Udgar Parsons
Former Owner - Original Founder
Growing Spaces
Udgar built the first Growing Dome prototype and co-founded Growing Spaces in 1989 with his wife, Puja. The idea came out of his time volunteering at the Windstar Foundation outside Aspen, where Buckminster Fuller's Biodome work showed him what a geodesic greenhouse could do. He spent the next three decades refining the design and growing the company into a national business while keeping it rooted in Pagosa Springs.
Before Growing Spaces, Udgar trained as a dentist in England and farmed off-grid in northern Scotland before moving to Colorado and becoming an American citizen. He and Puja sold Growing Spaces to Lem and Liz Tingley in April 2018. He still lives in Pagosa Springs and remains active in the local food and gardening community, including the Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership downtown.
Articles by Udgar Parsons
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…
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…
Spring Planting, Inside & Out
March 12, 2012
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…
Solar Powered Business
October 3, 2011
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…
Gardening How-To Video Series
July 26, 2011
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:
Gardening & Beyond Video Series
July 5, 2011
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…
Flowering Broccoli, Catch Crops, and Early Spring
February 22, 2011
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…
RFHS Students Get Going
July 27, 2010
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…
26′ Growing Dome Yields Produce in February!
February 20, 2010
After a quick trip to our 26′ Growing Dome, I was thrilled to discover over 4 pounds of mixed salad greens and the first of our sugar snap peas ready to eat. What a treat! As our Dome is located 18 miles from where we now live, I only get to the Dome about once…