Our Team
Seedleaf is a community gardening organization that provides horticultural training and supports the practice of gardening and small scale farming in the urban spaces of Lexington, KY.
Seedleaf values the ongoing connection of people to land, the incubation of healthy community interdependence, and cultivation of growers. We believe that this leads to the development of a robust local food economy and a just & equitable system of stewardship over land.
Our team is guided by our mission of nourishing communities through growing and sharing food.
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Christine Smith (she/her), Executive Director
Christine Smith is the Executive Director of Seedleaf. Trained academically as a geographer, she has been with Seedleaf since 2017. Her gardening experience is rooted in the sub-tropics of Florida where she grew up and her grandmother’s Kingston garden and menagerie filled with ginep, breadfruit, pomegranates, scotch bonnet peppers, fish, pigeons, chickens and stray dogs. She is most proud of her title as ‘Ambassador of Flowers’.
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Megan Pillsbury (she/her), Farm Manager
Megan Pillsbury is the Farm Manager of Seedleaf and has been a part of the team since 2022. Hailing from Dayton Ohio, Megan moved to Kentucky in 2015 after finishing her undergrad in PR & Marketing from Baldwin Wallace University. Over the last several years, she has spent much of her time in pursuit of her passions - both on the mat and in the garden. When not around the farm, Megan enjoys reading and relaxing in her hammock, yoga, and pottering around with natural dyes.
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Em J Parsley (they/him), Assistant Farm Manager
Em J is the farm and market assistant at Seedleaf and joined the team in 2024. They have their MFA in Creative Writing, and are passionate about the intersection of art, agriculture, and ecology. When not on the farm, he can be found writing, reading, or learning new folk tradition skills, such as spoon carving, spinning, or Appalachian flatfooting.
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Nicole Upchurch (she/her), Community Specialist
Nicole is our office community specialist. She has a strong nonprofit and public relations background and she brings a wealth of experience in fostering meaningful connections. At Seedleaf, she is focused on building and strengthening relationships within the community, ensuring that our mission is deeply rooted amongst and supported by those we serve. Nicole’s passion for community engagement is a valuable asset.
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Russ Turpin (he/him), Agroforestry Program Coordinator
Russ Turpin leads the Seedleaf Agroforestry Program (SAP), a program looking at how food forests might significantly improve our neighborhoods, public green spaces, and farms. Originally from East Tennessee, he moved to Lexington to begin working in environmental restoration, ecological stewardship, and supporting the role of nature in communities. Since 2001, he has worked in landscape design, installation, and management. In 2004, he added an emphasis on native plants, ecological rehabilitation, "green" stormwater structures, and the stewardship of natural areas.
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Mr. Athanase (he/him), Farm Technician
Bio coming soon!
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Niki Milburn (she/her), Social Media Manager + Web Designer
As a former educator, Niki has combined her passion for connecting with folks and strategic design to support local non-profits as they navigate an ever-changing digital landscape. Through social media marketing and web design, she works to ensure a non-profit’s mission and vision is clearly communicated to the community it serves. When she’s not curating content, you can find her reading a book or practicing yoga.
