CHUGWATER – It took only three days to build but will last for years. Approximately 15 – 20 people gathered on Susie Graves’ property in Chugwater to learn how to build a geodesic garden dome. They came from Sundance, Gillette, Newcastle, Cheyenne, Wheatland, Chugwater and Slater areas. The structure is 22 feet in diameter with three-foot raised beds around the inside and outside of the dome, and a center raised bed garden in the middle.
“It was an amazing experience – it reminded me of a good, old-fashioned barn raising. We had a good time, and I’m grateful for everybody who came and helped,” Graves said.
Jeff Edwards of Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center (SAREC) in Lingle was the lead educator who helped make the dome project possible.
Graves had contacted him last year when she saw an article in the state garden club newsletter about a dome that went up in Cheyenne. “It was pretty simple for me, but there is a lot behind [the organization of the project] that I didn’t realize. Jeff contacted me in March to ask which model I wanted to choose from a list, then I was scheduled for May to have it built.”

There was a slight delay in approval of grant funding, which came through in July. So, rather than being the first in a 10-week schedule of builds, she was put at the end of the list, following educational dome builds in Cheyenne, Laramie, Ft. Washakie, Cody, Buffalo, and at the community garden in Riverton. The last one of the year will be built in Glendo.
Edwards was able to obtain a grant to fund Graves’ dome and the other five domes through a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the USDA, which is administered by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. The dome builds are an educational opportunity to teach people how to build a structure that functions like a growing season extender, allowing crops to be planted in March with harvest being able to be extended as far as November or December, depending on when deep winter chill hits the region. Another benefit is there’s very little maintenance needed once it is built.
“It significantly increases the growing season for producers in Wyoming,” he said.
Edwards has been installing geodesic domes since 2018. In that time, his team has been able to take a poorly written manual of instructions and change it to make sense, then give access to that knowledge through the educational workshops.
“We advertise the school, and people interested in building domes or trying to be better producers in the state of Wyoming can come learn. It’s an interesting process – everyone involved has different degrees of knowledge. We put them in a pool (figuratively speaking), stir them up, and see what comes out. I lead them and help them learn how to build the domes, hands-on. It’s like building a community: taking people with knowledge and different levels of skills and working together as a team,” Edwards said.
Graves, who currently raises the typical tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and anything that can survive Wyoming weather, looks forward to experimenting with a wider variety of plants. “I want to diversify and try new things. I’ll be monitoring the temperatures inside and outside of the dome and sending information to Jeff for a time,” Graves said. “It will be fun to research what works and what doesn’t. Overall, the class was wonderful. Everyone learned a lot.”