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posted April 26, 2010 01:20 PM         

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The Dervaes Family call themselves urban homesteaders and that's exactly what they are. They survive on a "farm" that's approximately 1/10 of an acre and grow almost all their food on it. They are vegetarians and their "live stock" are considered family members.
They recycle their energy and water as much as they can.

Dervaes Gardens: Farming a 1/10 Acre Urban Homestead

Their site: http://urbanhomestead.org/

They are a great inspiration to me and I want to lead a similarly sustainable life one day. In my cob house I built with my own two hands. In an intentional community. Maybe.

Or maybe just my own little refurbished house.

Dream time!

You?

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Know Yourself

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posted April 26, 2010 01:31 PM         

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quote:

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You?

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I wanna build and live in it with you.

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posted April 26, 2010 01:32 PM         

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Deal.

If we can make a 10 by 6 ft garden in 2 days, we can build a cob house.

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posted April 26, 2010 09:08 PM         

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I like this recipe. And especially the part where you can make things explode.

Just kidding
http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2010/04/26/ginger-soda-recipe/

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posted April 26, 2010 11:32 PM         

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You already know how
to make things explode.

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posted April 27, 2010 12:19 AM         

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City Of Dreams

Here where you are standing
The dinosaurs did a dance
The indians told a story
Now it has come to pass

The Indians had a legend
The Spaniards lived for gold
The white man came and killed them
But they haven't really gone

We live in the city of dreams
We drive on this highway of fire
Should we awake
And find it gone
Remember this, our favorite town

From germany and Europe
And Southern U.S.A.
They made this little town here
That we live in to this day

The children of the white man
Saw Indians on TV
And heard about the legend
How their city was a dream

We live in the city of dreams
We drive on this highway of fire
Should we awake
And find it gone
Remember this, our favorite town

The Civil War is over
And World War One and Two
If we can live together
The dream it might come true

Underneath the concrete
The dream is still alive
A hundred million lifetimes
A world that never dies

We live in the city of dreams
We drive on this highway of fire
Should we awake
And find it gone
Remember this, our favorite town

http://s0.ilike.com/play#Talking+Heads:City+Of+Dr eams:58633:s3620.8801035.1798.0.2.136%2Cstd_44eafdb9097b47dc8523c262e0f944e9

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posted April 27, 2010 12:32 AM         

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This Must Be The Place

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posted April 27, 2010 04:31 AM         

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Thank you for sharing the link. I posted it elsewhere for a friend.

quote:

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I like this recipe. And especially the part where you can make things explode.

Just kidding
http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2010/04/26/ginger-soda-recipe/

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You may be kidding, but as I started to read this, I thought, "That could be something I try with my Dad." We all need to goof off a little.

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posted April 27, 2010 08:53 AM         

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Heyyy!

Valus, nice songs.

teasel, so glad you like the recipe! I was kidding about liking exploding glass bottles because that was the Dervaes experience the firs time they made the soda.
I like the recipe too. Am a bit scared to try to carbonate my own drinks but maybe I can just cook the ginger part and add it to soda water. We'll see.
I usually don't drink any soft drinks. I just thought it was a cool idea.

I love that family. There is nothing about them that sets off my "fraud" alarm. They've lived off their land for 15 years now and from what I've read before the father in the family has lived a sustainable life since the 70'ties.
I follow a lot of raw foodists on FB, the PH Miracle guy, some Chinese medicine practitioners but this family comes closest to my ideal of sustainable, low-carbon footprint, unpretentious living. You know, the kind that doesn't require flying in Superfoods from around the globe because they simply must eat the best possible food there is.

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posted April 27, 2010 09:49 AM         

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Now THIS, is a wonderful thread.

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posted April 27, 2010 09:57 AM         

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Thank you, Melody.

Here's my house. Do you think they have a bathroom in there? That'd be my biggest concern. I need to be clean. LOL. I can use an outhouse even in the winter, but can't bear to be stinky.

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posted April 27, 2010 12:45 PM         

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I keep coming up with PA as the place to go and be surrounded by organic farms and sustainable-living-inclined people. (Yes, I can make up words )

Hmmmmm.

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posted April 27, 2010 01:02 PM         

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Just posting some links on cob house building.
http://www.cobcottage.com/whatwedo

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posted April 28, 2010 07:36 AM         

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Yes yes, hot water guaranteed! They will have a solar hot water system! Or failing that, a woodburner with a backboiler, the wood for this will be from their own carefully managed woodland. You will have more hot water than you know what to do with.

Exciting Yin. I hope you do it lovely.

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posted April 28, 2010 07:39 AM         

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http://www.naturalhomes.org/house.htm

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posted April 28, 2010 07:41 AM         

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Build yourself one of these too! My Pisces has one in his garden. He grows plants with the compost. Easy to build. You can't urinate in them though. Problem for female guests sometimes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composting_toilet

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posted April 28, 2010 07:42 AM         

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quote:

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this family comes closest to my ideal of sustainable, low-carbon footprint, unpretentious living. You know, the kind that doesn't requite flying in Superfoods from around the globe because they simply must eat the best possible food there is.

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