July 2010

By Chrystal Baker

Nestled amongst a row of unassuming homes in Pasadena, California, there sits a house with a family’s garden–a garden that produces almost 400 varieties of crops and up to 6,000 pounds of harvested produce. The Dervaes family grows just about everything they eat on a daily basis. Not only is it their means of sustenance, but it is also a business. This business, and their way of life as a whole, have become a blueprint for people across the world who want to go back to the basics of self-sufficiency.

It began as a way for the Dervaeses to decrease their carbon footprint, eliminate consumption of genetically modified foods and also take back control of their independence. In 1984, Jules Dervaes bought a home in Pasadena on one-fifth acre of land and decided that it would be a veritable urban homestead for his family. Having spent several years as a small scale farmer in his home state of Florida and also after a brief stint in New Zealand where he raised bees and grew his own food, Jules was fairly equipped to take on this challenge. He and his three children–Anais, Justin and Jordanne–made concerted efforts to live a more natural lifestyle and use less resources. They grew vegetables, flowers and herbs in the front yard, stopped usage of the air conditioner and clothes dryer, became full-fledged vegetarians and utilized solar power and grey water. In the mid 1990s, the family began selling the pesticide-free, edible flowers in their front yard to restaurants and caterers. Just before the year 2000, the Dervaes Garden became a main source of the family’s income as they decreased the amount of flowers sold and focused on the vegetables that flourished each season. What had once been a means of providing meals for the family became a business. In 2001, they decided to document this new life in an online journal, Pathtofreedom.com. As of today, the website is a number one resource for those of similar mind striving to create their own urban homesteads.

The Dervaeses work together in all aspects of life as they maintain the seasonal crops, take care of the goats, chickens and ducks in the backyard coop and process orders and deliveries to local restaurants in the Pasadena area. It seems as though they live in a completely different world from their neighbors in Downtown Pasadena. When they first began to use less electricity, practice water conservation and grow all of their food, it was seemed peculiar. Fast forward to 2010, and there is pure recognition of the benefits of harvesting a garden of organic foods and even churning jugs of biodiesel for the family car. They have shunned many of our daily conveniences in exchange for the simplicity, reward and wealth of working with their hands. This was never a decision based on the search for fame–it was simply the sincere desire to exert power over their lives and destiny.

After two decades of living in their own square off the grid, the Dervaes family has pushed itself to the top of the list of educators for urban homesteading. Now, they participate in a number of outreach activities with local schools, environmental festivals, film screenings of their documentary “Homegrown”, workshops and community events. Outreach has been added to the list of work that the family does to encourage more people to take this step backwards for progress, as Jules has said. Through these activities and their main website: www.Pathtofreedom.com. The family shares all of the information learned over the years with others who are interested. They have even created a social networking site: www.Freedomgardens.org, for people worldwide to discuss sustainable living practices through food.

Although they have found emotional and personal wealth, the family does not live richly. They earn, on average, $30,000 a year for four people. They have found savings in homegrown food, solar powered heating system and outdoor shower, a hand-cranked blender, biodiesel fuel created from restaurants’ discarded vegetable oil and shopping for second-hand clothing and furniture. It is easy to see how they can live well, even on a smaller scale. The most notable and noble aspect of the Dervaes’ decision to live in this manner is how they have managed to secure, maintain and grow a very strong sense of family. They live together, work together and eat together. And they eat well. Their goal for living a better life has had a very strong impact on their community in Pasadena and far beyond. They are living a revolution and hope more people join in.

Urban Homestead
631 Cypress Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91103
http://urbanhomestead.org/

http://basilmagazine.com/cms2/view.htm/2/58/916/1854/Live+Urban%20Homestead