee Community Farm and the Kelly family for winning the June 2013 Dome of the Month! With this 33 ft. Growing Dome Greenhouse in Lake Tahoe, California they are supplying the Tahoe Food Hub with food year-round and providing inspiration for similar educational programs in their community….
How to Make an Aquatic Plant Protector
June 3, 2013
Recently, our fish had grown so big that they began eating all of our aquatic plants in our water tanks! Rather than watch our plants dwindle to nothing, we got creative. Innovation is always happening here at Growing Spaces and we have so many brilliant members contributing. With some lovely input and guidance from Claudia…
Edible Schoolyard Project: Lesson Plans, Fundraising and More!
May 31, 2013
We are so impressed and amazed to see how the school garden concept is infusing rural and urban communities across the country. The next generation honestly has so many opportunities to connect back with their food and the land. It’s also stunning how technology has quickened the pace of this movement far beyond what anyone…
Freeman Public Schools’ New Greenhouse Classroom
May 30, 2013
Freeman Public School students in Nebraska are just now settling into their new 33 ft. diameter Growing Dome greenhouse classroom. Over the course of about nine months they were able to write grants and receive enough funding to purchase the greenhouse classroom. The main contributions were grants from DuPont Pioneer and Farm Credit Services of…
Surprise Spring Snow – May 2013 Dome of the Month
May 21, 2013
Congratulations to Cate Graber on winning the Dome of the Month contest for May 2013. This fun pair of photos of her 26′ Growing Dome greenhouse in Trinidad, Colorado shows how quickly the weather can change in the Rocky Mountains. Her peach tree had just decided to start blooming above 6,400 feet. Then Mother Nature…
Finished! 33′ Growing Dome at the Shumei Natural Agriculture Garden
May 8, 2013
4-25-13 Thursday: I love round tanks, especially when it comes to leveling. Today we were busy finishing the tank. Don’t you love Janet’s pleats in the tank liner? And, yes, for a charge she will come redo your tank! Other tasks included finishing the fans, final odds and ends at the door, and leftover parts! 4-27-13: Thursday…
Part 4: 33′ Growing Dome at the Shumei Natural Agriculture Garden
April 22, 2013
We thought we might be nearing a close with the construction of the 33′ Growing Dome at the Shumei Garden at the Rodale Institute, but this story sure has had it’s twists and turns! It turns out that Richard is headed back east to work on some finishing touches and to help with consulting on…
Part 3: 33′ Growing Dome Installation at the Shumei Natural Agriculture Garden
April 19, 2013
As the 33′ Growing Dome at the Shumei Natural Agriculture Garden at the Rodale Institute continues to take shape we see how many wonderful volunteers are pitching in to make this project happen. Richard Miller, Growing Spaces installation supervisor, has been kind enough to send us updates as they go. 4-9-13 Tuesday: I checked hubs…
Garden Art – April 2013 Dome of the Month Winner
April 12, 2013
We feel fortunate to have people like April's Dome of the Month Winner, Larry Berger, in our lives. They turn their passion, no matter what it is, into an art form. His passion just so happens to be our passion, gardening. He won April's contest with this lovely overview shot of his full garden and it's so rewarding to see his 22' Growing Dome Greenhouse in Wisconsin incorporated into a larger garden. A stunning larger garden at that. We couldn't do Larry's garden justice, although, without including a few of our other favorite pictures he's sent over the years.
Part 2: 33′ Growing Dome Installation at the Shumei Natural Agriculture Garden
April 9, 2013
The 33′ Growing Dome at the Shumei Natural Agriculture Garden at the Rodale Institute is going up nicely. Richard Miller has been kind enough to send us updates as they go, so you can feel like you’re right there with them! 4-2-13 Puxatawney Phil is part of a stew right about now. No, not because…
What You Need to Know About Eating Safe Fruits and Vegetables
April 8, 2013
In this day and age of the deluge of bad news, everyone does their best to filter out the pertinent information about what will affect their health and safety. In this article we’re going to do some filtering for you and review important information about the safety of your fresh fruits and vegetables. We’ll offer…
33′ Growing Dome Installation at Shumei Natural Agriculture Garden
April 3, 2013
“Off Again To High Adventure”with Richard Miller, Growing Spaces Staff Question: What do Growing Spaces, Rodale Institute, and Shumei Natural Agriculture have in common? Answer: A 33′ Growing Dome Yes, it’s true…Here we go again. Janet and I, the lowly vent maker, are “off again to high adventure”. Well, 15′-6″ high at least, to the…
Success with Community Garden Grants
March 13, 2013
Examples of how some communities have used garden grants to build a community garden greenhouse Community gardens create a wonderful space where neighbors and families can spend time outdoors, get good exercise and good food, and, most importantly, connect with each other. They also provide access to gardening for people who might otherwise not have…
March 2013 Dome of the Month Winner
March 6, 2013
Reminding us of a season soon to pass…this beautiful photo from Kathy Pitts & John Stone of their 26′ Growing Dome Greenhouse in Northern California captures the essence of the winter solstice it was photographed on. One of the comments about the photo that was posted on Facebook sums it up best for us, “Lovely…
Planting Early Season Catch Crops
February 28, 2013
There are some terms we year-round gardeners throw around pretty easily and “catch crop” is one of them. It sounds complicated, but is actually very simple. A catch crop is a fast-growing, quickly maturing crop that can be grown between cold season (winter) and warm season (summer) crops. January is most definitely too early to…
Replenish Your Garden’s Footprint
February 15, 2013
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…
Floating Row Covers in the Greenhouse
January 24, 2013
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…
Truckee Elementary and the Dome Raising Project Come Together
January 23, 2013
Awhile back we introduced you to Susie Sutphin and Bill Kelly of Truckee Community Farm in California. They had recently purchased and built a 33′ Growing Dome from Growing Spaces and were already looking to expand beyond their current garden. They had a vision for the Dome Raising Project as a part of their budding Tahoe…
Winter Wonderland – January 2013 Dome of the Month Winner
January 9, 2013
Congratulations to Katja Wichland and Josh Rapaport on winning the January 2013 Dome of the Month with this lovely winter photo of their 26′ Growing Dome Greenhouse in Colorado. Protected by their adopted Chow Chow named Bella, they are at 9,000 feet elevation near Telluride and are coming up on their two-year anniversary of owning…
Proof that Gardening Gives a Natural Mood Lift
December 12, 2012
How many people do you know who are affected by depression, anxiety, stress or other emotional illness? Or maybe the better question is: Who do you know that is not affected? The pressures of today’s increasingly fast-paced, high-tech society that demands you know all things at all times and learn to do them all at…
Oregon Tropical Flowers in Winter
December 7, 2012
This Growing Dome Greenhouse in Oregon is flourishing in winter