30th Anniversary Historical Post (on Earth Day #50): The Evolution of GFE's North Classroom Space

Happy 50th Earth Day! In recognition of this important anniversary, we’ll take a look at the evolution of one of our spaces, the North Classroom. It’s a hub of garden activity -- we’ve conducted hundreds of workshops here, and it’s home base for our fall Gardening and Composting Educator Program (Get Up!). It’s one of the areas in the garden that’s been the most pivotal in conveying the message of nurturing and protecting our planet in myriad ways in our 30-year history. 

Photo #1: The GFE plot of land on October 26th, 1991. The bare area in the left foreground is where the North Classroom is now. The gazebo in the distance was removed in 2016.

In Photo #1 above, we see the space in the foreground after grading, in Fall 1991, looking south from our neighbor’s house. The garden began in the south end, at the corner of Lawton and 7th Avenue (The gazebo you see was removed in 2016). At this time, the North Classroom space was a clean slate, awaiting transformation. We have photo evidence that this area was already structured as an open gathering space by 1996. 

Photo #2: The North Classroom in summer 2005. People learning and… a lawn growing?

In Photo #2 (above), taken in 2005, the space is bustling with energy, and has seating, a stone patio, and grass. Yes, at one point we demonstrated how to care for residential lawns, and later had a change of heart about this in the effort to champion climate-appropriate, pollinator-supporting, water-conserving landscape options. 

Photo #3: 2009 — The area where the lawn had been is being covered in flat stones.

Photo #4: 2010 — Ground cover plants and grasses take the place of the stone patio area.

In 2009, the lawn was removed and the square it occupied was filled in with flat stones (Photo #3, above). Only a year later in 2010 (Photo #4, above), the space was re-envisioned as a small ground cover garden with a path in the middle. By mid-2012, the plants in this space were not abundant, and the square plot had been mostly covered in mulch (Photo #5, below). 

Photo #5: Summer 2012 — The garden in the square area is not looking strong, and much of the area was covered in mulch.

In 2016 (Photo #6, below), the square center space in the North Classroom finally went to the wayside and the patio stones were removed in favor of an open plan with beautifully crafted, movable wood benches. We can now make full use of the area and modify it to meet our various needs, as seen in Photo #7, taken in Fall 2019. We find that visitors shift the benches around so children can run over the tops of them and folks can lounge and share meals on them, too. We really love this flexible space, and it seems our visitors do too! And one great part about GFE is its focus is on teaching and learning, so staff, volunteers, and class participants have the opportunity to try out ideas here, as is evidenced by the evolution of the North Classroom space.

Photo #6: Fall 2016 — The patio stones and middle square areas are removed, and the North Classroom becomes an open, flexible space. Look at those beautiful new benches!

Fall 2019: The North Classroom during a class. GFE staff and visitors really appreciate this open, adaptable space, both for learning and for recreation.

Throughout our 30-year history, GFE may have changed in shape and in approaches to teaching about gardening, and one thing that has remained constant is empowering the community to make this world a more beautiful and healthier place to live. So, we hail every day as Earth Day!