Melissa L

Teaches at Brooklyn Brainery

Melissa Lafontaine is a farm and garden educator and admirer of all things natural. Her affection for farming and gardening rooted from her work in agrarian communities in Southern Madagascar and involvement with urban farms and the local food movement in Vancouver and New York. She completed a certificate in urban agriculture at BK Farmyards where she discovered her infatuation for compost and her love for working alongside youth and children in an outdoor classroom. Presently, Melissa leads farm tours and youth- based education at the Youth Farm and is a consultant for the NYU Urban Farm Lab. In addition, she cares for the community garden space Shambhala Yoga and Dance Center and is constantly seeking ways to maximize her growing space within her tiny and mainly shaded backyard. She dabbles in floral design, and creates Earth Within Terrarium necklaces, encouraging others to carry tiny pieces of earth with them as a symbol of our inherent connection to nature.