“Dude, this is one of those trucks that’s so torn up it’s almost cool.”

My buddy Andre was right. And man, was it ever torn up it. Sun-worn and rusty, squishy, bald tires, cracked windshield…it hurt just to look at this thing. There was a dusty film covering the insides and cobwebs hung everywhere a cobweb could hang. Everything looked broken. Air vents, radio…everything. This ride was in bad shape; a victim of an abusive 15 years. So it was a gamble to weave this so called truck through our backyard pine forest with its sandy, pine needle covered floors. But despite its shortcomings and rather than getting bogged down in the soft earth, it proudly motored along, serving its temporary driver as faithfully as ever.

Prior to moving the playhouse, my friend, Andre and I had already made some necessary modifications to the coop. First we enlarged the framing of the back window to accommodate the nesting box. Then we repaired and installed the front door, replaced the top railing of the porch with a pine branch perch, and tacked up 1/4″ hardware cloth over both windows and other large openings. With the first set of renovations in place we hitched it up to our new four-wheeled friend and spent an hour and a half lugging the coop behind the truck, threading it between the house and garage and maneuvering it around numerous bushes and trees until it landed at its final destination, tucked among the tall pines in front of the house. The decision to move it was based on wanting to keep the chickens out front closer to the garage and shed where there is easy access to food storage and electricity. It’s more in the open now and can be easily observed from inside the family room. Collecting eggs and delivering food and water is far more convenient in its new location. Previously, it was deeper in the woods out back and difficult to see from inside. The kids simply wouldn’t venture back there on their own – dense woods can be creepy for kids, ya know?

With the coop in it’s new home I transitioned into my role as amateur carpenter and began work on the nesting box. Admittedly, it took me a while to piece things together. Mostly because I’m a “careful” carpenter. Some might interpret that as slow as they observe me sizing things up multiple times and mumbling softly to myself as I work through the geometrics of the build. But in most cases it works out in the end and since I’m all about the journey, spending a few days on something that should only take a few hours is alright with me. Especially when it goes as smoothly as it did. No mistakes. No redos. No cursing at the saw, the wood or the screws. Just one with the build. All zen-like. And once the box was built it fit nice and snug inside the recently enlarged rear window. A few screws later everything was in place and rock steady. And man, the thing works like a charm. The kids retrieve the eggs without having to go inside the poop laden coop and I can clean the boxes while standing outside. Funny how pulling off this relatively simple build left me feeling so good.

So I was just about there. It was almost a real and true chicken coop. But with only two minor tasks remaining – upgrading the roof and adding a chicken door – we couldn’t wait any longer. It was close enough. And besides, the chicks wouldn’t be old enough to use the coop for at least a couple months. So we ventured off to our local chicken shop and got to pickin’ our chicks.

And just between you and me, I’ve got a soft spot for those fluffy little things…

An apron-wearing, visionary farm girl oft-considered to be Martha Stewart’s better, organic half, Magnificent Mary Jane Butters is a bona fide food heroine. She conjures up hope and enlightens those she touches with her passion for living off the land and eating wholesome, healthy food. Clearly she was born to play this role, and man does she play it well.

But like many heroes, some have questioned her so-called good deeds. Consider the fact that she does package and ship organic foods (as well as other farm-related goods) to practically anywhere in the world, which certainly contributes to food miles and wasteful food packaging. And what kind of hero would do such a thing? It’s true that Mary Jane has claimed she wants to phase out her food business, but she also mentions how that same business is what puts the bacon on the table (not the million dollar book deal that everyone suspects). So it would seem that in a way, she’s sort of tied to her food business at the moment. Especially considering it helps fund her other organic farming ventures, which in my opinion, are what truly define her heroic state.

Ali at ethicurean.com put it well when she said, “…her products…aren’t the goal. They’re not the end. They’re not the there. They are merely a bridge…a bridge between the anonymous and the known, the food-from-factory and food-with-a-face.” If this is the case, then it would seem her critics are missing the point. It’s like the dweebs who ridicule Al Gore for flying around the globe as he shares his message on global warming. There’s no arguing that flying and global warming are direct contradictions, but without his message there is no discussion, no debate, and no spark. The reality is that sometimes the value of the message is greater than the cost.

For Mary Jane, that value comes in the form of an entrepreneur who owns a design studio that supports her MaryJanesFarm magazine, a bed and breakfast, two retail stores, and the U-pick Country Club. It comes in the form of a social entrepreneur who started the farmgirl connection, Pay Dirt Farm School, and Project F.A.R.M. (which supports folks who live in rural communities). And finally it comes in the form of an environmental activist who grows mustard seed for her biodiesel car, and who founded what is now known as the Pelouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute. This is a clever farm girl who does what she does, not for the money, but for the life. She eats, sleeps and breathes farming and agritourism. And she wants nothing more than to share her love of the farm with anyone willing to stop and listen. So whether you believe in her practices or not, she is a force for positive change in the world of food.

Mary Jane has the uncanny ability to connect with people (apron wearing, urban “farm girls” in particular) and through her food products and outreach efforts she gets people to contemplate food – yes, some of it is packaged and yes, it gets shipped around the globe, but some of those recipients are taking their first plunge into more wholesome food. They’re consciously choosing to buy organic and when they consume the product, they’re focused on the taste rather than eating mindlessly. Getting people to that point is no easy task and keeping them there is even more difficult, though Mary Jane seems to have mastered that portion of the equation as well.

As I’ve said before, a hero is a catalyst for change. They don’t force it, they represent it. And Mary Jane represents a change in the world of food we’ve needed for a very long time.

“…the powerful religion of ordinary life, a spirituality of fresh mopped floors…and clothes blowing on the line.” ~ Adair Lara

Clotheslines are hip, chic, and in vogue, right? I mean, all the cool kids are doing away with those hot buckets of wasted energy we call dryers and switching to the sophisticated and fashionable clothes line. Because that long stretch of rope hanging between two trees or specially designed poles is no longer synonymous with ghetto life and gutter punks. It’s green and trendy and…man, who am I trying to kid? Ninety percent of the U.S. population still uses clothes dryers and the electric dryers out there consume more power than any other household appliance. People may know air drying is friendlier to the earth and to the wallet, but that sure as hell isn’t having any kind of significant impact. Certainly not enough to enact any sort of clothesline movement.

But wait….what’s this? There’s actually someone out there leading the charge for a clothesline movement? Yep, and his name is Alexander Lee, founder and executive director of Project Laundry List, a non-profit organization whose mission is to “make air-drying and cold water washing laundry acceptable and desirable as simple and effective ways to save energy.” So this lawyer dude is out there preaching the good word about laundry, trying to enact some change. Now that’s impressive. So go check out what Project Laundry List is up to nowadays, because this Alexander fella is a good steward of the earth who deserves our attention. And if you’d like to catch a glimpse of what this movement is about, check out this clip from CBS News, but be warned…you may end up smacking your monitor when that old, crotchety lady with sunglasses shows up on screen.

And hold up, there’s a another dude out there pushing this whole clothesline thing. I can’t believe it. I had no idea clotheslines were making such waves. This other guy’s name is Steven Lake and he traveled the globe to expose the inconvenient truth about clotheslines and made a movie out of his journey. That’s right, a movie…about laundry. The film “explores our love affair with energy, the people who are campaigning against it and those who fight to pass Right-To-Dry legislation, making it illegal to ban clotheslines.” It’s titled, “Drying for Freedom” and it’s due out sometime this year. Check out the trailer below:

Okay, so there are a few folks out there passionate about this crazy idea of saving energy by altering the way we do laundry. And with grand ideas like these I can’t help but ask myself, “What about me? Can I do this?” And at that point I always fall back on my contention that the best way to enact change in the world is to be the change. So that’s it. I’m jumping on board with this (and so is my wife) to prove it’s cheap and easy to set up a clothesline and far from backbreaking work to hang and take down clothes.

As usual, before I begin any challenge I like to scour the web for some clues. But finding a decent tutorial on setting up a clothesline was hard to come by. The best I could find was from the Life, In A Nutshell blog. They documented how to build timber “T’s” that can be used to hang multiple lines. Not bad, but I wanted something simpler. We live among a forest of pines and there are two perfectly placed trees roughly 65 feet apart. Perfect. Now I just needed to acquire all the necessary parts.

Tree Clothesline Material List

• Two clothesline pulleys – $3.75 each
• 200 ft, 1/4″ clothesline rope – $9.99
• Two 4-15/16″ screw hooks – $.79 each
• Aluminum clothesline tightener – $4.05
• 6 clothesline separators – $1.79 each (the number will vary depending on the length of your line – place one every 10-15 feet)

Total Cost = $33.86

Once you have your parts then you’re ready to assemble. I’ll break it down for ya below:

And finally, here are some excellent tips for getting the most out of your low-tech clothesline:

• Place your line perpendicular to the rise and fall of the sun so the greatest surface area of your clothes will be hit by the sun’s warm rays.
• Hang darker colored clothes inside out to keep them from fading.
• Delicate clothing can be placed on a hanger and then hung on the clothesline.
• Keep your clothesline clean by periodically wiping it down with a wet cloth.
• Hang skirts, shorts, boxers, and pants right-side up and hang tops by the bottom so that upper portion, which has more material, will dry faster.

There you have it. Now get outta here and go dry for freedom!

Featured image via Grant MacDonald

So as I mentioned in my introduction to ditching disposable products, my goal is to gradually cross each item off my “Nasty Little List of Disposables.” And I’m going to start with what I feel is the biggest target – the kitchen. Now this isn’t rocket science. But I’m still gonna break it down for ya.

Suspect #1: Paper Towel
In America alone, the nefarious paper towel contributes 3,000 tons of trash to landfills each day. Based on our family’s use of a roll of paper towels per week (which is probably on the low end for the average family of four) we could save around $100 per year by using dishcloths and other various cloth rags instead. And even if we had to purchase new dish and washcloths we would still come out ahead, especially considering the lifespan of a cloth towel vs. paper.

Let’s start by taking a look all the ways we use paper towels on a regular basis. Here’s a quick list:

• Cleaning
• Napkin replacement
• To dry leafy herbs and vegetables after washing
• Covering food in the microwave
• Soaking up grease from fried foods (only occasionally when we have delicious bacon)
• To absorb moisture when storing herbs or other vegetables in the fridge

The first three bullets are easily addressed in step 1 below, but to keep food from splattering in the microwave we’re thinking of purchasing these reusable food covers. If we buy ‘em I’ll let you know how well they work – still need to research them a bit more. And to handle the issue with fried foods, one simple solution is to place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet and place the greasy food on the rack allowing the grease to drip off the food. Works pretty good. Finally, there is the issue of effectively storing herbs and vegetables in the fridge. With fresh herbs we tend to wrap them in a paper towel and seal them in a plastic bag in the fridge. This helps control the moisture and prolongs the life of the herbs. A little searching on the web led me to a new way of handling my herb storage. All you do is place your herbs in a jar of water and cover them with a plastic bag. Supposedly, they’ll last up to 2 weeks using this method, and it also forces you to look at your purdy herbs every time you open the fridge door. Hard to forget about them when they’re front and center. The other thing I’ll be doing is making sure all our herbs and vegetables are plenty dry before placing them in the fridge – using cloth towels to dry them of course.

For everything else, the solution to the problem is to replace the paper towels with cloth ones. I really liked simplemom’s idea of designating several different types of towels so when it comes time to grab one, you know right away which to use for the job based on factors such as quality, thickness, and type of material. So with that in mind, along with Lisa Wuertz’s idea of having a separate mini hamper for dirty cloth towels (hers was tucked under the sink), I came up with an ultra-bad-ass-smoke-’em-out kind of plan.

Step 1: Get the Gear

Here’s the type and count of towels and cloths we have on hand.

• Big stack o’ rags – for the really gross and messy stuff. And the bigger the stack the better as far as I’m concerned. For me something just doesn’t feel right about using a perfectly nice towel to wipe up some foul cat barf or sloppy, wet stuff from the floor. Without fail, I end up wiping loose cat hair and other floor dwelling “things” along with the mess. I can tolerate that kind of cleaning much more when I’m using a cloth that’s already fairly worn. What can I say? I’m anal with that sort of thing.
• 4-6 bar towels – these are thick and heavy hand towels that are great for keeping around the kitchen all day long to wipe down the sink and counters and clean up spills. they are highly absorbent so they are the go to towel for most of our above ground cleaning needs.
• 6 scrubber washcloths – These washcloths have a honeycomb looking web on one side that acts as a scrubber. Nothing too abrasive, but it’s rough enough to handle nearly all stuck on grime in our kitchen. We haven’t been using these for very long but so far they’ve been working well for our needs. And they have also nearly eliminated our need for scrubbing sponges in the kitchen.
• 24 casual cloth napkins – For our family of four (two under 5 yrs.) we can usually get by with using four napkins a day total, unless it’s pasta night and our three-year old is feeling hungry. Some meals, the napkins are hardly touched so we just reuse them. This might be gross to some people. If so, you’ll want to plan to have more of these in stock. With 24, we have eight per day available and we’ll wash them every few days.
• 8-10 nice/formal cloth napkins – These are used when company comes over. If you do a lot of entertaining, you’ll probably want to have more of these on hand.

Step 2: Organize Your Stuff

This step is key because if it’s not organized properly then you may never use it. Your towels and cloths will stay tucked away inside some closet or drawer and those rolls of evil paper will continue to infiltrate your home. How to go about organizing them? Well, start by going cold turkey and not have any paper towels in your home. If you don’t have them, you can’t use them and suddenly reaching for your drawer full of towels instead of reaching for that roll of evil paper will become habitual. It’s hard to forget about your cloth towels when that’s all you have to clean up a mess.

Keep cloth napkins out in the open too. On your dining table in a nice basket perhaps or if you have to put them in a drawer then keep then close to your silverware. That way, at your next meal you can grab your fork along with the napkin hanging out nearby.

As for the rest of the towels? Well, my preference is to keep the bar towels and washcloths in the same drawer and the funky rags go in a cabinet in our laundry room, which is just off the kitchen.

Step 3: Commit to Quit

This means you can’t hang around paper towels anymore. Not in the store. Not at home. They’re a bad influence. Don’t invite them in your cart, car or home. If they’re not within arm’s reach, you can’t use or abuse them. Oh, and don’t make excuses why you need paper towels. You don’t.

And for those of you out there who think this switch is an insurmountable challenge that will cause riots in your home, all I can say is – let it go. These are paper towels we’re talking about here…PAPER TOWELS! It’s not like you’re telling your family they can’t bathe with soap anymore. You’re just asking them to use cloth instead of paper. That’s it. They can still wipe their faces and clean up messes. And not using paper towels is kinda like giving the earth a big, narly high-five. So be the leader and role model that you know you are and kick those paper towels to the curb for good.

One last thing…if cost is a driving factor for you then you’ll want to take a look at the cost-benefit analysis of paper vs. cloth products at the Growing a Greener Family Blog. Love Jennifer’s straight talk on the subject. She breaks down napkins and paper towels in uber detail.

Please note: The paper towel cartoon within my mugshot mashup is from nataliedee.com. Very funny artist.

Former standout high school and college athlete (who had a brief professional basketball career), Will Allen runs a 2 acre inner city farm in Milwaukee next to one of the nations largest low-income housing projects. At 6′ 7″, and over 200lbs, Will stands tall in his signature sleeveless hoodie and inspires local citizens and others around the globe to join his Good Food Revolution. Much has been written about his history – his long journey to food hero stardom. But it’s worth repeating that Will’s rise to notoriety began when he merged his small, experimental farming operation, Farm City Link, with a teen organization, called Growing Power. A joint effort brought teens who needed work, together with an experienced farmer who had a small plot of land ready to be used for all types of farming practices. Will created an opportunity for inner city youth to grow and sell affordable and healthy food to their underserved community. He trains them in aquaponics, horticulture, vermiculture, composting, beekeeping and other farm-related jobs. He’s a motivator and a mentor who leads by example.

“I work 18 hours a day, seven days a week. One day I might just drop dead in the worm bin, but I’ll be happy.”

This is a man who loves his work. Who loves spreading the word about good food. Lately he’s been spreading his Good Food message on national and international levels and people are taking notice. They’re seeing the value in teaching urban agriculture and making healthy foods accessible to low-income populations. In 2005 he received a Ford Foundation leadership grant. In 2008, he received a Genius Fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation valued at $500,000. And just last year he received a $400,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation to create urban agriculture jobs in Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit. He also took home the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Growing Green Award.

Yeah, he’s on fire. Growing Power now has 10 farms on over a 100-acres in the city of Milwaukee. Watch below as Will Power explains how his organization supports the Good Food Revolution.

And like any good food hero he believes in the power of the people and places a great deal of responsibility in their hands when it comes to getting out of our current processed food epidemic.

“And while many of my acquaintances tend to point the finger at the big agro-chemical conglomerates as villains, the fault really is with all of us who casually, willingly, even happily surrendered our rights to safe, wholesome, affordable and plentiful food in exchange for over-processed and pre-packaged convenience.”

So contrary to popular belief, it’s not the hero’s responsibility to save us. A hero is born to show us what’s possible. To inspire and act as a catalyst for all things good…including good food.

Trash. Is. Depressing. Ever seen a landfill? It’s depressing. How about a New York street on trash day? Depressing. Or what about the overflowing cans of rubbish in a stadium on game day? Yeah, that’s depressing too. And why is it depressing?

This is why, and this, and this, and those disposable razors too.

You see, the people and companies who could actually do something about this problem aren’t doing anything. Well, they are doing something, but instead of helping they’ve become a hindrance. A pain in the ass, if you will. And they do this in the name of convenience and ironically, sometimes in the name of cleanliness. So they come off as helping to make our lives easier and better when in reality they’re just making a mess.

And I get it, these are businesses and they’re all about the bottom line. So they sell products that have to be bought over and over again. We use it, throw it away, and buy another one, and they love it because they figured out a way to keep us tossing cash in their direction. In an entrepreneurial sense, it’s a brilliant concept. The problem is that it’s not the least bit socially responsible. And yes, I do demand a certain level of social responsibility from the commercial industry. After all, they have a great deal of command over our lives – from government and media to our everyday living. Proctor & Gamble, Swiffer, Clorox, BIC, the list of companies that perpetuate the idea that throwing things away is better and healthier is ridiculously long. Makes me a little sick, actually.

And what can I, as a single, living being do to rectify this? Make a list, of course.

So here it is. My list of disposable items that make up the most amount of trash in our home, in particular our kitchen and bathrooms:

And naturally, the purpose of having a list is to feel the joy of crossing items off that list. So over the next few days I’ll be focusing on one or more of the listed items, sharing my thoughts on ditching the disposables and going with a more permanent solution. Others have written about this type of thing on the web, but it tends to come from a mom’s perspective and I think a topic as important as this deserves a few words from a dude who cares just as much about the planet as the many well-respected, enviro-moms out there.

So no more foolin’ around. It’s time to get medieval on all this trash…

There are two main ways to learn things in life:

1. From your own experience and mistakes
2. From someone else’s experience and stupid mistakes

If you’ve never cut down a tree and you have the slightest inkling to do so, then consider this entry as a gift from yours truly. My stupid mistake can be your treasure.

The Ips Beetle or engraver beetle is an insect that infests stressed or weak pine trees by feeding and laying eggs in the inner bark of the tree. Usually, they’re not problem because they typically limit their attacks to weak trees or trees that have recently fallen, but in Texas and other hot and dry states, long periods of drought can stress the trees, making a beetle attack more likely. This is particularly the case for young pine trees less than 10 years old. In our case we had a very large, mature pine that showed evidence of being struck by lightening. I imagine this lightening strike injured and weakened the tree to some degree, increasing it’s susceptibility to being overrun by the engraver beetle. There were a few other dead pines, most already in their deceased state when we moved in just a couple months ago, but it was the big papa tree that we were mostly concerned with cutting down. Shortly after we moved in I began seeing evidence of Ips Beetle infestation including pitch tubes along the bark and boring dust at the base of the tree. Then the grim reaper of trees, the pileated woodpecker, started showing up, signaling the demise of another beautiful pine.

It was time to start cutting. And fortunately my new friend, Andre had the tools and experience necessary for the job. But before we got started, I did a little pest investigation by peeling back a bit of bark on the tree, which revealed loads of these tiny, yet fully grown beetles. It looked as though there was more than one type of beetle working beneath the bark, but I wasn’t entirely sure, so today I went out and collected a few samples to help with some further research.

Beetles found behind a small strip of bark.

So Andre got to work cutting and since it was a dying tree (not dead), it was still quite moist and difficult to cut. We knew when the tree finally fell it would most likely get hung up on one of the surrounding trees and it most certainly did. A considerably smaller pine was suddenly carrying the weight of its much larger kin, severely bowing under the pressure. So I made the decision to cut the smaller tree, which would allow the larger one to fall. And this is when the excitement started. Just check out the video below to see what I mean. Keep in mind that with Andre cutting the smaller tree, he’s in the direct path of the big pine’s fall. So when you hear me yell, that was to keep Andre from getting smushed.

Small pine bowing under pressure.

Watch for the small flash of light in the background around the 31 second mark. Yep, that was the power transformer flashing as the weight of the fallen tree snapped the power lines in two. My last yee-haw came before realizing we had just cut the power to ours and our neighbor’s house. Brilliant of me to forget about something that important, eh?

Now I’ve gotta give Andre credit. That tree landed exactly where he intended it to land and had he known what was overhead he would have certainly angled it in the opposite direction.

When the guys from the power company showed up they were extremely forgiving given the fact all they probably saw were a couple goons who had no idea how to chop a tree. The gray haired gentleman, who was old enough to be my dad, kindly explained how to use a wedge to properly control the direction a tree falls. I just nodded my head and thanked him for the info.

We’ll see how thankful I am when I get my next bill.

Helpful links:

Detailed info about Pine Engraver Beetles from the Texas Forest Service

Great video tutorial on the proper way to cut a tree.

In an effort to keep my creative juices flowin’, I’ve decided to get out and take a few photos on a daily basis – things around our homestead and around our town. I’m totally amateur material when it comes to photography but I enjoy it so I figure it’s good for my soul.

I found this little guy chillin’ high up in a tree just outside my office window. He looked a bit cramped on that stubby little branch, but apparently he didn’t mind.

Tator tot casserole, pop tarts, meatballs and bologna sandwiches. All part of the nutritious diet our local daycare served while our kids were attending. Not surprisingly most parents don’t even think twice about the rubbish filling their kid’s bellies. Hence the problem we have with childhood obesity.

Funny thing is, as a kid I don’t remember diet ever being a major issue. My mom would save bacon grease in a cup next to the stove and our clown-shaped cookie jar was rarely empty. We typically ate balanced meals, though canned vegetables weren’t uncommon and beef was our primary source of protein. My sister and I would even get excited when TV dinners and chicken pot pies were mentioned.

Times have changed (though I still get excited about chicken pot pies) and I now find myself more aware than ever of the foods my family eats. I’m not extreme – in fact, I believe in a logical scientific approach that can be broken down into a single word.

Balance.

It’s nothing we haven’t already heard in every health class and news report that highlights diet and nutrition, but for some reason it’s a concept that eludes many of us. Now that’s perfectly fine if you’re a poor college student who can get by on ramen noodles and mac n’ cheese, but as parents we have the duty and responsibility to look out for our children’s health. And the health I’m referring to goes beyond wiping runny noses and feeding them Tylenol.

So the great thing about this whole balance thing is that it doesn’t mean deprivation, only moderation. So you can still offer Little Debbie snack cakes just not every day and certainly not a box at a time. And there’s nothing wrong with getting your kid a Happy Meal so long as they don’t begin to ask “Where’s the toy?” every time you sit down to eat. The truth is most of us have at least somewhat of an understanding of what comprises a healthy meal, and if you don’t, go read a book on it.

The important thing to keep in mind is that children are extremely impressionable during their first two years of life. Especially when it comes to their taste buds. And it’s during this time that many kids will accept or reject the taste of certain foods. So as parents we have the role of providing healthy choices rather than caving to a kid who is set on eating a balanced diet of chicken nuggets and frankfurters. Health professionals say it can take as many as 15 or more exposures to a new food before a kid will even try it. That means there are a lot of moms and dads out there who have a long road ahead of them.

But mealtime doesn’t always have to be dramatic, with screaming kids, parents pulling out their hair and howling dogs. It’s like this – during mealtime:

In time you can start letting your kid help prepare the meals. More vested interest means a greater likelihood of eating what’s on their plate.

Bottom line is – don’t give up, though the temptation may definitely be there. Our kid’s health is far too important. Lessons learned today can last a lifetime – right? So let’s not let our lack of time or energy get in the way of developing healthy eating habits in our children while they’re young.

With so much on the line, it’s time we parents step up and start making a difference.

“All of human existence depends on the top six inches of soil. And yet we’re exploring other places, but the top six inches would be the place, if we want to be successful as a human race, to really explore and treasure and keep because that’s what we’re living on.” ~ Jules Dervaes

Somewhere hidden behind their fortress of green live the Mighty Dervaes. A family who stands out for their heroic drive to do more with less. For those not familiar with their story, Jules Dervaes and his family own a fifth of an acre lot in Pasadena, California. They decided to convert their everyday suburban property into a self-sustaining urban homestead. They’ve cultivated a garden that generates around 6,000 pounds of produce a year; they care for a number of small livestock, get around using bio-diesel fuel, and incorporate a large number of other sustainable living techniques into their daily lives. What they have managed to accomplish on their small parcel of land is truly super. A quick glance at their homestead history paints a clear picture of how they grew into their food hero status over time. It’s a testament to how each of us can implement small changes in our own lives that will compound into something greater than the sum of its parts. Something meaningful to us and inspirational to all.

Oh, and these are some digital food heroes, folks. They’re ALL over the interwebs spreading the green word. They have their Path to Freedom website, which includes their blog, Little Homestead in the City, an online store called Peddler’s Wagon, that sells sustainable wares, a social networking site for “Freedom Gardeners,” an online seed store, and Dervaes Gardens, their fruit, vegetable, edible flower and herb business that kick started their bigger social entrepreneurial ventures. Without a doubt they are some of the most well-known crusaders of sustainable living out there and they’re also the stars of their own professional documentary film titled Homegrown. Man, I’d love to get my hands on a copy of that to review (what do you say Jules?).

The video below will give you a better sense of what this family is all about – what they stand for.

And here’s something to take with you…something worth remembering from the Mighty Jules. It goes like this:

Words to live by, boys and girls. The Mighty Jules is definitely spot on. Now I think I’ll get busy scrawling this into my refrigerator.