Narratives of Place

By Joel Johnson

Though born and raised in the Arizona desert, Joel Johnson writes about heirloom gardening, heritage skills, and agroecology from his current home in Tacoma, WA.

A graduate of Messiah College where he studied Sustainable Agriculture and Writing, Joel is fascinated by the power of words and the life of plants. His work is guided by the wisdom of Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday, “Where language meets the earth, there is the holy, there is the sacred.”

Joel currently serves as the Trades and Agriculture Interpreter at Fort Nisqually Living History Museum where he maintains a mid-19^th century heirloom kitchen garden, heritage orchard, and plantings of landrace Pacific Northwest grain crops. He has worked and studied on organic vegetable farms in Tucson, AZ, Tacoma, WA, East Berlin, PA, Kalomo, Zambia, and San Rafael de Vera Blanca, Costa Rica.

Joel works as a freelance writer and editor through his business Narratives of Place, which provides storytelling support for clientele in agriculture, sustainability, and environmental stewardship. His work can be viewed in Western Ag Life, the American Indian Republic, and Farmfolio.net. You can reach out to him about his writing, or for support on your next blog, website, article, or book project at joel@narrativesofplace.com or on Twitter @SustainaStories.