A journal of modern day pioneers forging a new frontier in the city through intensive agriculture and extreme sustainability in urban homesteading.

Reviving the old-fashioned "can-do" spirit of self-reliance and resourcefulness, they have faced many challenges. With faith and determination, these once-ordinary city dwellers are boldly reclaiming their lives and land. continue

Cooling rss

July 26, 2009

I just wrote about not being able to work the AC at the last event saying it was good practice for the future.
I picked up that quite a few people were uncomfortable with the room being warm but if only they knew it has hip and trendy now!  With this latest article in the NY Times, [...]

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September 21, 2008

FACT: every day the sun shines, an equivalent of 4.25 TRILLION barrels of oil falls on the US alone in the form of solar energy
I have a confession, I been addicted to solar ovens ever since we built our first cardboard, aluminum oven back in the days — 1990 to be exact.   Yep, we were [...]

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July 25, 2006

Nitty gritty
Another sweaty, dirty, dusty, filthy day for the guys. This awful humidity makes an already dirty job even worse – the dust just sticks to the skin and becomes muddy.    We are all certainly thankful for the sun shower – we are certainly using it a lot these days. As for me, last [...]

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July 4, 2006

It’s another hot and humid day – yuck! Let me see now, we are going on over a week of this hot and sticky weather.
Sorry for the lack of postings lately, things have been busy as you may have guessed and besides it’s just to darn hot to sit in front of a computer.
In the [...]

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October 11, 2005

Fo-ti vine screen
Passive Cooling
To keep our house cool during the brutal summer months, the guys erected two passive cooling, living-trellises a few years back which runs along the hottest side of the house. A Chinese herbal vine grows on one and a passion fruit on the other. We’ve noticed a considerable difference these living sunscreens [...]

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The Urban Homesteaders
Jules DervaesJustin DervaesAnais DervaesJordanne Dervaes
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Blogging Since 2001
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Clear your schedule, kick back, and follow the Little Homestead in the City chronicles through the years. Please read responsibly and in moderation. Remember to feed your family and or pets and water your garden...

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COMPLETE URBAN HOMESTEAD ARCHIVES:



LOCATION
Pasadena, CA
(Northwest Pasadena, one mile from downtown Pasadena 100 yards from 11 lane freeway)

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
~ 400 different vegetables, herbs, fruits, berries

FOOD PRODUCTION
~ 6,000 lbs annually / 99% of our produce $75,000 savings

URBAN HOMESTEAD SUPPORTS
4 full-time resident adults, a menagerie of animals, volunteers, and many clients

ENERGY USAGE
$12 a month / 6.0 kwh day

WATER USAGE
$600 / 175,000 gallons a year

SOLAR POWER PRODUCED
12,410 kwh as of 5/12/10

GALLONS OF BIODIESEL MADE
2,500 gallons as of 5/12/08

FACTS N FIGURES
Learn more about the Urban Homestead
Full Stats Summary