This picture is from the harvest of Painted Mountain corn, a variety that we grow here for flour for cornbread, tortilla, pozole, etc. This harvest of a staple food crop led to the creation of the 100 mile diet internship program, which Josh helped to create. With much dedication, research, and enthusiasm, we were able to feed 30 people for a month from only foods grown or collected within 100 miles in the fall of 2008.

This idea was also seeded by a couple of other experiences with Josh: Josh, Abel, and I, after a conversation about the salt marches of the Indian independence movement, got very excited about this relocalization movement. On a watershed hike with him during the first weeks of my time at Aprovecho, we looked west towards the coast and decided that one day we would walk overland to go collect salt and seaweed for our yearly supplies. We talked a lot about creating seasonal migrations to areas where different resources are available at different times...huckleberries in the high Cascades, acorns from the oak savannas, etc.

Working with him in a consensus- based business, which manages 40 acres of land and educates upwards of 100 students a year was a wonderful experience. He was always the dreamer of the group, pushing us towards greater achievements personally, as a group, and as a business.

I and all the others here at Aprovecho miss him very much. I am looking forward to sharing conversations with him around our woodstove again this winter.

Tao Orion
Aprovecho
Cottage Grove, Oregon