Our outdoor learning space in the heart of Downtown Brooksville was designed by a certified permaculture designer and outdoor educator, with education for all ages woven into every element of the land. Thoughtfully created with both enjoyment and learning in mind, the space invites curiosity, exploration, and hands-on discovery with the living systems around us, creating a rich and diverse classroom.
Location: Google Listing: HERE
241 Pryor Street
Brooksville, FL 34601
We are located just two blocks from the Public Library, Public Park, & the heart of downtown. Many families enjoy visiting nearby coffee shops, restaurants or local retailers while their child/ren are in class. Drop-off parking is available along Pryor Street, with additional parking in nearby public parking.
Natural Play & Exploration
Throughout the property, students have space to climb, build, dig, and explore.
The Wild Wood
A tucked-away wooded area where students build forts, make trails, and explore freely among the trees.
Treehouse & Climbing Area
Built by John, the treehouse offers a place to climb, imagine, and look out over the garden.
Zipline & Natural Play Features
Climbing and movement elements that support confidence, coordination, and adventurous play.
The Muddy Place
A mud kitchen, water pump, troughs, and working outdoor sink invite sensory play, experimentation, joyful tinkering and imaginative play. Complete with an outdoor shower for rinse off.
Gardens & Living Systems
Pollinator & Bird Gardens
Native Florida plants attract bees, butterflies, and birds, giving students the opportunity to observe pollination and wildlife up close.
Herb Spiral
A hands-on herbal learning space where students plant, harvest, smell, taste, and work with herbs used for food and medicine.
Forest Gardens & Swales
Permaculture-designed garden beds that capture rainwater and support edible, medicinal, and pollinator plants.
Keyhole Composting Beds & Composting stations
Garden beds built around a central compost basket where food scraps break down directly into rich soil- providing multiple locations for lunch scraps to be added and returned to the land.
Rainwater Collection
Simple systems that capture rain to water the gardens and demonstrate real-world sustainability.
Animals & Wildlife
Students regularly observe and care for living systems throughout the space. We currently have a dedicated honeybee classroom with a colony in our homemade Warre hive. We also have chickens, wildlife ponds with fish, a turtle, and tadpoles- a worm composting system and a class ball python.
The land also attracts a wide variety of wildlife including butterflies, moths, bees, birds, owls, hawks, bats, frogs, lizards, and many other native species.
Gathering Spaces
Our gathering areas include an open-air pavilion and a spacious screened porch classroom, offering shade and shelter while keeping us connected to the sights and sounds of the garden.
Connection time, group projects, and hands-on lessons often take place here, while students move between the gardens, wildlife habitats, and play spaces throughout the property.
In cooler months, we often gather around the fire pit as another central place for storytelling, reflection, and shared projects.
Sustainability Systems
Students actively participate in caring for the land through composting systems, wildlife ponds, gardening, forest gardening, and habitat building. These everyday systems help children see how natural cycles work and how humans can support healthy ecosystems.
We maintain traditional compost systems and worm composting, where food scraps are transformed into rich soil used throughout the gardens.
Out front, we also host a public community compost where neighbors & community members drop off fruit and vegetable scraps. Those scraps are returned to the soil that feeds the gardens students learn in, care for, and snack from.
Free Little Library
Our registered Free Little Library sits at the front of the property. Community members are always welcome to take a book or leave one.
Growing With the Land
Our outdoor learning space was designed by a certified permaculture designer. The layout continues to evolve season by season as new gardens, wildlife habitats, and learning spaces are added.
We are set to expand into some of the neighboring lot and will be implementing additional phases of the design plan. Future features may include expanded garden areas, additional wildlife habitat, a larger woodshop space, outdoor composting restroom, greenhouse, tiny eco-friendly living quarters, and other hands-on learning environments.
Students are often part of the process- helping plant, build, and care for the land as it grows, learning by doing along the way.