An Amazing and Prolific Urban Homestead

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With perseverance and ingenuity, Jules Dervaes created his urban homestead, an oasis in the middle of urban Pasadena, CA.
With perseverance and ingenuity, Jules Dervaes created his urban homestead, an oasis in the middle of urban Pasadena, CA.
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The irrepressible Jules Dervaes and his children, Jordanne, Anaïs and Justin.
The irrepressible Jules Dervaes and his children, Jordanne, Anaïs and Justin.
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The Path to Freedom urban homestead today.
The Path to Freedom urban homestead today.
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To make the most of the space, Dervaes-style gardening often means vertical gardens.
To make the most of the space, Dervaes-style gardening often means vertical gardens.
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The homestead and Dervaes children in 1986, when it all started.
The homestead and Dervaes children in 1986, when it all started.
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Jules Dervaes back-to-the-land in New Zealand, 1973.
Jules Dervaes back-to-the-land in New Zealand, 1973.
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The fruits of labor.
The fruits of labor.
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Lady Fairlight, a Nigerian dwarf doe.
Lady Fairlight, a Nigerian dwarf doe.
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Clementine, a standard black cochin hen.
Clementine, a standard black cochin hen.
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It’s not all beans and squash; there’s even room for a flower patch!
It’s not all beans and squash; there’s even room for a flower patch!
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The harvests increased yearly, reaching an annual yield of more than 6,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables on just one-tenth an acre land.
The harvests increased yearly, reaching an annual yield of more than 6,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables on just one-tenth an acre land.
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The annual harvest is the equivalent of more than 60,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables per acre!
The annual harvest is the equivalent of more than 60,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables per acre!
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The homestead’s 2 kW solar power system produces about two-thirds of the Dervaes’ electricity needs — diligently minimized to no more than 6 kWh a day.
The homestead’s 2 kW solar power system produces about two-thirds of the Dervaes’ electricity needs — diligently minimized to no more than 6 kWh a day.
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“The way to survival is through working in our earth, and the tool of salvation is a trowel.” Jules Dervaes brandishes the “tool of salvation” in his one-trowel revolution.
“The way to survival is through working in our earth, and the tool of salvation is a trowel.” Jules Dervaes brandishes the “tool of salvation” in his one-trowel revolution.

Looking back at 1965, the year I entered college, I hardly recognize myself! At 18 I was headed — like everyone I knew — for life in the professional world. My dad was providing for our family by working for Chevron as a district manager of central Florida. For me, class valedictorian at Tampa’s Jesuit High School, the die had been cast to make my living by wearing a white collar. Working at manual labor was never a possibility, never even imagined. Now I live on an urban homestead.

But I’m getting ahead of my story. Marriage in 1970 brought new responsibilities and a sense of urgency regarding the need to consider the long-term future — for years I felt inadequate in handling all of life’s daily requirements, let alone emergencies. I admired people who were able to build or fix things and longed to be as rugged as those who started from scratch by settling new lands.

Intoxicated with the changes of the ’60s and ’70s, some of my generation found peace in the back-to-the-land movement. Others went further, making an exodus from the nation. The convergence of these happenings signaled that it was time; I knew I had to go away. I wanted to live as simply as possible, in harmony with nature, in touch with my basic needs for food, water and shelter. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, I was looking for “old world” stability and a place where family values were still unchanged.

It was 1973 when my wife and I immigrated to a land less traveled, New Zealand was to become for me a new birthplace. I arrived there ready to begin living off the land, taking with me a briefcase packed with the first 13 issues of MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazine.

The isolated ruggedness of an abandoned gold town (population one, the addition of my wife and me tripling it to three) became the setting of a daily struggle to learn to live a new way. Embarrassed, I felt like a child having to go through — at 26 — the ordeals of growing up. But I soon learned about vegetable gardening, raising farm animals, drinking iron-oxide rainwater, cooking on a woodstove, and using a bucket toilet — among other backwoods scholarship — and ultimately, this “funny” American successfully homesteaded.

  • Published on Jan 8, 2009
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