Michael Judd, Frederick, MD

“Our diverse permaculture landscapes offer a natural cornucopia of fruits, nuts, and useful plants.”

Designer, author, and educator Michael Judd is a passionate activist for edible gardening and the environment. His firm, Ecologia, creates edible and ecological landscapes, and he offers workshops, webinars, and talks. In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Michael and his family live at Long Creek Homestead, a living laboratory and classroom he has been sharing through Open Days since 2018. The homestead embodies the ideas of permaculture (productive agricultural ecosystems that are sustainable, self-sufficient, and modeled on nature) and is designed to harvest rainwater, build soil, and balance insect populations while providing ample crops. Surrounding the family’s straw bale house are more than 100 varieties of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and useful perennials growing in food forests, mixed woodlands, and gardens, plus an on-site nursery. Michael wrote Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist (Ecologia, 2013) and For the Love of Paw Paws (Ecologia, 2019) and hosts an annual “Paw Paw Fest” celebrating America’s largest native fruit.