Annie Preston
Gardener, Educator, Community Organizer
Annie is a lover of learning and a student of nature. For the last 15 years, she has tended gardens all over Philadelphia, including children’s gardens, community gardens and parks, home and school landscapes, and an urban farm. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Early Childhood Education in the Montessori Program at Chestnut Hill College. She seeks to create spaces where people of all ages reconnect to the joy, wonder and creativity of childhood.
Asha El-Shabazz
Garden Designer, Garden
Educator
Bio coming soon!
Bri Barton
Garden Educator, Curriculum Development
Bri Barton has been an early childhood educator since 2005, and a garden manager and nature educator since 2012. In those years, she has developed a style of teaching that combines play, ecology, nutrition, history, and social justice. Bri loves helping kids of all ages fall in love with bugs, and leafy green vegetables. She is currently attending Rider University earning her Master’s in Teaching, specializing in early childhood education.
Eric Blasco
Garden Design, Installation, Maintenance
Eric Blasco is passionate about plants, people, and the connection between the two. He grew up on a family farm and explored teaching, organic seed growing, and cheffing, before starting a gardening business 10 years ago. Since then, his business Erb Food and Garden, installed private, educational, and public gardens specializing in edible and native plant landscapes. The goal of the business has been to create gardens where people can learn and harvest from their surroundings, deepening their connection to the natural world. Combining his professional experiences with horticulture, cuisine, and education led him to start a new business centered on school and institutional gardens.