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“In danger of being free.” That’s how Jules Dervaes sums up his journey from a small backyard garden to a super-productive microfarm. It’s a low input, highly efficient urban homestead right next to the metropolis of Los Angeles.
Jules, his son Justin, and his two daughters Anais and Jordanne live in a 1,500 sq. ft. craftsman bungalow on 1/5 of an acre. Here they have a 1/10 acre garden and grow 350 different vegetables, herbs, fruits, and berries. The sustainable plot is complete with chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, and honey bees. For two years in a row they were able to produce 6,000 pounds of food.
Their mission is to live sustainably and simply, and they are doing it. 90% of their vegetarian diet comes from the homestead and 2/3 of their energy comes from solar panels. They make biodiesel fuel with used vegetable oil. Their commitment to reducing consumption extends all the way to a hand-cranked radio. They are highly motivated and have a lot to say about the way things are in the world.
“Government can’t do it and corporations won’t do it,” says Jules in the short film Homegrown Revolution."
With a corporatocracy running the show in Washington and millions of Americans addicted to television and fast food, the Dervaes family provides a model of what can happen if we change our priorities. We don’t have to rely on a centralized industrial system that is poisoning public health and the environment more than ever with pesticide-laden, GMO food. We can get off the couch and start providing for ourselves.
Most of the Dervaes’ food production is for their own consumption, but they do sell excess harvests to local establishments and individuals, and then use that to buy other basics like flour and rice. They are truly one of the most independent family units in the country, with an ever-decreasing environmental impact.
Not only do they provide a model for suburban-style sustainability, but their efforts are beneficial to the community and local schools. The Front Porch Farmstand sells Dervaes’ organic produce to neighbors and restaurant chefs. They offer workshops, film screenings, and exhibits at festivals. They host school field trips at the homestead and offer school visits with their “citified” farm animals.
Source: RealFarmacy.com
by Justin Gardener
Great to see all of the possibilities available to anyone and admire the dedication of the family.
ReplyDeleteI find this awesome as hell! Kudos to you and yours! I am a beginner gardener and am looking forward to growing tons in the coming yrs. You inspire me!! Thankyou for being so nice to our earth :)
ReplyDeleteIf More people should used this method there would not be half the cancer that there is..
ReplyDeleteI plan on doing the same thing in Northern Canada..
ilove this family becouse they care about life i have been trying to get started growing my own food but the rain in fla as not stop but mybe one day so keep up the good work jules dervaes plese make more video and if you can let me know what kind of food to start out with thanks
ReplyDeleteLove it.
ReplyDeleteIf they don't eat meat, what do they use the rabbits and ducks for?
ReplyDeleteDucks lay a LOT of eggs, especially the breed they have. They may use the rabbits for their wonderful manure.
DeleteRabbits produce awesome manure and ducks give very large eggs and also eat the pest that would normally plague a garden.
DeleteRabbit manure is a great fertilizer and duck give large eggs and eat the pest out of the garden without eating the garden.
DeletePeople do eat duck eggs and rabbit droppings make good fertilizer for your garden.
DeletePeople do eat duck eggs and rabbit dropping make good fertilizer for your garden.
DeletePoop (Compost)
DeleteAlso, they may use the goats for milk and cheese.
Poop (compost)
DeleteAlso they may use the goats for milk and cheese.
The rabbits and ducks are asking the same question....
DeleteWow what an inspiration!!! I am truly excited to see this happening!! We need more of this for sure. I have also a dream for a sustainable farm and a Farm to be set up in each community to help educate people and help them grow organic foods and teach them how to be sustainable and self sufficient as well. I write children's books and through the funds wish to do these farm Exchanges in each community. I am committed to see GMO's to be eradicated in our near future. Please visit me at www.ifihadafarm.com to see my books for sale. Thank you.. Linda Horne at Sun And Moon Publishing lhorne12@yahoo.com
ReplyDeletein Oct 2009 I patented new method in horticulture and agriculture which can produce 3 to 10 times organic products, but I couldn't find any help from government of Canada to make a prototype of this method , I wrote to minister of agriculture two month ago and he referred me to another professor in Montreal, and after 1 month communication with that person when I told him i know every thing about Monsanto , he wrote me he has been fired and he don't want to work with me anymore, my heath damaged by GMO foods badly and I know everything about GMO, I'm an agriculture Eng, so I'm not joking , so again I can produce 3 to 10 times organic products and I mean it
ReplyDeleteLove great news like this!!! Amazing and inspirational.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing! 350 different vegetables! Do they work outside the homestead? (Don't want that to sound like a criticism, I just wondered) I've felt for a long time, we need to take back the power from government and corporations and this is one way to do it.Good for them!
ReplyDeleteI feel better already. Thanks for making my day a little lighter.
ReplyDeletesimply amazing. everyone should have there own garden big as it may be you are still doing your part in this giant world.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see a headline ending in Here's how, I foolishly expect a how to article, not a fluffy overview.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome indeed!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! How do we watch the film, "Homegrown Revolution"?
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! How can we watch "Homegrown Revolution"?
ReplyDeleteWe need more of this sort of self-sufficiency going on. I wonder if he is also growing some fish aquaponically. That is one of my goals.
ReplyDeleteHow do I contact this man? I need help doing this
ReplyDeleteDon't rightly care for them, regardless of what they've done. These are also the folks that copyrighted/trademarked the phrase "Urban Homestead" and a half dozen or so other phrases similar to it, saying they had made up the phrases when the phrases had been around well before the Dervaes. They then proceeded to wreak havoc in the lives of other homesteaders with threats of lawsuits and the like, including a couple who had published a book entitled "Urban Homesteading". It was done purely for monetary gain and notoriety. That's not what homesteading and self-reliance is about, especially when their gain is at the cost of others.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what country you live in but here in America everyone has the right to intellectual property to protect one's self from other's misuse, infringing use, or stealing one's identity or work. The law also requires one to enforce its right against others who are unauthorized to use their mark. Also, one can trademark a term that has been around by using it on their goods or services or products. A person has the right to make money from being self-sufficient and does not contradict being a homesteader in any way. No different from writing a book about self-sufficiency.
DeleteBtw, what have you one recently for the good of the planet?
Hats off to you guys.Pretty awesome. Hopefully many will follow.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing and so inspiring. When we cannot feed ourselves we are prisoners of the system.
ReplyDeleteGreat if you live in California, with nice climate and long growing season. I have a garden in Texas, and by mid-July everything got obliterated by millions of grasshoppers.Even though we have a lot of chickens, grasshoppers destroy all we grow.
ReplyDeleteVampirella google the Findhorn Gardens.
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