““Ch’ishie,” he says, smiling broadly. “This is what I’m talking about. Ch’ishie. Dirty. Humble. That’s what we’re about.”
It’s one of Thompson’s favorite Navajo words, and it’s why he used the name Ch’ishie Farms for his farm and start-up business to build hoop houses (akin to greenhouses) and advise schools and communities about cooking with fresh vegetables.”
I’ve just returned from a weekend on the Navajo Reservation, aka “the rez,” located near Leupp, Arizona, where I had the incredible opportunity to help Growing Spaces (a Colorado-based company), build a 26” greenhouse- dome on property owned by a man named Tyrone Thompson— a master gardener, and member of the Navajo Nation. Tyron Thompson wants the Rez to feed itself - - read more here. He is devoted to helping his family and community eat healthier, by giving classes and tours, starting seedlings to distribute, teaching others what he knows about growing and harvesting, and more.
“Once you start growing food and saving seeds, you are no longer reliant on outside sources. We want to model self-sustainability”
Growing Spaces believes in the power of good, healthy, organic food - and the company wanted to support Tyrone and his business by increasing his ability to grow… the dome allows year-round growing - regardless of heat or cold!
Grand Canyon Trust article HERE.
Tyrone’s skills and abilities to grow food and create a sustainable garden have become even more important during COVID :
“As we see the shelves emptying of food and toilet paper we kind of reconnect to our roots,” Thompson says. “Some of the tools that were given by our elders and our ancestors — our planting stick and our steering sticks — those are our weapons against hunger and poverty and sickness.”
Day one (of four): Saturday:
we began with a patch of dirt and finished the day with the dome shell
Day two (of four) Sunday:
we enclosed the shell with panels and installed door frame and lower interior insulation
The Growing Spaces crew continued on for days 3 & 4, building out the interior, which includes vents, wiring, the front door, the tank, and more.
Tyrone and his family treated us to homemade lunches both days, and while we worked alongside one another, we all got to share stories and laughs- despite the masks covering our faces. It was so nice to feel connected to others and to a mission bigger than myself. Those have been hard feelings to come by in 2020. It was also supremely satisfying to be outside, building with our hands and seeing the fruits of our labor.
It was wonderful seeing Tyrone’s 5 kids playing outside and helping us, as well as helping their Mom, Philecia, with the meal preparations, cleanup, and with the family’s animals including dogs, geese, pigs, and sheep! I can’t wait to see the finished dome, and to see how Tyrone uses the dome to grow healthy food and to spread his knowledge and skills with his community. This will make a long-lasting difference for many generations to come and it provides the perfect blend of modern technology with traditions and stories. It marries the significance of food- its importance for our survival and also our connection to the Earth and the many ways it provides for us- with tribal rituals and ancient beliefs and ceremonies. This dome will become a community hub and bastion of hope and health. I am so grateful for this opportunity.
NPR article quoted above, HERE.
More about Growing Spaces:
Growing Spaces doesn’t have a non-profit arm of the operation setup (yet) capable of receiving donations BUT when they do volunteer builds and donate domes, they ask folks who want to support the cause to donate directly TO the non-profit they’re supporting.
We’ll be building another dome here soon in Deckers, CO, supporting a nonprofit called Mattersville Vets. You can donate to them here: https://www.mattersvillevets.org/.
See also- the Grant program HERE: https://growingspaces.com/gardening-grants/
If the domes interest you for your home or property, you can find everything you need to know on their website: https://growingspaces.com/. You can schedule a tour of a dome- there’s one located in downtown Golden for tours so that you can see one in operation before deciding if you’d like to purchase one. I’ve been inside a few of them now and they are incredible -and the plants (since they are able to grow year-round even through Colorado winters!) are HUGE and the fruit and veggie crops are plentiful. It is a game changer for anyone wanting to grow and harvest their own food, especially in places like CO or AZ where the growing seasons can be cut short by snowfalls or extended periods of heat.
Lem Tingley, holding a painting drawn for him by Tyrone’s oldest daugher, Laila
“Growing Spaces Udgar and Puja Parsons, the founders of Growing Spaces had done a lot of work with Navajo Nation in the past. When COVID hit, the reservation was hit hard and had one of the highest per capita COVID rates in the country. This disproportion was featured in a CBS News documentary. Tyrone was featured in the documentary, and he discussed his work in trying to bring farming and sustainable agriculture back to the reservation and get back to their roots of living off the land. We also researched what Tyrone was doing for the reservation and were extremely impressed. We reached out directly, and asked if a Growing Dome could help. ”
