Mud City Press

JOSHUA SMITH

Ecological Landscaping and Permaculture Design

Joshua Smith is one of Eugene, Oregon's little known treasures. A permaculture designer of the highest pedigree, Joshua began working with organic and sustainable practices in 1971. He helped start Seeds of Change, the first all-organic seed company in the United States, in 1988. Three years later, he befriended Bill Mollison, founder of the International Permaculture Movement, and had the opportunity to teach permaculture design with him. Joshua has been designing and installing nature-mimicking, agro-ecological systems for over thirty years now and has practiced permaculture throughout the western states. He is currently doing design work in Eugene, Oregon. He is also available for consultation, lectures, and workshops. (Joshua can be contacted through this website. Click contact in menu at top of page.)

Essays by Joshua Smith

THE UNTOLD STORY OF CATASTOPHIC FOREST FIRES: Catastrophic fires are raging through the American West. Joshua Smith offers insights and solutions to coping with and minimizing these fires. Read more.
THE ECOLOGY OF WAKING UP TO REALITY: Joshua Smith offers solutions to the problems of modern agriculture.Read more.
GARDENING: In order to maximize sun exposure for garden crops, situate beds so they run north-south. Plant taller plants on the north side and lower plants on the south side to avoid shading the smaller plants. Create edge bio-tones for increased productivity using keyhole, spiral bed or partial keyhole patterns, or just stagger the beds or wiggle them. Linear beds are the least productive; use your imagination. Read more.
FORESTS AND TREES: As it is with the forest, so it is with the tree. Both are ecosystems of different scales. The tree offers food and shelter to a host of creatures large and small. Chewing and sucking insects feed on the tree and predatory insects and birds feed on them. Bears, birds, squirrels and others eat its fruit and seeds, and defecate into its root zone, fertilizing the tree. Birds may nest in the tree while mice and other creatures may nest beneath it. Beetles and borers drill into it. Read more.
ECO-ORCHARDING: There is no substitute for excellent design to maximize a food forests' self reliance, productivity, nutritional values, ease of harvesting, diversity of foods, minimal maintenance and breathtaking beauty. A simple but elegant ecological design can achieve good results. However, it's a greater challenge to design a complex, highly diverse food forest. Read more.
DESIGN FOR CATASTROPHE: Every region typically has one or more catastrophe that can befall them. Fire and flood are examples for south central Oregon. Often in nature they are cyclical, although we may have a poor understanding of their timing. Let's look at some catastrophes that commonly occur in the continental US, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, fire, flood, earthquakes and landslides. Read more.
THE EVOLUTION OF EDUCATION: Joshua Smith analyzes problems in education today and suggests alternatives. Read more.

Professional History

Owner and Licensed Contractor, Edenhome Landscape and Design, Inc., Ashland, Oregon, 1978-88.
Permaculture Designer for the Sol y Sombra Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1989.
Permaculture Designer for Palo Verde Environmental Design in Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1990-93.
Instructor and Permaculture Designer for the Malachite Farm School, Gardner, Colorado, 1993-96.
Director of Agro-forestry and Ecology at Earth Star Farm, Boulder, Colorado, 1997-99.
Permaculture Design Teacher at Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado, 1999-2002.
Co-founder Ecoscape Environmental Design L.L.C., 1999 to present.