Appreciate everyone's emails and letters of concern over the  possible arrival of  a radiation cloud that is "reportedly" coming our way.   For what it's worth, here's what the UN Weather Forecast has to say.

A storm is coming;  but, with the radioactivity, we are  not sure if rain is a good thing, However, we can't really do anything about it.  But, just in case, we are increasing our kelp intake  and putting extra kelp in the animal feed.

Barbara Brennan writes in her classic Light Emerging, “If you are having any kind of radiation treatments, consider going macrobiotic. According to Michio and Aveline Kushi, macrobiotics is very effective in curing radiation sickness. In his book Macrobiotic Diet, Michio Kushi states: ‘At the time of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, Tatsuichiro Akizuki, M.D., was director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis Hospital in Nagasaki. Most patients in the hospital, located one mile from the center of the blast, survived the initial effects of the bomb, but soon after came down with symptoms of radiation sickness from the radioactivity that had been released. Dr. Akizuki fed his staff and patients a strict macrobiotic diet of brown rice, miso* and tamari soy sauce soup, wakame and other sea vegetables , Hokkaido pumpkin, and sea salt and prohibited the consumption of sugar and sweets. As a result, he saved everyone in his hospital, while many other survivors in the city perished from radiation sickness.’”  -  Read full article at Combatting Radiation Poisoning

There is certainly a fine line between facts and fear, truth and rumors.  Our government  says there is no cause for alarm and reassured us that we have nothing to worry about.   OK, fine.  If increased dosages of kelp isn't "necessary," our bodies will still benefit from taking this "miracle plant."

Speaking of rain, we are sure going to need it because the City of Pasadena has declared a Level 4 Water Shortage Emergency.   As a result, it has issued a 10-Day Ban on Outdoor Watering, March 18-27.   Edible gardens and nurseries will be exempt and even, get this, golf courses.  Yeah, seriously!

With our exemption to the outdoor watering ban,  we are going to take full advantage  and step up our water harvesting and conservation efforts.

Ollas - since we starting using the clay pot irrigation method over 5 years ago, we've cut our water usage by 1/2

Grey water - reclaiming used water to irrigate fruit trees

Water conservation - is the best (and cheapest) way to save water

Metal roof installation (safe for collecting rain for drinking water).  Although we have installed the right metal roof,  we have yet to install gutters to collect the rainwater.  Since southern California is so dry, we have postponed the completion.  However, that may soon change!

(FYI: If worse ever comes to worse, as, for example, an earthquake and we do run out of water, we know a place to go in the mountains to collect fresh water to filter into safe drinking water. I guess that is as natural and green as one can get! But, hush, don't tell anyone our little secret!)

A step backwards, clay pot irrigation

We bought a couple dozen olla’s from you last year but only had two beds and few oak whiskey barrels at that time. This year we made a few more raised large beds and added a few more barrels (barrels perfect for the olla’s) installed drip lines to water all of the ollas at once by turning the handle on the hose. OH MY OH MY. We have a few whiskey barrels with just drip irrigation 360 sprayers and no olla’a and what a difference the olla makes, all of the whiskey barrels (holding tomato plants surrounded by herbs or strawberries and herbs combined are thriving, just thriving, taller than the no olla barrels. Plants love them, when removing them this past winter, they were hugged by roots of vegetables that had grown with them that past summer. They work and work well, we all have been utilizing the plant nanny a clay spike that holds a wine bottle. They have the same concept as the olla yet can not be filled with the drip lines. look very nice in the whiskey/wine barrels. very vineyard feel to our courtyard now.
We love it. - Patricia

Plant Pottery That Works

We can't sing the praises enough of clay pot irrigation, an ancient method of plant irrigation - considered the original drip irrigation system. And yes the ollas are 100% LEAD-FREE

Sure they are somewhat pricey but here on the urban homestead we've been slowing putting ollas [pronounced OH-ya] throughout the yard and over the last three years have cut our water usage in 1/2 while maintaining our annual poundage of close to 6,000 lbs. {our water bill for the entire year is $600}

It's great to hear of others who too have success with this ancient yet highly efficient watering method, thanks for sharing Patricia.

What about anyone else, care to share your olla experience? O yah!

Or better yet, share what water wise efforts you are doing to reduce your water use in the garden. Are you getting rid of the lawn to grow more food, mulching or planting crops closer together all in an effort to save water?

Here's our latest Water Saving Projects and list of Water Wise Ways

:: Resources ::

Buy Ollas from our Urban Homestead Shop

Using Ollas in Your Garden

Pictures of Ollas in Raised Beds

Ollas FAQ

Make Your Own SWC ("self watering container") Ollas in Containers (pics sent to us by another LA urban homesteader)

We do have some great post formulating that we are working as we hope to bring you more "homestead happenings."

But, right now, not in the mood much for writing, so here's another photo montage of sights from the urban homestead.   We'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Enjoy

Oh, and don't forget if you are wanting to know what kinds/types of vegetables we are sowing - they are available at our online seed store.

Old Clementine get's some loving

Cooking cookies in the solar ovens

Gorgeous spring greens

Packing up edible flowers for our clients

Loquats are ready for harvest

Growing on up: tomatoes take over the trellises

Clay pot irrigated tomato bed - saves water and contributes to healthier plants

Herbs! Lemon verbena, fennel and sorrel

Beet bed

Cukes and clay pot irrigated bed

Summer squash

There's (almost) green beans in the garden!

Strawberries!

Harvesting daikon radishes

Unpacking the ollas

Ollas in the driveway

So purty!

Going shopping - hmmm  "does this one fit?"

The other day we received our spring shipment of ollas - so ya'll who have been waiting for them we are shipping them out this week!  Thanks for your patience.

For you local yokels, if know someone who is an avid gardener/homesteader and you need gift for Mother's Day just click on the "local pick up" option after ordering (we are closed on Saturday but will be open on Sunday - Mother's Day- for local pick ups)

Not only were we excited about getting the ollas to put more in our garden but we also do a bit of shopping.  You see the ollas are packed in second hand clothes to keep them from breaking.   After the ollas are unpacked we "recycle" the clothing - getting first dibs on "new" duds and the ones that don't fit/aren't our style we re-use them as packing material when sending the ollas out!

This time around we picked up a few sweaters and shirts...  think the shirt that I am wearing in the pic came from the last olla shipment.

Pretty neat huh?

:: Resources ::

Buy Ollas from our Urban Homestead Shop

Using Ollas in Your Garden

Pictures of Ollas in Raised Beds

Ollas FAQ

Make Your Own SWC ("self watering container") Ollas in Containers (pics sent to us by another LA urban homesteader)

:: Recent Article ::

From Farm To Fork (Pasadena Weekly)

...In fact, the Dervaes’ have cut their watering bill to $600 annually, and they did it by reusing water, reducing water use and using old irrigation methods.

Rich soil is the key to having a bountiful garden and getting the most out of scarce water resources, which is why the Dervaes’ have mulched and composted their soil extensively. Over the years they’ve added so much natural fertilizer to their soil that they now have a foot and a half more soil than their next-door neighbors.
“We don’t waste anything and we have five composting areas around here. When you put the good soil [dirt with animal fertilizer] on the plants they immediately have a kind of insurance against water stress and drought because the soil’s good and the plants have good root systems because they go down,” said Dervaes.

To learn more about conserving water, Jules Dervaes and his family turned to the Internet. Researching old methods of irrigation, they found a system used in ancient China, Rome and Egypt and still used around the world to this day. The system is called “ollas,” the Spanish term for bottle or jar.
Ollas irrigation is based on burying unglazed clay jars in planters or garden beds, near produce, and filling the jars up with water. Unglazed clay pottery leeches moisture, making it a poor container for holding water for long periods of time. When the ollas are buried to the throat in soil, the jar loses water, dripping deep in the soil, near the roots of the plants. It acts as a constant drip irrigation system, but because water is below the surface, it’s not lost in the sun’s evaporating rays and the plants get only the water they need.

The family’s “computerized, automatic-timed waterer,” son Justin, also waters the garden beds by hand, using a watering wand and a hose, which means water is used appropriately where it’s most needed. Each type of plant is watered based on its needs and its size. This customized watering is much different than the sprinkler irrigation systems used in large commercial farms, where sprinklers shoot water over acres and water is lost to evaporation and scatter.

The Dervaes’ reuse their water as well. During the summer, family members use an outdoor shower shed and biodegradable soaps, so water is rinsed off into the ground, nourishing fig tree and sugarcane poles; clothing is washed in an Amish-style crank washbasin, water and biodegradable detergents siphoned off to water their avocado tree.

Read full article>>

Good little article but there are some slight misstatements. 1.) We grow 99 percent of our PRODUCE not diet 2) We do buy supplement animal feed (grains pellets) oh, and our goal is "ZERO" food miles!

Path to Freedom conserves water while cutting ‘food miles’ from Dervaes family’s carbon footprint

By Carolyn Neuhausen PASADENA WEEKLY

On a quiet street off Orange Grove Boulevard, about a mile from the Rose Bowl and Old Pasadena, members of the Dervaes family pull about 6,000 pounds of edible flowers, vegetables and fruits from the raised beds and pots on their micro-farm each year.

Jules Dervaes and his children Justin, Anais and Jordanne have been growing their own food on their one-tenth of an acre lot since the 1980s. The family produces 99 percent of its entire diet in the family yard in what Jules calls the “100 foot diet,” since produce and eggs travel 100 feet or less from their source to the Dervaes’ kitchen.

The Dervaes’ urban homestead, Path to Freedom, symbolizes a victory in cutting out food miles from their carbon footprint. What makes this feat all the more remarkable is the family’s ability to use water-conserving techniques to grow their produce.

Food miles are “the distance food travels from where it is grown to where it is ultimately purchased or consumed by the end user,” states a paper published for Iowa State University’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

The farther a product travels from its source to a store, the more gasoline, energy and packaging is used to bring that food to the consumer. The longer food takes to get from the farm to the consumer, the more nutrients it loses, since food starts losing its full nutritional value after being picked. For this reason, consumers have been growing their own vegetable gardens and attending local farmers markets in increasing numbers.

“Food miles are important [because of] the carbon footprint that’s hidden in our cheap food. It’s like ‘look at our cheap food’, but someone’s paying somewhere for something because it’s not cheap when you ship. [Food] coming from Chile or New Zealand, that’s a lot of trucking. If you can’t see it [the cost] right off the bat on your bill you’re going to see it in the health care bill for the planet,” said Jules Dervaes.

When the Dervaes’ harvest a surplus of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and peas, they sell the surplus to restaurants in Pasadena such as Marstons, Elements Café and a catering business, Kitchen for Exploring Foods. At the most, Dervaes produce travels a mile and a half to get to these restaurants, which also represents minimal food miles.

At zero food miles for the family, Path to Freedom is certainly environmentally friendly, but the Dervaes’ have used other methods and systems to decrease their environmental impact and increase their Earth friendliness.

Animals are a part of closing the sustainability circle at Path to Freedom. A food chart produced by the Dervaes family shows that, in a good year, they consume 60 percent of their harvest, 30 percent is sold to restaurants and 10 percent is fed back to their farm animals. The homestead farm is entirely sustainable, because the family re-uses and composts droppings from their two goats, five ducks and eight chickens, which enriches the soil for next year’s garden. Because the urban farm produces enough food for the family and the animals, the Dervaes’ don’t even need to use their cars or gas to get food from an animal-feed supply store. Everything they need to keep their farm fed and producing happens in their yard.

In an effort to decrease their environmental impact, Jules Dervaes took advantage of Pasadena’s many city rebate programs, upgrading his three major appliances to Energy Star brands, taking advantage of compact fluorescent light bulb giveaways, installing solar panels and planting trees. The solar panels provide two-thirds of the Dervaes’ electricity, and Jules chooses to pay an extra few cents per kilowatt hour to get wind-powered electricity through the city grid at night.

Running a farm in their backyard hasn’t always been easy for the Dervaes family; drought, natural aridity and California’s growing water shortage have posed problems and harvest shortfalls in recent years.

According to the state of California Web site and the state Water Control Board, statistics show California entered a severe drought in fall 2006. Three years later, the state may be gearing up for a fourth year of drought and is planning to reduce urban water usage by 20 percent by 2020.

The Pasadena Department of Water and Power placed a mandatory limit on watering to one day per week this rainy season and, as of April 1, residents can only water three times a week before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m. — the latest efforts in a years-long water reduction effort.

The city charges households for water usage on a tiered scale: what used to be scaled in three blocks has now expanded to five, with five different costs of water. The more water used, depending on water meter size, the more a resident’s water bill.

The Dervaes’ at one point were in the fifth tier scale, costing them plenty of money and jeopardizing their ability to continue affordably growing their own food. But the city gave the family a chance to explain their unique needs for a lot of water and their conservation methods. The family wrote the city explaining the steps it was implementing to curb water usage and was granted relief, making farming more affordable.

In fact, the Dervaes’ have cut their watering bill to $600 annually, and they did it by reusing water, reducing water use and using old irrigation methods.

Rich soil is the key to having a bountiful garden and getting the most out of scarce water resources, which is why the Dervaes’ have mulched and composted their soil extensively. Over the years they’ve added so much natural fertilizer to their soil that they now have a foot and a half more soil than their next-door neighbors.

“We don’t waste anything and we have five composting areas around here. When you put the good soil [dirt with animal fertilizer] on the plants they immediately have a kind of insurance against water stress and drought because the soil’s good and the plants have good root systems because they go down,” said Dervaes.

To learn more about conserving water, Jules Dervaes and his family turned to the Internet. Researching old methods of irrigation, they found a system used in ancient China, Rome and Egypt and still used around the world to this day. The system is called “ollas,” the Spanish term for bottle or jar.

Ollas irrigation is based on burying unglazed clay jars in planters or garden beds, near produce, and filling the jars up with water. Unglazed clay pottery leeches moisture, making it a poor container for holding water for long periods of time. When the ollas are buried to the throat in soil, the jar loses water, dripping deep in the soil, near the roots of the plants. It acts as a constant drip irrigation system, but because water is below the surface, it’s not lost in the sun’s evaporating rays and the plants get only the water they need.

The family’s “computerized, automatic-timed waterer,” son Justin, also waters the garden beds by hand, using a watering wand and a hose, which means water is used appropriately where it’s most needed. Each type of plant is watered based on its needs and its size. This customized watering is much different than the sprinkler irrigation systems used in large commercial farms, where sprinklers shoot water over acres and water is lost to evaporation and scatter.

The Dervaes’ reuse their water as well. During the summer, family members use an outdoor shower shed and biodegradable soaps, so water is rinsed off into the ground, nourishing fig tree and sugarcane poles; clothing is washed in an Amish-style crank washbasin, water and biodegradable detergents siphoned off to water their avocado tree.

The family uses a sink-toilet combo from Asia; after washing their hands in the sink with clean water, the toilet bowl fills with that slightly used water, making the sink and toilet functional, water-saving and totally sanitary.

According to Jules Dervaes, citrus, once established, historically does well being dry farmed in California. However, dry farming in semi-arid conditions does not allow for lettuces, carrots, peas and other crops.

A testament to the power of a good rainy season, Justin Dervaes last hand-watered the family’s pea crop at 8 inches of height. They are now well over 8 feet tall, all based on the generous and steady rain Southern California received this winter.

For more stories on the Dervaes’ ongoing micro-farming and conservation efforts, visit urbanhomestead.org.

Plant Pottery That Works

The buried clay pot or pitcher method of irrigation is one of the most efficient systems known and is ideal for gardeners and small farmers. Buried clay pot irrigation uses a buried, unglazed clay pot filled with water to provide controlled irrigation to plants as the water seeps out through the clay wall at a rate that is influenced by the plant’s water use.

This leads to very high efficiency–considerably better than drip irrigation and many times better than conventional surface irrigation.

When should you use clay pots?

Buried clay pot irrigation should be considered wherever water conservation is important. It will probably continue to prove most valuable for producing high value crops in dry lands. Buried clay pot irrigation is also valuable for food production and revegetation of areas affected by salinity or where only saline water is available for irrigation.

Buried clay pot irrigation is also valuable for gardening, landscaping, and growing plants in containers. It can be very effective for plants that are prone to diseases from over watering or wetting leaves by sprinkling. It could also be of commercial value for many situations encountered in landscaping, gardening, and plant propagation.

The Fan Sheng-chih Shu (the first agricultural science text book) describes the use of buried clay pot irrigation in China more than 2,000 years ago. It is likely buried clay pot irrigation had been used for many decades or centuries before this description was published. Current practices remain much the same.

—-writings courtesy of David A. Bainbridge

Now is the time to start thinking about spring.

Stock up on one of the hottest item on our online store

We’ve been using this simple, yet effective clay pot irrigation system throughout the garden and even making “self watering pots” for the last four or so years.  I have written many a blog post and shared many photos of how we go about using ollas in the garden.    In our observation we have found that the plants are healthier, less stressed which means less disease and extended growing season.

Here's how we use them here on our urban homestead.

Plant Pottery that Works

Ollas this season have been flying off the shelves (virtually speaking)  Good news is that the 1.5 and 1 gallons are back in stock so stock up while supplies last.  What's even better is we are getting returning customers who are wanting more for their garden and they have nothing but good reviews over using clay pot irrigation in their garden.

Other hot items are the soil blocks, hanging solar food dryers and the canning kits (temporarily out of stock and we'll be getting another batch at the end of June and just in time for your preservation efforts)

Order $50 and get a chance to win a 3 DVD collection of HOMESTEAD BLESSINGS (one more drawing to go!)

Chillin' chickens

More soil blocks filled with peppers

Wild bergamont

The beginnings of a summer garden

California currants

Huge radishes (these were grown in a homemade self watering container using ollas)

More delicious carrots

Cob oven

Checking in on the bees

This & That

As you can see from one of the photos, this year we've had one of our best carrot seasons - ever!  I think we hit on a good variety that works!

Yesterday before heading up to Ojai the guys check in on the hives and on their initial quick inspection noticed there were very full and saw two more queen cells!   Meaning we need to divide again -- making four hives?

Justin will be going to downtown LA today with a friend and "newbee" beekeeper to get some more hive supplies.

After coming back late from Ojai, Farmer D left early this morning on a road trip to pick up some more ollas.   With our seed sales practically at a standstill the unexpected sales of ollas has been a pleasant surprise.  Every little bit helps as we try to keep this site and social network afloat without having to dip into our savings.

Thank you for your continuing support!

I still can't get over the simple beauty of these clay pots, they just look so lovely all together with the shadows playing off their curvaceous sides.

We've been using this simple, yet effective clay pot irrigation system throughout the garden and even making "self watering pots" for the last three or so years.  I have written many a blog post and shared many photos of how we go about using ollas in the garden.    In our observation we have found that the plants are healthier, less stressed which means less disease and extended growing season.

With the looming water crisis here in So Cal we feel that a little investment now will pay off in the future.   Now if only we had room for a load of clay and a kiln and we'd be in business!

Care to share your ollas "growing" observations, blog posts etc?

The buried clay pot or pitcher method of irrigation is one of the most efficient systems known and is ideal for gardeners and small farmers. Buried clay pot irrigation uses a buried, unglazed clay pot filled with water to provide controlled irrigation to plants as the water seeps out through the clay wall at a rate that is influenced by the plant's water use.

This leads to very high efficiency--considerably better than drip irrigation and many times better than conventional surface irrigation.

When should you use clay pots?

Buried clay pot irrigation should be considered wherever water conservation is important. It will probably continue to prove most valuable for producing high value crops in dry lands. Buried clay pot irrigation is also valuable for food production and revegetation of areas affected by salinity or where only saline water is available for irrigation.

Buried clay pot irrigation is also valuable for gardening, landscaping, and growing plants in containers. It can be very effective for plants that are prone to diseases from over watering or wetting leaves by sprinkling. It could also be of commercial value for many situations encountered in landscaping, gardening, and plant propagation.

The Fan Sheng-chih Shu (the first agricultural science text book) describes the use of buried clay pot irrigation in China more than 2,000 years ago. It is likely buried clay pot irrigation had been used for many decades or centuries before this description was published. Current practices remain much the same.

----writings courtesy of David A. Bainbridge

:: RESOURCES ::

Pitcher irrigation: a water saving technique

Buried Clay Pot Irrigation

Our water saving ollas were featured in the latest issue of NATURAL HOME (pg 65)

PLANT POTTERY THAT WORKS

If you live in an arid climate or an area that suffers from drought, try giving you garden a sip from a bottle.  OLLAS are unglazed pottery jugs that can be "planted" alongside your veggies or flowers, then filled with water from a hose when the weather heats up.  "The ollas is so old it's new again - it originated about 2,000 years ago." proprietor Jues Dervaes says.  "It uses capillary action and wicks water throught he porous clay to the soil.  We call it the original drip irrigation system."    The ollas are sold through Peddler's Wagon, the Dervaes family' home-based business.

I've touched on ollas in the past, ever since we put in our clay pot irrigation bed back in 2005.  Since then we've used them throughout the garden and in pots (making great 'self watering-like' containers)   We found out that the plants grow faster, better and stronger near the ollas.   OK, at first we thought it was just us and our biased observation but then we heard similar reports back from customers.  These things really work.

Here are a few past entry highlights from LHITC

OLLAS

USING OLLAS

OLLAS IN CONTAINERS (pictures provided another LA urban homesteader)

CLAY POT IRRIGATION

PHOTO GALLERY OF CLAY POT INSTALLATION