Food Forest Classroom

I am designing a food forest / garden / education area to reuse an old concrete pool that will be demolished, filled, and graded next year.  We have a lot of freedom in designing the blank slate - from grading to planting - and have been asked to provide a sketch of our “dream space”.  I’d love any feedback people have on the attached design.  Any obvious gotchas? Location is southern New England, site is at the top of a steep hill with a large concrete building backing the space to the north.

Very cool plans. I love conifers and as a westerner I do not know much about eastern red cedar, but I might consider a deciduous tree instead in the SW corner to shade in the summer but not block winter light. Maybe trade its spot with the sugar maples in the NE corner? At a food forest I designed for a school, we put thimbleberry around the outdoor classroom, as kids like its berries and lovely soft leaves, which are also a great for them to learn for using the facilitrees when needed out in nature.

Good point!  We want to screen some buildings from view in that corner, but maybe we can do that with lower evergreens.  The eastern red cedar gets about 35 feet, so a shortie compared to many other evergreen trees 😊

That looks to me like a well thought out space.

I like the idea for adding a chicken coop and run.

I do not see an area for composting.  I would highly recommend adding one for plant trimming, fall leaves and chicken bedding.

What about an area for annual plants to teach the kids how to plant.

Good idea.  We have some raised beds planned, including one with a keyhole design that puts the compost right in the middle of the garden, but we probably need a second dedicated area for the chicken bedding, since food scraps will probably fill the one in the bed.  I’ll add a note to utilize the old compost space for garden waste and chicken bedding.