Nothing says summer like homegrown tomatoes – eat ‘em raw with a bit of salt. Bliss! Tomatoes have a right to have an entire post of their own don’t you think?
On the food front… The figs are finally ripe so we devoured our first fig quesadilla of the season. I know, sounds odd but it’s soooo delicious!
Though we haven’t posted much in the way of the ongoing impact our little film has had, we are happy to report that our homemade film is still growing strong.
Our short film, Homegrown Revolution (you can buy the DVD here) will be screening at home and abroad.
The summer harvest is now just started to pour in and what a blessings. We are so thankful for the bounty that the earth provides. This week we revisited and revived our 100 Foot Diet Challenge
This week on the urban homestead, it’s Jane Austen meets Laura Ingalls. Apparently, the word’s out: the urban homestead is the place for tea! Jordanne and I hosted another tea party, this time for Jordanne’s friend who’s getting married this month.
It’s been a tootie fruity week here on the urban homestead. We have fruits coming out of ears and what a blessing that is.
The homestead kitchen is hopping- trays of desserts, jars of jams and bowls of ice cream are churning out from the nourishing center of our little universe.
As folks around the nation celebrate with friends and family, how about we all take this opportunity to share with one another what baby steps (or giant ones) that we have taken to become more independent from mass consuming culture and the corporate controls of our food, energy, fuel, water and our lives.
The wonderful food from the garden keeps coming. What a tremendous blessings it is to enjoy such bounty that are grown just feet from our table!
Whew doggie! It’s been a busy week here at the urban homestead. Busy with bees (getting ready to harvest some honey!), battling bad bugs, moving the tender greens to cooler spot in the yard and getting things ready for a major can-a-thon.
Homegrown community! Come join us at Cottonwood Creek Park in lovely Encinitas CA on June 6
Urban Homesteading not just about bringing food, goods, services closer to home but making the home center your life. One of the steps backwards we have taken is bringing “socializing” home.
Growing community, check out the updated list of upcoming events and film screenings of our little, homemade film ‘Homegrown Revolution.’
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 [...]
Sunday was a busy day here at the urban homestead. I can’t divulge details or any photos pertaining to the filming due to a disclosure agreement but it has something to do with chefs, homegrown food and local foodies The filming crew was here from 7 am and left just before 7 pm taking over [...]
WHEN: February 9, 2010 / 7:30 PM
WHERE: Orange County Garden Club Silo Building at Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa, CA
88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626-6598
Jules Dervaes will show his award winning short film “Homegrown Revolution”-(BUY the DVD) and a presentation on the 10 Elements of Urban Homesteading
Thanks to those who wrote and offered us accommodations – appreciate all your offers.
Once again, here’s our Northern California itinerary schedule from Jan 15-23.
We kick off the year,right back where we started last year at the best environmental film festival in the West Wild & Scenic Film Festival
Here’s a blurb from their latest e blast:
Our [...]
Whoosh. That’s the sound of time flying by!
Where does the time go? One week, turns into two and I am already behind in putting up our weekly meals. Father time is going to need to slow down a bit.
Given that we are smack dab in the middle of winter and enjoying fresh [...]
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 [...]
Hope everyone had a lovely holiday.
Want to thank those of you who sent warm season greetings via email – and a special thank you to the Smith family of VA who went out their way to send us a box filled with yummy homemade spice cookies, a lovely card and $20 donation. Our family was [...]
(via Cow Girls & India):
When Manish, our main contact at Shikshantar (a local initiative to re-create Udaipur as a zero-waste “learning city”), informed me that our group would have the opportunity to meet with a California-based family of activists called “Path to Freedom”, I was curious but cautious. The prospect of yet another alt-minded, smug [...]
After Greece and Israel, the next stop for us and our short homemade film (HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION) was another environmental film festival in Torino (Turin) Italy (Italy’s first capital city and home of disputed “shroud of turin,”not to mention a chocolate hub and being of French and Belgian decent this was our type of town!
We rarely [...]
Happy Birthday!
This weekend Path to Freedom Urban Homestead celebrates 10 years online! Can you believe it, we are older than BLOGSPOT, YOUTUBE, TWITTER and FACEBOOK. What a milestone marker in our journey!
For over a decade now we’ve been sharing our triumphs, struggles and growth along with you. Over the course of the journey our project [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The highly acclaimed and anticipated HomeGrown – 21st Century Family Farm (by Robert Mcfalls) is now available for community screenings via : http://homegrown-film.com/host.html
Please note: (Since we are constantly asked this) —
Despite popular belief, we have not received any monetary benefits from HOMEGROWN . Zip, zero, nada, zilch, nothing. So, although we greatly appreciate [...]
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 [...]
Canning can become an addiction – seriously. Once you mastered the art, canned your own homegrown or local foods well it’s the end of tin cans in your life.
I started canning over six years ago and I’ve been a canning addict ever since. Well you gaze on a well stock pantry of food that you [...]
And on the HOMEGROWN film by Robert McFalls front there’s a few other screenings to report
HomeGrown will be screening at the Corona Cork Film Festival in Ireland. Our first showing in Europe! And here are a few more screenings to be aware of.
Environmental Film Festival in the Nations Capital -Sneak preview screening
Wednesday, October 28 at [...]
Well, close enough!
My sister and I are suckers for India films – yeah, I know, you learn more and more about us every time you read this blog! Don’t know if it’s the scenery, old fashion/family values or their dance/singing routines (when boy meets girl) but the movies are certainly enjoyable to watch.
Having just been [...]
Farmer D on Canadian radio with host Carol Off. The interview will air on tonight’s edition of As It Happens, along with a credit for this weekend’s screening of Robert McFalls documentary Homegrown at the Planet in Focus film festival in Toronto.
Broadcast times are always subject to change if something crops up on the news [...]
Farmer D holds up a tromboncino squash and asks the audience “paper or plastic?”
On a panel for Q & A
Farmer D takes questions of the screening of HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION.
Farmer D looks over his notes while Urban Heidi has some fun with her sis (me) behind the camera
Last Friday night Farmer D was invited to [...]
The Oceanside Film Festival has informed us of a time change and an additional screening slot for Homegrown Revolution this Saturday October 17 (there will be a screening at 5:30 PM & 8:00 PM followed by a 20 min Q & A session with the Dervaes family)
Check out the event details here
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 [...]
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 [...]
Fall brings cooler weather and shorter days and screenings of both the documentary HOMEGROWN by Robert McFalls with music by Jay & Molly and our in-home short film Homegrown Revolution These films are “sowing” at quite a few film festivals across North America and even overseas.
Here’s a list of upcoming screenings for these two “homegrown” [...]
For those of you who missed Monday’s interview the segment is online
Topic A for Monday, September 14th, 2009: The Family Business: Jules and Anais D:
September on Topic A takes on “The Family Business”: families with a tradition or galvanizing experience that give a personal dimension to the professional direction its generations pursue. Tonight we’re [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The urban homesteaders/farmers will be on hand at these two upcoming events on Sept 3 & Sept 6
“Urban Homesteading is a process of being able to provide for oneself despite living in an urban community. Simply put, urban homesteading means self-sufficiency. A lot of people in first world countries are now getting into this new [...]
For more cute animal photos! Well, not really but we have a few news flashes instead…
First off, for those of you who happen to have cable (we don’t, but have critters instead) Sundance Channel will be running an episode about our urban homestead on BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET tomorrow – Tues Aug 18 [...]
The meals last week were certainly very colorful and tasty. We are still working on using up the huge bag of carrots we harvested a few weeks back so we enjoyed an easy and very delicious carrot salad with almost each one of our meals.
The tromboncino squashes are young and very tender and sweet – [...]
Now we are starting to see inklings of a summer harvest – finally! The weather is cool for this time of year – nights and mornings especially. Could it be the coolest August EVER?
Here’s some of the gorgeous goodies we harvested this week. The fruits of our labor are finally paying off with the earth’s [...]
image courtesy of Elements kitchen weekly enewsletter
Look what was in our email box today!
“We Love Freshly Picked Dervaes Greens… We make special salads featuring them, always lightly dressed so their fresh flavors are enhanced. The unique blend of mesclun greens (which might include anything from baby celery leaves to baby arugula or mizuna to kale) [...]
