Waldorf School Gains Permaculture Landscape
How A Community Turned A Schoolyard Into A Outdoor Classroom & Edible Ecosystem
What if a schoolyard could be more than just grass and pavement? What if it could feed the students, teach the curriculum, and connect community?
That’s the question I asked – and answered – at the Edmonton Waldorf School.
How It All Began
A few years back, I decided to try teaching at a Waldorf school. I’d long admired their focus on creativity, movement, music, and nurturing the whole child.
But despite the school’s heart and my passion, it wasn’t a fit…
Trying to fit the provincial curriculum, Waldorf pedagogy, and Permaculture into a single school day? It felt like trying to garden in a closet.
Still, the relationship stuck.
Instead of walking away, I proposed something else:
Let me teach my summer Permaculture Design Course on-site.
Let’s turn your schoolyard into something extraordinary…
At the end of it, this School would have:
- an outdoor classroom
- more food than they knew what to do with
- A unique feature to help boost their enrollment and community. We even got them featured in the news during the install!
The Vision – An Outdoor Classroom & Ecosystem
I was hired to do three things:
- Create a design for their grounds
- Help secure sponsors & lead the public
- Teach a 3-part workshop series:
- “Plan & Design A Landscape”
- “Build & Install A Landscape”
- “Plant & Grow A Landscape”
First, I had to do a design unlike anything ever done before…
To make a Permaculture ecosystem – a literal living classroom.
The final design included:
-
Outdoor classroom with a sundial patio surrounded by…
-
… 9 raised garden beds! Each 8′ x 4′.
-
Rain harvesting & compost systems
-
A food forest with 100+ trees and shrubs
-
An orchard line of maple, birch, & seabuckthorn
(Early spring and late fall harvesting for when kids are in school)
In short, a landscape designed to be as educational as it is edible.
Here is my favourite picture of the design…
… as a former art teacher, I make every property design I do a work of art.
(Also very fitting for a Waldorf school!)
The Design – Land To Feed And Inspire A Community
Because I knew we would be installing this design with the public, I made an engaging presentation to share with students, teachers, and the community.
Made to inspire, below is visually engaging presentation to explain everything…
I make presentations like this for my landscaping clients to bring all stakeholders (owners, investors, contractors, the public) up to speed.
I am genuinely excited to share it with you:
The Build – From Idea to Action
To bring the design to life, I did something…
I turned it into a Permablitz.
If you don’t know what that is, imagine an ol’ fashioned barn-raising, but instead of building a barn, we install a landscape together with a flash-mob of volunteers.
First, I got my grads and colleagues to be team leaders. Then we opened it up to:
-
Students
-
Teachers
-
Parents
-
Community members
-
Sponsors
-
My Permaculture course students
Everyone got their hands in the dirt.
We learned. We laughed. We made something incredible—together.
Even a news station showed up to cover this inspiring community story!
Here are some photos of the install:
The Secret To This Project...
Projects like this don’t happen alone…
… they’re powered by community!
A huge shout out to everyone who showed up, including generous sponsors who shared materials, trees, soil, and their sweat too!
Finding sponsors to join my projects is a very exciting part of my process – It’s like inviting businesses to be heroes;
Not only does it save projects like this tens of thousands of dollars, but it gives businesses publicity… what do they want to be known for?
Who doesn’t want to feed kids, build schoolyards, and create community spaces? Like I said – Heroes.
Huge thanks to:
- Burnco Landscaping Centre
- Cascade Geotechnical Inc
- Metal Supermarkets
- Sherwood Forests Tree Nursery
- Sunstar Nurseries
- Western Landscaping
Want to Bring This to A School Near You Or To Your Property Project?
I consult with and design for a variety of clients – both for community projects like schools, churches, and towns AND for personal properties.
Whether you want:
-
A site design
-
A professional installation
-
Sponsors, publicity, + a social legacy
-
Or all of the above…
Let’s talk and make it happen.
Warmly,
Kenton “Community-power” Zerbin