Cedar Forest Children's Garden

A crowning jewel of Pine Forest School

Design Map

What we’re working towards....

Campus Grounds

Open Central Space for Ceremonies, Celebrations, and other Gatherings; “community center or plaza”, amphitheater, recessed and sloped
Playgrounds; early childhood, big kids, and games
Contours to the land; enhancing specific use “zones”, enhancing water harvesting potential
Natural Fences (adobe, straw bale, native plant); security, noise and windbreaks Water Harvesting Features; basins, berms, cisterns for rooftop rainwater collection

Farm / Growing Spaces

Vegetable Gardens
Large Covered Hoop House
Greenhouse
Herb Beds
Pollinator Gardens
Native Plant wild gardens on the “edges”
Fruit trees
Art; on solid fences, building walls, cisterns
Community Vegetable Garden

Farm/ Animals

Chickens with runs and shelter
Goats pens and shelter

Farm Educational Work & Utility

Long Term Site Monitoring stations; monitor site biodiversity over time, starting now
Outdoor Classroom(s); open to south, otherwise sheltered – incorporated into other structures, double as outdoor work areas
Farm Kitchen; for produce cleaning, etc.
Outdoor Oven; brick or adobe
Composting Area; soil building
Utility Structure; tool storage and care , etc

Benefits

As human beings, we draw our daily sustenance from the earth, and therefore have some responsibilities toward the land both for our sake and for the well-being of others. Over the elementary years, wonder awakes responsibility, which ripens into love for the world around us. Practical gardening skills strengthen hope and our ability to make a positive difference. The students experience this directly when they plant seeds, care for the plants, harvest the crops, prepare the produce, and then consume it as part of our organic school lunch program.

Celebrating History and the Future

S.T.E.M. is integrated into our experiential learning model. Gardening has been a part of the Waldorf school curriculum since the very first Waldorf school in 1925. Growing plants and celebrating conversation allows the students to develop a deeper appreciation for and awareness of the human being’s relationship to the natural world. By caring for the garden, experiencing the growth of plants, and harvesting what they give us, the students develop a deeper consciousness and appreciation.