The Dervaes Family's URBAN HOMESTEAD^® project began with simple roots in the mid-1980s and has been called a revolutionary model of self-sufficient, ecologically low-impact living in the heart of the city. It features over 350 varieties of edible and useful plants which produce 7,000 pounds of organic produce annually on 1/5 acre city lot (1/10 acre garden). In addition, chickens, ducks, goats, worms and bees add to the overall subsistence independence for which the Urban Homestead project is internationally well-known. The Urban Homestead model uniquely combines simple living skills, and sustainable lifestyle choices while balancing alternative technologies such as biodiesel and solar energy (SEE: Elements of the Urban Homestead, copyright registration TX0007330510)

Now a burgeoning lifestyle movement, the modern Urban Homestead trend can trace its roots back to the the act of a man challenging himself to ever increasing levels of sustainability In the turmoil of the 1970s and concerned about the condition of his world and the environment, Jules Dervaes embarked on a lifetime of searching for ways to reduce his impact on the planet and live a more fulfilled life. Throughout his life, he learned gardening, simple-living, beekeeping, carpentry and animal husbandry. Eventually his path led him and his young family to Pasadena, CA, in 1984 where he purchased a fixer-upper home and began gardening and raising bees in the small backyard. His children created solar ovens and innovative ways of water conservation (i.e., "showering" in the garden hose while standing on a rock in the middle of the garden) and learned to live with "less" through recycling, reclaiming and relying on the skills of their hands and minds to "make-do".

Their first website and public outreach, Path to Freedom^® (http://www.pathtofreedom.com), was launched in December 1999, as an activist site. Following the successful outcome of a political activist campaign, the Path to Freedom website evolved into an alternative, progressive news site, which touched on issues such as genetically modified foods, pesticides in food, the environment, and Y2K issues.

In 2001, after bringing such important issues to the public, the Dervaes family determined they wanted to do more to fight the system and corporations behind many of the environmental and societal ills they had highlighted on their website.

They decided there was no better way to protest against such injustices than by showing how they had been doing and were currently trying to live a protest by these methods: growing their own food; making a living with their hands; practicing voluntary simplicity; cooking from scratch; eating with the seasons; and becoming energy efficient.

They named their project the Urban Homestead^® and published years of results on the Path to Freedom website —the first ever devoted to an URBAN HOMESTEADING^® lifestyle. Urbanhomestead.org is now the largest and most comprehensive Urban Homesteading website, with more than five million hits per month. Today, through much hard work, and no small amount of blessing, the Urban Homestead enjoys a dramatic degree of independence, with ever-decreasing environmental impact.

Dervaes Institute's Involvement

The Urban Homestead is a private residence and created as a self-sustaining example and model. It is primarily supported by the produce sales from Dervaes Gardens -- a market garden home business that was started in 1995. Since 1995, the Dervaes Family's yearly income needs are earned almost entirely on the sales from their garden.

Until 2006, the outreach work of the Urban Homestead project (tours, workshops, events, websites, brochures, information, pamphlets) was also funded by the income from the organic produce sales. But, as the work grew and more demands were put on the Dervaes family's time and resources, the rapidly growing outreach work soon outstripped the family’s income.

Because it is still a private residence, the Urban Homestead remains self-sustaining. The garden pays for all the day-to-day operations of the Urban Homestead (taxes, licenses, fees, utility bills, etc.) and continues to support the Dervaes Family. Additional funds are received from our URBAN HOMESTEAD^® SUPPLY online store.

Because the Urban Homestead is created to be a self-sufficient homestead with its income coming from the effort and work of its residents, only the outreach work of the Urban Homestead project receives the benefit of Dervaes Institute funds. This includes: website hosting fees, events, speaking engagements, tours for the community, workshops, brochures, printing, software, electronics, video equipment/editing, web programming and all related expenses.

The Foundation Tree: Branches of Work & Outreach (View as PDF) or (View as JPG)