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Urban Homestead Facts
LOCATION
Pasadena, CA
(Northwest Pasadena, one mile from downtown Pasadena)
PROPERTY SIZE
1/5 acre (66' x 132' / 8,712 sq.ft.)
GARDEN SIZE
~ 1/10 acre (3,900 sq.ft. / ~ 66' x 66')
GARDEN DIVERSITY
Over 350 different vegetables, herbs, fruits, berries
FOOD PRODUCED
6,000 lbs annually
challenging for 10,000 lbs in 2008 (read more)
URBAN HOMESTEAD SUPPORTS
4 full-time adults, volunteers, and many clients
ENERGY USAGE
6.5 kwh day (and going down!)
SOLAR POWER PRODUCED
9000 kwh ( as of 10/20/08)
GALLONS OF BIODIESEL MADE (since 2003)
1,500 gallons (as of 2/12/08)
"EARTH IMPACT FOOTPRINT" 5.2 acres per person
Tally Ho 2008
PRODUCE
4,340 lbs (9/31/08)
EGGS
Chicken 921 & Duck 1028 (10/22/08)
HONEY
25 lbs (10/20/08)
Steps Taken
Everyday Steps
Growing 99 % of produce
- 6,000lbs on 1/10 acre
Food Preservation/Storage:
- canning
- drying
- freezing
In the Kitchen:
- baking/cooking from
scratch
- yogurtmaking
- breadmaking
- cheesemaking
- sprouting
- cast iron cookware
- no dishwasher or
microwave
Food Choices:
- buying in bulk
- organic
- local
- eating seasonaly
- reducing "food miles"
- fair trade
- vegetarian(over 17 years)
Raising Small Farmstock:
- chickens (eggs/manure)
- ducks (eggs/manure)
- dwarf rabbits (manure)
- dwarf/pygmy goats
(milk/manure)
Composting Methods:
- making/using EM Bokashi
- vermicomposting
- composting food, garden
and green waste
Fuel:
- homebrewing biodiesel
- running diesel car on
biodiesel(~4,000 miles a yr)
Energy Conservation:
- "powering down"
- cut daily energy use in 1/2
12 kwh to 6 kwh a day
- 12 solar panels
- "green" power
- rechargeable batteries
- line drying clothes
Energy Efficient Appliances:
- washing machine
- refridgerator
- water heater(gas)
Energy Efficient Electronics:
- computer/printer/copier
- TV(no cable)/VCR/ DVD
Energy Efficient Lighting:
- compact fluorescent bulbs
- olive oil lamps
- oil lamps filled with
biodiesel
- homemade soy & beeswax
candles
- daylighting
- solar tube
Non-electrical Appliances /
Hand-powered
- blender
- toaster
- grinder(s)
- popcorn popper
- solar oven(s)
- hand washer/wringer
- pedal powered grain mill
- straight razor
- handcranked radio
- mortar & pestle
Natural beauty/no makeup
Homemade Non-toxic
Beauty Care Products
- toothpaste
- deoderant
Biodegrable/Non-toxic
Cleaning Products:
- vinegar
- baking soda
- lemon juice
Natural Health Practices:
- homeopathy
- herbal remedies
- prevention
Water Conservation Efforts:
- low flush toilets
- toilet lid sink
- reusing laundry water
- limit toilet flushings
- limit baths/showers
- mulching
- handwatering
- clay pot irrigation
- solar outdoor shower
- front load washer
- food not lawns
Hand powered garden tools:
- push mower
- broom, rake
- trowel, shovel
- hand clippers
Self-employed
Working at home:
- honey business
- produce/flower business
- craft business
Crafts & Skills:
- winemaking
- survival skills
- edible landscaping
- sewing
- leatherwork
- fiber arts
- animal husbandry
- holistic care
- tinctures
- carpentry
- plumbing
- building
- haircutting
- bicycle repairs
- soapmaking
- candlemaking
- herbs
- urban farming
- website design
- photography
- self publishing
- video & graphics
Living Simply:
- making use or do without
- bartering
- monthly shopping trips
- reduce, reuse & recycle
- second hand clothes
- salvage/thrift store
- consume less
Passive Cooling:
- no AC
- wood floors
- blinds
- windows
- screen doors
- edible forest
- "living" screens
- solar attic fan
Heating:
- no central heat
- woodstove that uses
scrap wood
- dress in layers
Walking the old paths:
- tithing
- day of rest
- stewardship
Saving seeds
Unschooling
Beekeeping
DIY Projects:
- solar oven
- cob oven
- solar outdoor shower
- depaved driveway/patio
- installed solar panels
- roofing
- sheds, etc
- animal enclosure, etc
- this website
- urban homesteading
Using canvas bags on
shopping trips / no plastic
Transportation:
- biodiesel "veggie" vehicle
- 4 "car free" days a week
- walk
- bike
- carpool
- mass transit
- cross country train trips
- 2 airplane trips in 25 years
"Green" Home Upgrades:
- metal roof
Outreach/helping others
along the path
CURRENT TRAILS
Growing 10k on 1/10
Rainwater
Waste water recovery
Support
We Support
« MEADOW VISTA, FREEDOM GARDENS | Main | ECOFARM CONFERENCE, ASILOMAR CA »
January 28, 2010
We are right in the middle of our travels!
Santa Cruz Jan 18
On the road again and the rain started coming down - pouring from the sky in torrents. We aren’t used to rain like this!
It was certainly a wet and wild drive! Our next stop before the EcoFarm Conference was Santa Cruz to meet John Robbins (author of Diet For A New America and Food Revolution). Fortunately for us, a lady (thanks Helena!) whom we met in Nevada City had friends there who had some extra sleeping space. What a blessing!
Before our scheduled visit with John Robbins and his family, we popped over to the University of California Santa Cruz farm to check out their growing grounds and Alan Chadwicks garden that was the seed of the biointensive movement here in the States.
We were jealous of all the land - and the view– was worth a million (and more) dollars. The farm land gently rolled off into the ocean on the horizon. Just amazing vista — yeah, I’m jealous!
Then it was off to meet John, Deo, Ocean and Michele Robbins and family. I had read Robbins’ book Diet For A New America when I was a teenager. So it was a thrill for us to meet the Robbins family in person. Also, John Robbins kindly wrote a review for Robert McFall’s HomeGrown documentary.
Actually, McFalls had another newbie food activist in mind to give a review on the film, but we wanted the film to go to folks that had touched our lives and shaped our journey - folks from the old days that are continuing the food fight today. People like Francis Moore Lappe, John Robbins, Wendell Berry & Wes Jackson.
OK, back to our visit!
We chatted about all sorts of topics, from uncannily similar stories of difficult choices Jules Dervaes and John Robbins made on the basis of deeply held principles to the (grim) state of the world and the necessity of a radically different lifestyle to skepticism about “green washing” and the “light green” tint of some of the current environmental ‘movement’.
We felt a real connection with the Robbins family’s multi-generational way of living and working together. The Robbins’ son, Ocean, and his wife, Michele, and children, lived with them in the same house for many years; now, they live on the same property, although in a separate dwelling, and continue to work together.
John ended our visit by gathering us in a circle and saying a prayer - what a truly warm and touching moment that was!
Thank you, Richard and Dianne, for offering your place for the night. We truly appreciated that. And a huge thank you to the entire Robbins family whose work and passion continue to make a real difference around the world.
Now down to Monterey to the Eco Farm Conference!
But before we go, here’s some photos.
The farm of UCSC
Old fashion farm implements - sadly, not in use.
Like a bee to honey, Mr Beekeeper checks out the bees
And Jordanne the chicken coop of course!
Next to the John Robbins family “compound”
Group shot with John Robbins and daughter in law, Michelle. We briefly met Ocean - he had to leave very shortly after we arrived.
Tags:
diet,
diet for a new america,
eco farm conference,
Garden,
john robbins,
olla,
rain
Topics: Out & About, PTF Spotlights, Posts by Anais | Tags: diet, diet for a new america, eco farm conference, Garden, john robbins, olla, rain
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January 28th, 2010 at 7:35 am
Reading Diet For A New America and seeing a talk by John Robbins in the late 1980’s changed my life. I’d always been a vegetarian by nature, but I realized right then that what is good for my body and health is what is also best for the earth. We’re one being, really.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
thanks for sharing! I have yet to read the book, I think I’ll go and try to find it at the library…
January 29th, 2010 at 10:27 am
[...] there you have it! Ramblings from Nevada City, Meadow Vista, Santa Cruz & [...]