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July 4, 2008
zzzzzz
Have a lovely holiday weekend.
(3 votes)
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Filed under: Citified Farm Animals, Posts by Anais |
Tags: Citified Farm Animals
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July 4, 2008
Another week’s end and another round of weekly meal wrap ups.
SATURDAY
Breakfast - homemade, homegrown blueberry pancakes (made with homeraised eggs) and homemade, homegrown strawberry sauce
Dinner -homemade w.w. flour tortillas, homemade spanish rice (homegrown green onions, peppers, cilantro) topped with homegrown peppers, tomatoes, cilantro and organic cheese
SUNDAY
Breakfast - homemade granola and homegrown fruit
Lunch - leftovers from Saturday dinner
Dinner - hosted community local food potluck
MONDAY
Breakfast - homemade granola and homegrown fruit
Lunch - vegetable mac & cheese made with homegrown green onions, tomatoes, peppers
Dinner -homemade no knead bread topped with homegrown tomatoes, organic mozzarella cheese, homegrown basil, with homegrown cucumber salad with local farmer’s market feta cheese
TUESDAY
Breakfast - homemade granola and homegrown fruit
Lunch - homegrown green beans with homegrown baked tromboncino squash
Dinner - homegrown salad (homegrown greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans) with leftover baked tromboncino squash
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast - homemade granola and homegrown fruit
Lunch - locally grown avocado (friend gave us a bag) on sprouted bread with homegrown tomatoes also homegrown green beans and homegrown tomato, greens and cucumber salad
Dinner - locally grown avocado (friend gave us a bag) on sprouted bread with homegrown tomato and homegrown cucumber and homegrown dill salad
THURSDAY
Breakfast - homemade granola and homegrown fruit
Lunch - locally grown avocado (friend gave us a bag) on sprouted bread with homegrown tomatoes with homegrown green beans
Dinner - homemade, whole wheat and homegrown herb pizza crust topped with homegrown tomatoes, peppers, eggplant zucchini, green onions and basil with homegrown cucumber and dill salad with farmer’s market feta cheese
FRIDAY
Breakfast - homemade granola and homegrown fruit
Lunch - organic whole wheat pasta with homemade tomato sauce with homegrown herbs, homegrown tomato and cucumber salad
Dinner -community potluck - we’ll be contributing homegrown tomato, cucumber salad and homegrown fruit bowl (homegrown strawberries, peaches, blueberries)
(1 votes)
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Filed under: 100 Foot Diet, Homegrown Diet, Posts by Anais |
Tags: 100 Foot Diet, Homegrown Diet
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July 3, 2008
Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.
Mohandas Gandhi
Here at PTF’s urban homestead we gear to celebrate our 5th annual ‘Interdependence Day’ with a gathering of friends, local (even homegrown) foods and fellowship. We strive to set an example for fellow pathfinders - finding place and growing where we are planted.
How will you be celebrating the 4th? What homegrown, re-localizing efforts are will be you be starting at your home or in your community?
And what steps are you making towards your own independence and freedom from corporate control. How are you daily fighting for freedom as eco pioneers forging a sustainable path towards the future.
Be creative & resourceful in your efforts! Perhaps you’ll start a new tradition.
(3 votes)
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Filed under: Events & Outreach, Posts by Anais |
Tags: community, Urban Homestead
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July 3, 2008
While we re-organize for the new PTF site (with more information and better navigation), we thought it neat to have a “journey timeline” for readers to get a sense of where we came from and how this urban homestead project came about.
The journey for our family has been one of getting back to basics, living off the land, and living sustainably as best we can. Step by step along the path to self sufficiency.
A reader recently commented:
… a big baby step for me is learning patience. I want to be further along in my journey to sustainable living. I don’t want to have to still rely on grocery stores. I have so many plans and I want to implement them NOW! But I know it all takes time and patience. I’m not God and I can’t create my universe in 6 days! I just have to work with today and hope I make choices that will positively impact my family, me, and our world tomorrow. - Beth
The Pasadena urban homestead universe wasn’t transformed overnight. The journey started long before I was even born and even before Farmer D decided to share our urban homesteading project with the world in 2001. With readers seeing what/where we are today it’s hard to imagine what we started with. It’s been a 20 year long organic process at our current location- turning a ordinary city home into an homestead. Patience, purpose, perseverance and passion is what got us here in the first place. With those four P’s in your pocket you can change your world for the better.
Here’s a overview “draft” timeline.
1969 Began searching for a meaningful and more natural, self-sufficient lifestyle; lived simply without air conditioning, clothes dryer; dishwasher; wanted to return to eating whole, non processed foods and natural medicines.
1973-75 Homesteaded in New Zealand: Beekeeper, sold honey/successful honey business/hand-cranked honey extractor/drug-free bees; self-installed rainwater system for homestead water supply; planted fruit trees/vegetable garden; kept chickens, ducks and goats for eggs and milk/sold chicken eggs; hand chopped firewood for heat/hot water and cooking in woodstove; built honey shop solely by hand/no power tools; outdoor toilet; outdoor laundry room with copper basin and fireplace for heating water; wringer washer/outdoor clothesline; primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally butchered chickens/sheep for food; no phone or TV; cooked from scratch; home entertainment and developed some additional homesteading craft skills; purchased an old Morris “hand cranked” car; experimented with humanure composing.
1975-84 Lived on 10 acres in Florida: hand –cleared palmettos for mobile home/out buildings, garden and play area; dug trenches for water pipes for well and septic tank opening/ self-installed electricity; beekeeper/bee supply and honey business/drug-free bees; planted huge vegetable garden; milked goat; various building and DIY projects; no air conditioning, no dishwasher, no clothes dryer/used outdoor clothesline; used alternative medicine; began home schooling children; in later years disconnected hot water heater; had a large worm composting bin; small nursery business.
1985 First year in Pasadena house: furnished home with items brought from Florida and donated second hand items/stove and fridge from the church; kept 10 drug-free beehives and sold honey/hand-cranked extractor; composted; planted vegetable garden; heavily mulched backyard to improve soil; no air conditioning, no clothes dryer/used outdoor clothesline.
1989 Became totally vegetarian.
1990 Edible landscaping and farming in the front yard; smothered front lawn under newspaper & mulch to kill the grass: planted wildflowers, vegetables and herbs.
(1991-92) First DIY cardboard solar oven made for cooking baked potatoes and cookies/experimental; recycled grey water from sinks and tub to water the garden to conserve water during water restrictions.
1993 Started crafting business; lived without use of refrigerator on and off for several years; experiences in extreme simplicity; roof began leaking—tarp put on. Exploring local mountains - several hiking and camping expeditions.
(1994-95) DerVaes Gardens started —home business of selling edible flowers and herbs grown in front and backyard to restaurants and caterers; alternative homegrown medicines use increases/herbal medicines preparation.
1996 Increased use of food preservation and began eating with the seasons from the garden; worm composting; learned how to repair and fix bicycles for ourselves and the community.
1999 DerVaes Gardens edible flowers sales scaled back and more heirloom “gourmet” vegetables planted instead. Learned, self taught survival skills and wild edible forging.
2000 DIY Constructed a large plywood solar oven on wheels and began using the sun for cooking more of the meals and for hot water for dish washing.
2001 Decided to take a proactive approach — do what we can, where we are with what we had. Living our protest 24/7 by urban homesteading fulltime; recorded amount of harvest; used term “urban homestead” to document journey to self-sufficiency online at PathtoFreedom.com; made raised beds and self-watering containers; first media article written about PTF’s urban homestead; used city rebates for energy efficient computers, vcr, and tv; installed energy efficient light bulbs; bought gas lamps and various hand-cranked/unplugged kitchen appliances; first urban homestead blog entry.
2002 Started raising chickens (5 hens) from day old chicks; rabbits (2) opened up urban homestead to the public - first tour of urban homestead; used city rebate to purchase energy efficient refrigerator; built solar food dryer.
2003 Self-installed solar panels using city rebates; constructed solar-heated outdoor shower; installed solar tube light in garage; raised day old baby ducks (2); started replacing old appliances like refrigerator, etc; city rebate for energy efficient/water saver washing machine; James Washer hand operated washing machine; LA Permaculture Guild first Permaculture Class visits the urban homestead on field trip.
2004 Constructed biodiesel processor to make fuel for diesel car; purchased a used 88′ Chevy diesel; hosted various “Self Sufficiency Series” workshops at the urban homestead—soap-making, spinning, biodiesel making, hosted guest speakers; started using EM. Exhibited our urban homestead and farm project at Fritz Haeg’s Garden LAb at Art Center College of Design.
2005 Constructed earthen (cob) outdoor, wood-fired oven; broke up and removed 30’x30’ concrete slab in backyard and reused it for hardscaping; wind blows off more shingles on roof; first installed clay pot irrigation; pedal powered grain mill.
2006 Purchased two goats (miniature and dwarf); revamped solar shower; expanded animal enclosure; added more raised beds; more “small” improvements made to the overall urban homestead; installed Jotul wood stove for heat/free wood from local tree trimmer for burning; bike trailer; toilet lid sink for water conservation in bathroom; DIY arbors installed to take advantage of “upscale growing space”; pedal powered blender.
2007 Installed eco friendly metal roof for future rainwater collection; raised and sold chickens and ducks for fellow LA backyard poultry enthusiasts; increased our backyard flockery with more chickens and ducks; installed solar attic fans (rebated by the City of Pasadena), replaced driveway with more “permeable” Hollywood ” strip driveway; captured ”wild” bees as a swarm; purchased space saving rain barrels for rainwater harvesting project.
2008 - the urban homestead project continues growing both in our backyard and globally with improved websites and interactive challenges… stay tuned for more!
(3 votes)
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Filed under: Journey Reflections, Mixed Greens (News), Posts by Anais |
Tags: self sufficiency, Urban Homestead, urban homesteading
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July 2, 2008
This morning, stumbled on a site which listed 25 things you can do to be the change. (btw thanks, POB, for the video nod!)
List are good - just like the list above. We urban homesteaders are avid listers. Lists keep you focused on the path that you wish to travel. Sometimes our list do get overwhelming… and long, too long! How about you? Are you long listers? Just when you start hyperventilating and wondering how on earth can you accomplish it all - think small. Baby steps. It’s not about the destination, it’s the journey. Right?
Though we have done a lot in 20 years on this little plot, our journey is by no means over. Every day there’s something else to learn, something else to improve, something else that needs to be changed.
Let’s think, be positive. What positive baby steps are you taking this week? Care to share?
(7 votes)
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Filed under: Low Impact Living, Posts by Anais |
Tags: Urban Homestead, urban homesteader, urban homesteaders
Keep This Site Growing: Did you get some inspiration or glean an informative tip from this post? Please support this site by either making a tax deductible donation or a purchase from our online store. Thank you!