Urban Acroecology [Click to watch]
In this video and interview, Jules Dervaes discusses his Path to Freedom Urban Homestead in Pasadena, California where he and his three grown children produce 6,000 lbs of food on 1/5 acre of their suburban home. Their website gets 6 million hits a month. On Saturdays, they go for outings and hikes with friends and the family holds a monthly potluck dinner for 30 friends. The family's income is currently about $40,000 from sales of their produce and items on their websites plus donations to the Dervaes Institute which was set up in 2006 to support their mission.
Jules' dream is to create a Homestead Ville where his kids and their families and other families grow their own food. The move they are planning is to a larger piece of land where they can create a community of like-minded people. "We want a couple of hundred acres and we anticipate a village of 60 families", Jordanne says. "We want somewhere with mates and children", Anais adds. Justin points out: "And we want more bees."
This plan isn't a mere fantasy. They have been making offers on properties for the past two years. Jules, who has been listening to his children talk excitedly about the new venture, says he is considering buying 600 acres "somewhere in South America, somewhere safe but isolated". The financing of the project, which Jules estimates at several million dollars, will come from the future residents who will each purchase their own individual homestead.
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