→ 2010-07-26 08:10:02 (25 Comments)
August 9, 2010
Across the nation, folks are down on their knees, hands dirty, seeds and trowel clench firming in hand determine to grow their own food. With hard work, effort and patience this hearty lot of homegrown soildiers will be blessed up to their eye balls in produce.
July 26, 2010
We started this challenge a couple years back, and it was very popular and successful in getting folks to eat closer to home. With more and more folks growing their own food, we figure it’s about time we revive and relaunch this challenge!
June 7, 2010
Saturday, with temps skyrocketing into the upper 90’s, we went down to visit Farmer Sergio, and enjoyed a picnic in the shade by a cool stream. The farm was so quiet, the shade so relaxing and the water so soothing it really did wonders to mellow us out after a LONG week. [...]
June 1, 2010
There’s another pictorial “Around the Urban Homestead” in queue, but, before we jump back into featuring all the homestead happenings, hope everyone had a wonderful and productive holiday with family, friends.
Our two grandfathers served in the war and one relative is listed on the Vietnam Wall. So in between all the food and fellowship, we [...]
May 30, 2010
Homegrown community! Come join us at Cottonwood Creek Park in lovely Encinitas CA on June 6
May 18, 2010
Growing community, check out the updated list of upcoming events and film screenings of our little, homemade film ‘Homegrown Revolution.’
April 27, 2010
I admit, this is rather pathetic attempt at catching up to the last few weeks worth of eats. In truth, it should be 4 weeks, but with outreach, Amy and other stuff I lost one week’s meal entirely! We ate well from the garden, but I just didn’t get a chance to write it down. [...]
April 23, 2010
Freedom Gardener for a Day! Pasadena’s Mayor Bill Bogaard stops by our table at one of the many community events that we participated in.
Well, that about wrap things up for now! Hope you enjoyed the mini posting blitz today.
With folks focusing on earthy things this month, next week things should die down on the [...]
April 20, 2010
Our last jamming session was such a success at the school just down the road from us that we were asked back (thanks Lauren) to teach another group of gals.
Strawberries are in season here in California for this class we whipped up a batch of scrumptious strawberry jam.
Putting back in touch with our roots. Knowing [...]
April 20, 2010
We hosted a FOOD INC screening & potluck on Sunday night and you can too – in your own home!
Tomorrow night at 9 PM (April 21) PBS POV will air FOOD INC in its entirety and is encouraging folks to host a potluck too
Here are some ways you can help (I’ve taken the liberty to [...]
March 25, 2010
Growing food one of most dangerous occupations on this earth because you are in danger of becoming free. – Jules Dervaes
What: Screening of FOOD Inc (96 min) in collaboration with PBS’s POV
When: Sunday April 18 6:00 PM
Where: 626 Cypress Ave, Pasadena CA
Cost: Suggested donation of $10 paid in advance / *$15 at the door, $20 [...]
March 7, 2010
by Anais in 100 Foot Diet, Challenges, Community, Garden, Garden, Liberate Your Yard, Posts by Anais, Production: Harvest Tally
Sorry, a little tardy on posting our harvest totals for February.
Here they are
Produce (fruits, veggies, herbs) 138 lb 13 oz
Eggs Chicken 63 Duck 19
Psst, join our growing (free) social network for gardeners
March 7, 2010
Well, I definitely did a better job at taking photos of the last two weeks worth of meals. Now that I am finally caught up, I hope to go back to just ‘Weekly Meal Wrap Ups’ minus the x2!
There’s new things in season and that means new eats to enjoy – like peas, mushrooms, cabbage [...]
March 2, 2010
Our readership is growing by the day, so a warm welcome to all you new readers.
For those of you who are internet savvy you can follow happenings on the urban homestead on FACEBOOK and TWITTER!
Weeks are going by so fast, by the time I turn around I am already behind in posting our week’s worth [...]
February 23, 2010
Though winter is still lingering (there’s a huge storm set to pound the LA area this weekend!), it’s canning time again!
What’s in season is citrus and what’s on the stove top is marmalade! Thanks to a local, organic supply of citrus from Sergio’s farm we gals are back in the kitchen – jammin.
With the versatile [...]
January 10, 2010
My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was less competition there. ~Indira Gandhi
Deselected Because of Principles
Unfortunately, we won’t be traveling to Sonoma Film Festival due the fact that the [...]
January 5, 2010
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
The Year of the Urban Homestead
My sis and I were talking about “the good ol’ days.” And one thing she brought up that I had forgotten was how we were constantly asked, [...]
December 14, 2009
Last weeks our meals were altered a bit due to the frosty veggies and downpour (we got over 4″ of rain here at the urban homestead!!!!) We dug into the pantry and used up some of the dried beans we had stocked up.
Despite the rain and cold we did, though, enjoy a winter treat of [...]
December 9, 2009
I certainly didn’t do a good job taking photos from last week’s meals here on the urban homestead. Guess I was too busy taking photos of other things!
With the garden in a semi hibernation, we are enjoying more simple “one pot” meals like soup. And with an arsenal of trombonico squash stored in the garage [...]
December 8, 2009
“The Freedom Garden Harvest challenge was started to get more people growing food and also adding up what they grow and harvest, instead of going to the store. Many are surprised by the amount of food that they can actually grow in a small space.”
From our 1/10 acre plot, our November harvest weighs in at
Produce [...]
December 2, 2009
We interrupt our regular posting schedule for some important news…..
Path to Freedom Urban Homestead needs your support. As the year comes to an end, please consider donating to help sustain our ever-expanding outreach and help us grow to the next level.
Our nonprofit is looking to raise some “grass roots” funds to help keep our webmistresses [...]
November 30, 2009
Heading north in mid January so get out those calendars and mark these dates!
Jan 15 – 17 Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Nevada City CA for the screening of Robert McFalls film HOMEGROWN on Saturday and Sunday (Time TBD)
Jan 20-23 Eco Farm Conference, Asilomar CA holding an Urban Homesteading “Big Rewards from Small Spaces” workshop [...]
November 29, 2009
Since I am like a week behind in posting meals that we’ve enjoyed on the urban homestead, am going to combine the week before and last week’s meals. aka “two weeks’ worth”
Enjoy!
Summer vegetable medley
SATURDAY
Breakfast – homemade pancakes
Dinner – homemade flour tortillas, homemade rice (homegrown peppers, tomatoes) with homegrown red peppers and cheese
SUNDAY
Breakfast – homemade [...]
November 22, 2009
The cooler temps (just had our coldest temps last night – 30 degrees) shorter days have got the guys digging in fall crop and me digging through my stack of favorite recipes to deal with the (coming) onslaught of fall veggies and trickle of summer veggies that are still holding on.
Living Like Little House on [...]
November 18, 2009
by Anais in Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts
The Jr High School “Harvest Homesteaders” canathon finished up today.
This time around we made up a batch of peach jam and spiced apple sauce.
Peeling and cutting the apples. I told the girls they should get extra credit for peeling and chopping the apples with an eco-plastic knives!
One piece for the pot, one piece for me, [...]
November 18, 2009
Check out these two events in which the urban homesteaders will be a part of
One on Thursday Nov 19 FOOD FORUM-Eat Drink & Be Wary (Guest speaker Jules Dervaes who will talk about seed sovereignty
And the other on Saturday Nov 21 GREEN SCREENS FILM FESTIVAL screens HomeGrown Revolution with a Q &A session afterwards.
See [...]
November 17, 2009
by Anais in Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts
Jordanne & I gave a hands on canning workshop at a local girls high school today. Seven enthusiast girls made a batch of delicious strawberry jam which will be donated to a local food bank for the holidays.
The girls chop up the strawberries they got from the local Farmer’s Market
Using the handcranked food processor
MASH! MASH, [...]
November 13, 2009
Check out another So Cal Film Festival screening of the inspiring, short film HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION
Jules Dervaes and family will attend the screening of Homegrown Revolution and be available in person for discussion and Q&A session.
Date: November 21, 2009
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Electric Lodge, Venice, CA
Address: 1416 Electric Avenue Venice, CA 90291 Map
Cost: $5.00 Single Screening Block [...]
November 13, 2009
Arsenal of Tromboncino squash from FreedomSeeds.org
Rosa Bianca eggplant from FreedomSeeds.org
Red Marconi peppers from FreedomSeeds.org
Fall garden
Rouge D’Hiver Lettuce greens galore from FreedomSeeds.org
Dwarf Grey Sugar peas from FreedomSeeds.org
Cabbage and onions
The year is slowly coming to a close and with the cooler weather we enter a new growing season here on the urban homestead.
October was a busy [...]
November 10, 2009
SAVE THE DATE!
Seven years (holy cow seven years!!!!! sorry back to post) after Farmer D’s first urban homestead workshop at the Eco Farm Conference in January 2003 where the first seeds of the modern urban homesteading movement were sown, Farmer D is once again taking part in this 3 day farming conference in January of 2010!
Eco Farm is celebrating 30 [...]
November 9, 2009
Please note: due to the lack of reservations this event has BEEN CANCELED.
I know many of our local readers wonder what happened to our monthly FILM & FOOD NIGHTS. Well, these last three months we have been busy – been out & about in the community, participating in a slew of film festivals and giving [...]
October 27, 2009
SATURDAY
OUT
SUNDAY
OUT
MONDAY
Breakfast – homemade skillet granola
Lunch – homegrown winter squash topped with homegrown pomegranates with homegrown green beans
Dinner – homegrown winter squash topped with homegrown pomegranates with homegrown salad greens topped with homegrown pomegranates
TUESDAY
Breakfast – homemade skillet granola
Lunch – homegrown vegetable soup – green beans, squash, tomatoes, greens
Dinner – homegrown vegetable soup – green beans, squash, [...]
October 14, 2009
Now that summer’s over and kids are back in school the urban homestead is a popular field trip designation. It’s great when kids come and visit the farm. You can feel their excitement as they learn about where their food comes from and how to live a more sustainable/low impact lifestyle – one step at [...]
October 8, 2009
It’s fall – a time for pumpkins, spices and harvest celebrations.
Freedom Gardeners are celebrating the harvest season & weighing in
Here’s our tally (on 1/10 acre 4,000 st ft) is
Produce: 392 lbs 6 oz
Eggs: 48 Duck / 75 Chicken
OUR Year to Date Total 3850 lbs of produce, 837 chicken eggs, 770 duck eggs and 17 [...]
October 6, 2009
Join the Dervaes family and showing of their in-home production of the inspiring Homegrown Revolution
WHEN: Saturday, October 17
TIME: 7:00 PM (film followed by 20 min Q & A with the Dervaes family)
WHERE: Sunshine Brooks Theatre, 217 North Coast Highway Oceanside, CA 92054
FEE: Ticket information
See you there!
October 6, 2009
by Anais in 100 Foot Diet, Brewing & Fermenting, Challenges, Community, Kitchen, Menu Planning, Posts by Anais
It’s starting to FINALLY feel like FALL! To celebrate the change in season we cut open one of of our first winter squashes (Burgess Buttercup) yum!
SATURDAY
Breakfast – homemade/homegrown pancakes topped with homegrown strawberries
Dinner – homemade flour tortillas, homemade spanish rice (homegrown onions, peppers, tomatoes) with homegrown sauteed pepper and local avocado and onions with raw [...]
October 1, 2009
Like I said with Amy’s injury the WMWU went on hiatus. I did jot down what we ate the week prior to the incident and hope to have the WMWU back this week sharing with you what we ate here on the urban homestead.
So here’s a list of meals we enjoyed before we all got [...]
September 22, 2009
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2009
10:30 A.M. TO 3:30 P.M.
WHITE PARK, 3901 MARKET STREET, RIVERSIDE, CA. 92501
THE GREATER RIVERSIDE CONFERENCE OF SENIORS GIVING THE GIFT OF GREEN TO OUR GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT GRANDCHILDREN
THE CRISIS: Scientists have determined that civilization is not sustainable if carbon dioxide remains above 350 parts per million. It’s now at 387 ppm and [...]
September 11, 2009
Over the holiday weekend there was some issues with our online store Peddlers Wagon. Well, we are happy to inform you that all is in order and PW is open and ready for business.
Don’t forget you can stock up on supplies for your urban homestead and best off all the profits help support sites like [...]
September 10, 2009
by Anais in Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts
It’s a messy, sweaty, steamy and sometimes sticky work; but the fruits of our labors are certianly worth the hours of labor.
With summer winding down, canning efforts have increased so that our cupboards will be stocked for fall and winter. Here on the urban homestead we try not to purchase any canned food products – [...]
September 9, 2009
by Anais in 100 Foot Diet, Brewing & Fermenting, Challenges, Community, Kitchen, Menu Planning, Posts by Anais
The ash, smoke and heat are finally gone – for now. What a difference a week makes! These last few mornings and evenings have been cool – cool enough for a light sweater in fact. So much more comfortable weather wise and not to mention one is now able to breathe better.
Lots of goings on [...]
September 7, 2009
View more photos of the day’s festivities here
On Sunday we packed up early and headed to “the beach” for the Blue Planet Film Festival. Sunday was day three of a four day film fest over the Labor Day holiday.
On tap for “Land Day” were gardening films (that included the inspiring Homegrown Revolution), clay pot irrigation [...]
September 3, 2009
The Freedom Gardeners are weighing in this month and boy what a harvest!
Kudos to you all for such an outstanding weigh in!
Initial August Harvest Challenge numbers show us over 2,900 lbs for August alone, for an annual total of over 15,000
The first part August we had cooler than normal temps so the summer veggies were [...]
September 3, 2009
BLUE PLANET FILM FEST, INVITES YOU TO ATTEND A V.I.P. PRE GALA RECEPTION WITH ACTOR, MUSICIAN, COMEDIAN, HAL SPARKS AND OTHER SPECIAL GUESTS
TONIGHT, SEPTEMBER 3 @ 6:00 P.M.
Tickets $12.00
SANTA MONICA BAY WOMEN’S CLUB
1210 4th Street
(to protect the floor, no stiletto heels permitted by the club)
Note changes to schedule on Sunday
Jules Dervaes’ urban homesteading presentation [...]
August 31, 2009
The summer garden is still puttering along and providing us with a bounty of good food.
SATURDAY
Breakfast – homemade/homegrown blueberry pancakes
Dinner – homemade flour tortillas, homemade spanish rice (homegrown onions, peppers, tomatoes) with homegrown sauteed pepper and local avocado and onions (from Farmer S) with raw cheese
SUNDAY
Breakfast – homemade skillet granola
Lunch – leftovers from Saturday dinner
Dinner [...]
