“Gardening is not a democracy. We are ruled by nature and there isn’t much we can do about that. This “tough love” dictatorship teaches us the valued lessons of patience and perseverance. One hard lesson learned is that we aren’t in control and can’t vote to change the outcome.” When I first caught sight of the Dervaes family urban farm on Dateline, I was astonished, not

Jules Dervaes sold his 10 acres in rural Florida and purchased this "fixer-upper" home in the mid-1980s at a reasonable price by California standards.
only did they defy the norm of suburban living, they proved to be sustainable at the back end of Bushes failing American economy and inflated oil prices. I was particularly intrigued that this kind of organic farming on a small Pasadena, California, 8,712 sq.ft. lot in the middle of suburbia could be so successful and rewarding on so many levels. As I watched the gorgeous array of luscious vegetables and ripe fruit harvested from the neatly lined rows. I was impressed and figured this would be my ultimate goal in America: self-sufficiency, independence and most importantly organic living. In my own suburban town home community most of my diverse neighbors had already begun the process of self-sufficiency and provided me with tips on building box gardens that I could easily transport. Only their backyards sported cherry and peach trees, greens, fruits, veggies, Lowes purchased portable ovens, and secret moonshine while their tiny front yards perfectly cut lawns stayed within the tightly monitored guidelines of the Home Owners Association.
The Dervaes family demystified and revolutionized urban gardening with over twenty years experience in natural living. What started as an idea in 1969 has flourished into a resource for urban and suburban communities all over the country.
——————————————————————————————–
More about Urban Homestead from the Path to Freedom Website:
About the Urban Homestead

UrbanHomestead Harvest. Photo courtesy of Steve Dabrowski.
In the mid-1980s, our family set out to do the seemingly impossible: To create what we dubbed an urban homestead and live a self-sufficient, low-impact life in the heart of the city. For years we worked steadily to transform our ordinary urban lot in Pasadena, California, into an organic permaculture garden that supplies us with food year-round.
Having found food security in our own backyard, we were emboldened to take further steps. We began powering our home with alternative energies and fueling our car with home-brewed bio-diesel. Along with new technologies, we also embraced the simple living of past generations. We kept farm animals for egg production and manure, used secondhand goods to decrease our consumption of earth’s nonrenewable resources, and taught ourselves a variety of back-to-basics skills. Through much hard work, and no small amount of blessing, our “urban homestead” now enjoys a dramatic degree of independence, with ever-decreasing environmental impact.

Urban Homestead Clay Pot Water Irrigation
The journey is ongoing—and we are by no means finished—but we are grateful to have come this far. In 2001, we named our homegrown venture “Path to Freedom” and created this website —the first ever devoted to urban homesteading. We hoped that by documenting our personal experiences we could offer encouragement to those striving to live a simpler, more self-sufficient lifestyle. Eight years later, PathtoFreedom.com is now the largest and most comprehensive urban homesteading website, with more than five million hits per month. We believe that our family’s real-life experience is what makes the site unique: We aren”t just writing about the latest eco-practices and products; for more than two decades, we have been living the revolution. At our daily blog, “Little Homestead in the City,” you can witness first-hand our struggles and joys, defeats and successes on this pioneering journey.
We now run a family of websites which offer goods and interactivity for others on “the path.” For our expanded online outreach, non-profit organization, and progressive online stores, visit this link.

Urban Homestead Seedlings. Photo courtesy of Brian Beiry.
Please note that Path to Freedom is a noncommercial, family-operated venture. We devote countless hours to this site, and, despite the opportunity for profit, we remain committed to keeping it an advertisement-free forum. We do this because we believe in giving freely to others, a value upon which strong, healthy communities are built. We hope you will take this principle to heart, and will view this site not just as a place to “take” (answers, ideas, inspiration), but as an opportunity to “give” as well. Whatever you may gain by reading about our journey, please remember to “pay it forward” to others in some fashion. Together, we can ignite a revolution of spirit that will truly change our world for the better!
——————————————————————————————–
The 10 Elements of Our Urban Homestead

Urban Homestead Homemade Biofuel
You will not find movie stars on this set, but we do have our own cast of characters and enough daily dramas here on our urban homestead to be more than interesting. And it’s a REAL reality show, not Hollywood manufactured and scripted. The urban homestead is on a completely opposite spectrum to the hustle and insanity that surrounds us.
Thousands of people zoom by on the freeway in their own little automobile cocoons. A few blocks away, people stroll Old Towne in their latest designer threads, buying things they probably don’t need. We’re a whole different world; our triumphs and struggles are so far different from what the majority of Angelinos experience. It may surprise you but we live under a constant dictatorship! Gardening is not a democracy. We are ruled by nature and there isn’t much we can do about that. This “tough love” dictatorship teaches us the valued lessons of patience and perseverance. One hard lesson learned is that we aren’t in control and can’t vote to change the outcome.

Urban Homestead Biofuel
Over the years, we have documented our progress in our journey towards becoming self-sufficient in a densely urban setting with charts, diagrams and stats. Our homestead is a continually evolving work in progress and these records have helped us to compare our successes and failures. They also serve as an aid in planning future plantings and projects.
In no way are our accomplishments “one size fits all.” In viewing the aerial shots of our Urban Homestead , it’s hard for even us to even to imagine that such a small space could produce so much. But these aerial shots offer even more — zooming out farther from this isolated view, one sees America. Zooming even farther shows the entire world. We know that in that great big blue marble earth, there are fellow travelers and homesteaders, each scattered about on their isolated oasis, yet all connected in a common effort and spirit. We realize circumstances and situations have allowed us to take these steps. We do not intend to compare or endorse our progress as being possible for everyone.

Urban Homestead Edible Flowers
However, we hope that by providing this information and making our records public we can prove that YOU can make a difference. Perhaps you may get inspired to make your own changes by the examples provided here. After all, no matter how small the change, you too, can take a step in the right direction.
And then, who knows where the path will take you? Let’s walk!
“This project evolved from our commitment and conviction to live a simple, self-sufficient and holistic lifestyle. Our hope is that by documenting our personal experiences, we can offer encouragement to those who are on the same journey towards a simple, self-sufficient lifestyle, whether they are in the city or country.“
–Jules Dervaes
——————————————————————————————–
Resources from the Urban Homestead, Path to Freedom:
Organic Gardening
Biodiesel Fuel
Seeds
——————————————————————————————–
Donate:
If you find this site useful, or if we have helped you in any way, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Dervaes Institute. Only the earth stewardship outreach activities of Path to Freedom receive these contributions.
You may send a contribution by three ways.
- Donate via PayPal
- Send a check payable to “Dervaes Institute” to:Dervaes Institute631 Cypress AvePasadena, CA 91103USA
- Add a donation to the shopping cart in Peddler’’s Wagon and charge it to your credit card or PayPal account.

Our freedoms are chained to our past or transformed and freed by our consciousness! Our prosperity is held by our thoughts! Our health is contained in the memories of our bodies! The power of Forgiveness liberates the heart to enter into a new dimension of being.
—the SoulFlyHoney Diva, Ria Takharu
“Ho’oponopono” is defined in the Hawaiian Dictionary[1] as “mental cleansing: family conferences in which relationships were set right through prayer, discussion, confession, repentance, and mutual restitution and forgiveness.” Literally, ho’o means “to,” pono is defined as “goodness, uprightness, morality, moral qualities, correct or proper procedure, excellence, well-being, prosperity, welfare, benefit, true condition or nature, duty; moral, fitting, proper, righteous, right, upright, just, virtuous, fair, beneficial, successful, in perfect order, accurate, correct, eased, relieved; should, ought, must, necessary,” and ponopono is defined as “to put to rights; to put in order or shape, correct, revise, adjust, amend, regulate, arrange, rectify, tidy up, make orderly or neat.”







I HAVE A SWEET TOOTH..AND LIKE TO MUNCH ON CASHEWS, SEEDS, GOJIS. RIGHT NOW IM DOGGING ORGANIC BANANAS LIKE CRAZY..MAYBE MY BODY NEEDS THAT POTASSIUM AND TRYPOTOPHAN “RELAXIN” BRAIN POWER!! AS MY BODY SLOWLY TRANSITIONS FROM A COOKED FOOD TO A MORE RAW FOOD RATIO TO AVOID A SERIOUS HEALING CRISIS I’M AWARE THAT I MUST CONSICOUSLY ADD RAW RECIPES TO MY MENU. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER AND EXPANDING MY AWARENESS IN THE KITCHEN IS KEY TO MY EVOLUTION ON THIS PLANET. heehee! ENJOY THESE RECIPES I FOUND I’LL INDICATE WHICH I HAVE ALREADY MADE…LOVE U FAMILY!—RIA


Can you believe my body was craving cabbage–raw cabbage? Doesn’t sound very tasty, not even to me, but I guess my body knows on a molecular level just what it needs. It’s been about a year since I had dropped my strictly vegetarian diet for a ‘just-about-anything “sad” diet (Standard American Diet).
The small head of organic cabbage sat in my fridge for a few weeks. It wasn’t until I couldn’t find the usual organic fresh baby greens at my local Bloom stores that I remembered what I had in my reserve. Raw broccoli and organic cabbage. So I purchased fresh mushrooms which always seems to excite my eccentric taste buds.
All mushrooms contain compounds called polysaccharides, which have both anti-tumoral and immune-stimulating properties. Medicinal mushrooms also contain compounds called terpenes and steroids, some of which also promote anti-tumour activity. Three of the most widely recognized and used medicinal mushrooms today are shiitake, maitake and reishi.



pictured below Happy Hippy- shower gel. NYC photo by daria nefertiye takharu June 2008]



