A former New York City real estate agent and a retired medical center engineer say the future of gardening is here—and it’s round.
Joe’l Moss and Harold Castellano, who met when Castellano visited her property while serving as Hurley’s building inspector, have turned to geodesic domes—half-sphere structures invented for a German planetarium more than a century ago and popularized by architect and futurist Buckminster Fuller—to grow their gardens.
The benefits, they say, are obvious: The indoor gardens thrive during long upstate winters, producing year-round fruits and vegetables that are healthier than store-bought products.
“We’re not connected to the earth,” said Moss, a Georgia native who lived in New York City for two decades before moving to Hurley. She now grows fruits and vegetables year-round and hasn’t bought lettuce or kale from a grocery store in years.
Geodesic produce is also better for you because it hasn’t been treated with pesticides and sterilized, said Castellano, the former director of engineering at Albany and Westchester Medical Centers who now lives in Boiceville. Plants such as lettuce start shedding nutrients as soon as they’re harvested and keep doing so during the long journey to grocery stores from fields, Castellano said.
By the time it arrives, “in essence, it’s dead of nutrients,” said Castellano, who has owned his dome for a year and now grows snap peas, miniature cucumbers, and fig and lemon trees.
Moss and Castellano bought their domes from Growing Spaces, a Pagosa Springs, Colorado-based company that says its founder was inspired by a large biodome built by singer John Denver and Tom Crum for their Windstar Foundation in Aspen under Fuller’s mentorship.
Growing Spaces, established in 1989, adapted the dome’s rounded shape to create a wind-resistant, energy-efficient wooden unit topped by translucent polycarbonate panels that block 35% of light as protection from ultraviolet radiation.
Inside, an above-ground pond acts as a heating agent in the winter and provides cooling in the warmer months. The ponds are designed to house fish such as goldfish and tilapia that make nitrogen-rich water for produce and plants that benefit from the dome’s humidity.
Another appeal are the automatic beeswax pistons that are activated by heat, opening vents for air flow. Solar-powered fans in the bottom of plant beds take in air that’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
“The technology in the dome is very subtle,” Castellano said. “The engineering was what I really liked. When I saw the dome, I saw the engineering, I saw what they did, and I saw what it can do. Now it’s up to me to do it.”
The domes, which come in six sizes, are more expensive than regular gardens but tend to have a longer lifespan. A 15-foot unit, with 175 square feet, costs $11,950. The 42-foot version, at 1,385 square feet, will run you $53,550.
Moss, whose interest was sparked by a friend who managed to grow tomatoes in Canada in February, says her five years of domership have been well worth the investment. These days, the two gardeners text or meet in person to share ideas and combat issues such as watering or unwelcome insects.
“I thought there was never any place I’d ever live other than New York City,” Moss said. “At some point, my seedlings became more important than the newest restaurant.”
Mia Quick is an intern and contributing reporter. You can reach her at reporting@theoverlooknews.com.