One Of A Kind: Featuring unique homes & gardens and the people who create them.

Story and Photos By Chris Bertrand

On a recent sunny afternoon, I pulled up to a home not unlike the others in the curb appearance in this Northwest Pasadena neighborhood, just north of Orange Grove. After that first glance, you might notice that the front yard is landscaped differently than the others on the block, tastefully planted with flowers and herbs, some fruit trees and a picket fence appropriate for the vintage of the home and its surroundings. Step behind the driveway gate, though, and a whole new world unfolds.

Jules Dervaes and his family call it urban homesteading. From what they calculate as a tenth of an acre, half of the .20 acre standard lot size for this neighborhood, they raised, then sold, ate or canned over 5,000 pounds of fruits, vegetables, herbs, edible flowers… and duck eggs last year. Without artificial chemicals, pesticides or insecticides.

Their backyard chickens and ducks are members of the family, it seems, and their eggs add to the family’s vegetarian diet and the family’s income. The birds, raised outside and cage free without antibiotics, are not used for meat-related purposes. The birds and two family goats (for future dairy purposes) are organically vege-fed, supplemented with greens.

They carefully capture precious rainwater for later use, as it is superior to irrigation water due to its ph level, and reduces water bills. The drought of the nineties was the initial impetus to move from gardening for pleasure to gardening to supply food. First they removed the front lawn, spreading wildflower seeds over mulch. The following El Nino brought flowers that Dervaes sold to a tea shop, their first customer. Eventually, their simple yet rich life would include a diesel vehicle run on homebrewed biodiesel and a refrigerator powered by solar panels during the day.

Their use of an ancient form of slow watering, called ollas, is probably the biggest practice that we home gardeners can easily adopt. Looking like a bulbous clay vase, an olla filled with water once or twice a week, then capped with a stone will slowly leach its water cache into the surrounding soil, only as needed.

An olla is a nearly perfect watering system that gets water directly to the roots, and is available in different sizes and shapes on their website’s “Peddler’s Wagon” (www.PeddlersWagon.com) and a few gardening websites.

Dervaes estimates he saves thousands of gallons of irrigation water each year by using an olla in each 15 gallon tub of three or four tomato plants or other vegetables throughout their gardens, and other water saving or recycling measures.

After fifteen years at this, the Dervaes family helps others toward their self ascribed, “path to freedom” whether across the street or across the ocean on the journey to this homegrown revolution. Though they’ve achieved their own goals of living more sustainably and careful stewardship of the land, they consider it a mission of sorts to share their successes and challenges, with outreach speaking engagements and moderating the discussion worldwide, with followers on most continents, including Africa. They’re a family that walks the walk as well as talking the talk, manning their websites, blogs, plus their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube presence.

Over the last decade, they’ve received significant media attention, as well. Even Oprah Winfrey called it a “little patch of Eden just 100 feet off the freeway” during a segment about the Dervaes Farm last Earth Day, even bringing some of their now famous greens to her show in Chicago.

Currently, the spring crops are just on the edge of readiness, so produce availability is a day by day check in at their website, by email or phone. Dervaes points out that they “pick to order” instead of harvesting quantities in anticipation of demand, so you can expect the freshest of the fresh, and ripest of the ripe here.

You can choose now from a colorful array of edible flowers like pansies, nasturtiums, borage, violas, calendulas, bachelor buttons, dianthus, lavender and more. French radishes are a specialty here, and available now, as well. Twenty varieties of specialty greens and heirloom lettuces regularly bring devoted buyers from distances that amaze even Dervaes.

As the welcome rains and the heat return, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, beans, broccoli, cucumbers, eggplant, peas, squash, and eight fruits will expand the leafy greens offerings. DerVaes Gardens has become the darling of caterers, personal chefs and a couple of restaurants including Elements Kitchen in Pasadena, so you’ll have to get in line… online or by phone.

Since this small family’s supplies are limited, they ask you to place orders a day or two in advance, either by phone (626)844-4586 or email. For more information, check their websites: www.DervaesGardens.com and www.UrbanHomestead.org.

For those of you who are in the spirit of homemade and homegrown, below is a simple version of Jordanne Dervaes Homemade Ginger Ale. We decided not to disseminate the more involved, “original” method using yeast to create carbonation, due to the careful monitoring of the increasing carbonation which poses an explosion risk. No risk in the recipe below, but great, refreshing ginger taste! For the original version, go to www.LittleHomesteadInTheCity.org

Homemade Ginger Ale by Jordanne Dervaes
Recipe makes four quarts of ginger ale

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 ounces of fresh ginger root (You can add more if you like strong ginger taste.)
• 6 tablespoons of citrus juice (Lemon &/ or orange)
• 3/4 cup of sugar (Natural cane is best. Light brown sugar gives an extra richness to the flavor.)
• 1 1/2 quarts of water
• To create extra zing, simmer the ginger mixture with 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom, or a few cloves. A 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cooking will give a subtle earthy flavor. If you really want a bite to your pop – or for a cold / fever remedy, add a teeny pinch of cayenne pepper.
• 3 quarts of carbonated water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Grate ginger root and put in a large, heavy bottomed soup pot.
2. Simmer the ginger, juices, and sugar in 1 1/2 quarts of water for 30 minutes to an hour. The longer it simmers, the stronger the brew will be. You can add a pinch of dry ginger spice for extra “bite.”
3. Remove from heat and strain. Make sure you squeeze out all the juice. The leftover ginger root pulp can be composted.
4. Mix the brew with the other 3 quarts of water.
5. Let it all cool till lukewarm.

We recommend that you use empty plastic soda bottles instead. Make sure you CLEAN your bottles with a bleach solution. Make a mixture of 2 tablespoons of bleach in a gallon of water and clean your bottles with this — inside and out. Make sure to use a bottle brush to get in all the “corners” and then rinse thoroughly with hot water and air dry. Drink cold and enjoy! Homemade ginger ale is best used up within a week or two of brewing.

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