Our Roots

 The seed for The Edible Classroom was planted several years ago when founders, Grace Julian and Beth Horst, saw an opportunity for their respective elementary schools to create something beautiful from empty, unused pavement on school property. Both founding women are lovers of learning, gardening, and the outdoors. They saw the potential for underutilized blacktop to be repurposed into a productive learning environment.  

So Beth and Grace began bringing their dreams to life with the help of administration, staff, parents, and outside organizations. Years of volunteerism at their children's schools solidified their love of using creative, hands-on education to engage children in the world around them.

Grace and Beth crossed paths in yet another way while working for a private estate gardener. During their work days, they would share their love for the volunteer work they were doing at their schools. They swapped stories about what was working, what was challenging, and what they envisioned for the future of their gardens.

After several summers of discussing their respective efforts, they felt that a bigger opportunity existed to bring this experience to other schools. Armed with their own success stories, experience, and a passion to guide children in the joys of gardening, they formed The Edible Classroom.