Path to Freedom

Ever had fantasies about packing up, moving to the country, and trying to live off the land? Very '70s, people. Today, you can do it without ever leaving the city! At least, one family in Pasadena can. The Dervaes family lives on normal lot in Pasadena (1/5 acre) but has transformed that area into a model of attempted self-sustainability and fossil fuel independence. On the 1/10 of an acre that is not the house, they grow 350 varieties of edible plants, which yields 6,000 pounds of produce a year, and are steadily marching towards going off the grid, right in the middle of the city. They produce 80% of their own food in the summer, and 50% in winter! And they have all kinds of cool features like a wood stove and home-brewed biodiesel for heating...and a bike that powers the blender (I'm sure they had theirs before Ed Begley, Jr.) Anyway, I've been following the Dervaes family for a bit now via their website, (hey, it's always helpful to know how to incubate eggs!) and they've been getting a lot of press lately (NPR, LA Times), so I figured it's a good time for us all to remember that there ARE sustainable alternatives, even in the middle of urban sprawl.

Path to Freedom