Homesteading To Reduce Global Warming
If you think you can't become self-sufficient without acquiring a few acres, think again! The Dervaes family in California are an inspiration to urban and rural homesteaders everywhere.
"The goal is self-sufficiency and sustainability, and Jules Dervaes' family is well on its way. In a good year, they can harvest an impressive 6,000 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, berries, peaches, red mustard, guavas and dozens of other veggies, garnishes and edible flowers — from only a tenth of an acre of usable land. On a quiet residential block where "Leave It to Beaver" lawns rule, the family can provide 80% of its food needs in the summer and about 50% in winter. At a time when large family farms are shuttering, they've managed to support themselves for 10 years from home micro-agriculture, mostly from sales of salad greens and edible flowers to local restaurants and caterers"
"Duck eggs are one of the specialty products that the Dervaes family sees as the best bet to make money with limited acreage. The high fat content of the eggs is prized by pastry chefs, which helps them fetch $6 a dozen"
"Besides growing their own food, family members have installed solar panels, an outdoor shower whose runoff irrigates plants and a commode with a sink on top that provides washing-up water"
While government officials hem and haw about what to do to help our ailing planet, we can each take steps in our lives to reduce our impact on Earth's environment, right here and now.
"Risk is the price of independence and the ticket to their larger mission, a quest part environmental, part simple living, part urban survivalist. "We think the planet's in trouble," Dervaes says. "It's our attempt to save our corner of the world...."
"He encountered his share of detours but found he didn't have to go far to live the life he'd imagined in the '60s when he scoured Mother Earth News. So if you always wanted that place in the country, it might be right under your feet.
"There's always this thing of where someplace else it could happen," Dervaes says. "I had that for a while. I needed more land. If only. If only I had more acreage … hey, wait a minute, what about what you have?"
As this picture demonstrates, raised beds are multi-functional when topped with various covers: glass or plastic when starting seeds; netting to keep birds out; or shade cloth for protection when needed. Raised beds can also easily be surrounded with chicken wire, individually or in groups, to prevent damage from pesky critters. Once they are built, raised beds are a breeze to maintain and produce higher yields than gardens with rows.
" Novice's Guide to an Urban Homestead
FARMING is inherently an optimistic act, a belief that you and your hands can make something happen, even if you couldn't last year. That's a good thing, because nurturing your crops to a fruitful harvest can take some trial and error as you find the right mix of soil, sun and weather exposure. Plants sensitive to cold, for instance, may grow better close to the house, where it may be warmer than in the rest of the yard.
Jules Dervaes suggests starting your micro-farm with just a few plants, hardy ones that will do well even for rookie green thumbs. Start with some herbs, such as basil, and tomatoes. And even the horticulturally challenged can triumph with squash.
You'll want to spend serious time upfront getting the soil right. "If you don't have healthy soil, you don't have healthy plants," he says. Think in terms of feeding the soil as much as the plant, with a regimen that includes mulching and compost.
As you add more plants, you have to be imaginative in maximizing space. Dervaes and his three adult children use trellises along the walls and down the center of the backyard for snow peas and flowers. In one optimizing technique traditionally used by Native American gardeners, they combine several plants in a "three sisters" bed — black Mexican/Aztec corn, cornfield beans and winter squashes with a cover crop of mustard. The family has a portable corridor of crops grown in pots they can rotate depending on the season.
Because of space limitations, home farmers need to pick their plants carefully, going for harder-to-find items that can fetch a premium price, Dervaes says. That means you need quality customers who will choose taste over price.
His family started with flowers, selling them to local stores. Building on that success, they hit the streets to see whether their salad greens could find a market. They discovered that getting their products taste-tested by the chef got them on the table. It's possible to break through to the restaurant market, Dervaes says, because owners are always looking for freshness.
Customers have to be able to adapt to your micro-supplies. The Dervaeses have had to limit sales to customers who can adjust to their crop availabilities and quantities.
Dervaes suggests that would-be urban homesteaders first try in a small way at a community garden or by selling to churches or schools. If you want some up-close advice, he holds evening classes in the warm months in everything from gardening to making your own biodiesel.
If at first you don't succeed, keep going back to the drawing board, he says. "There's failing, but when you climb to the top of the mountain, you feel pretty good." — Joe Robinson
Original here: L.A.Times
Related article at: O, Pioneers in Pasadena
More on the Dervaes Family Here
