Saskia Esslinger
Teach Gardening

​Saskia Esslinger is a certified permaculture designer, teacher, and regenerative entrepreneur. She believes that growing food is a key element in a sustainable lifestyle and trains people to teach gardening in their own community through her website teachgardening.com. Saskia recently returned to her roots in Alaska after traveling over land and sea for two years with her husband and two sons.

Saskia is passionate about helping people live a more sustainable lifestyle, for themselves and the earth. After graduating with a degree in Environmental Science she knew she didn’t want to get a “real job” and enter the rat race so she traveled, and worked a variety of jobs.

She cooked on a train in Alaska, interned on an organic farm in upstate New York, volunteered with Americorps VISTA for a children’s gardening program in Austin, Texas, and started a cafe in Guatemala.

Saskia took a permaculture design course in 2004 and in 2007 they bought a house in her hometown of Anchorage, Alaska and began creating their sustainable lifestyle. The house became an urban homestead and Saskia began teaching gardening and permaculture classes as she obtained her master’s degree in Regenerative Entrepreneurship with Gaia University and her permaculture teaching certificate with Dave Jacke.

Saskia developed a full-season gardening curriculum that successfully allowed her to earn money, grow a significant portion of her family’s food, and help people and the earth while becoming a mother to two wonderful boys. 

​Saskia is a gardening guru for cold climates and runs a Cool Climate Food Gardening group on Facebook as well as a sends out weekly emails detailing what needs to be done in the garden and the kitchen. She is also the executive director of Homer Folk School, which facilitates community skill sharing, and teaches many classes on permaculture, gardening, and homesteading.

Saskia can be reached at alaskasaskia@gmail.com. Join her on instagram @teachgardening or facebook on her Teach Gardening Group if you are interested in teaching!