Abby Burkhart

Abby is entering her second season working for Colorgarden as a native plant gardener. Her focus is primarily in sustainable gardening practices and helping private residences in and around Lancaster City restore the natural ecosystems of their backyards and regain connection to their landscape. She is also a farmer with Homefields Care Farm, a certified organic vegetable farm that operates a seasonal CSA subscription (community supported agriculture) as well as a non-profit that seeks to provide educational experiences and volunteer/job opportunities to adults with intellectual disabilities. 

Abby has always enjoyed spending time outside; hiking, going to the beach, biking on Lancaster rail trails, and keeping her own veggie garden going in the summer. Growing up in Mid-Coast Maine she was instilled with a moral obligation to care for the environment and that has followed her to Lancaster. Her career background is varied, having led backpacking & canoeing trips in the Adirondacks of NY, to teaching in Italy, to moving to Lancaster and working in office administration and accounting in non-profit sectors. She has always sought to maintain an awe and wonder of the natural world around her and to spread that awe to others. 

She has taken classes with Longwood gardens and has volunteered with tree plantings around her neighborhood. She earned her BA in Communications from Gordon College.