CNN - Urban Homesteaders

[westchinaman]

i rather raise fish and rabbits in my backyard. I am a meat man.

[PrimeTargetSecurity]

the new bill just made it illegal to grow your own food, and soon to raise any livestock whatsoever including chickens and rabbits - they want us to starve. stock up on seeds too as im sure theyll be gone soon to. here in detroit area a lady was in the news for almost doing time over a small garden. things are afoot in the good old repulic my friend.

[DreamsCatcher101]

I just started my veg/wildlife garden. A few month ago i had a lawn and hedging and the surrounding gardens are all the same kind. Urban "sterile gardens".

March this year i planted loads of edible flowers, made a raised veg bed and started some containers with veg, made a compost bin from old pallets and put a bird box up.

The guy next doors thinks im nuts for ripping my patchy "sterile" lawn up but loves the birds in the bird box and insect life that comes to my garden not his. HA HA

[edmit2001]

Also perfect garden design... Things that hard to find in eco people :-P

[mindfull777]

i would love to marry anais and join that family

[DAVETHELOSTCAMPER]

i love it

[JunkMale57]

Dervaes Family: I am sure you had no idea your trademark pursuits would garner the type of attention you are now experiencing. Rather than digging a deeper hole and leaving fewer ways to gracefully resolve this maelstrom, please stop digging. There may yet be hope to "unring" the bell and find a way to begin rebuilding your credibility and rejoining the homestead movement.

[cresidue]

These people are awesome!!!

[nicoyar]

Where can I get me one of those toilets? That's too cool!!! :)

[tuvoca]

@nicoyar Those toilets are common in Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, etc.).

[Modestfrugalmama]

Awesome..subscribed to their facebook page. Very encouraging for me since we lack a lot of land where we live.

[PersonalJesus348]

A lot of this is just common sense... Like the toilet/sink... its just so obvious

[SirFelix377]

Great family, great story, we could all learn a lot from them.

[louis12346]

Animal ID & clean Food Act will put an end to this the Govt will seize their property

[TheParadigmShift]

This is an excellent idea considering Obama appointed Monsanto lobbyists and employees to head up the USDA and be the new 'food safety czar'.

[abaneyone]

I'm Impressed!

[munnabhai33]

he u folks i salute u all those people who reley on zionist controlled supermarkets will basically die of hunger once the shit

hits the fan,this is the way to go.....

[pgm98387]

Some of the best climate in the world.

I lived in So. Cal. You can have outdoor growing 9 months out of the year.

1/5th Acre....wow. I can't imagine what they could do with more land!

[numberonesurvivor75]

Urban Homesteading ROCKs!!!

[thukker]

Some things are just taken to the extreme. I'll wash my hands in the sink, thank you. Bicycle powered mixer? Interesting, but too far.

[JanH1961]

That is a sink - it just reuses the water to flush the toilet. Using the same water 2-3 times makes sense.

[emforty2]

remember the Indians lived this land the last 10,000 years

yes 10K not 100 for free no mortgage free food from the land and they did not freeze their butts in winter either how come?

then comes the foreigners who invented money and banking and now you owe the bank a half MILLION dollar house that you sleep in where the wife and husband will have to work 30+ years. yup modern slavery is alive and well keep working for your master and make him rich

[jamo387]

Actually, centralizing power and farming would be more efficient if the government stayed out of it and allowed competition to bring prices down. The free market would develop technology, inefficient companies would die. Once government gets involved, competition decreases or dies altogether, tech. development slows to a halt. Given that we are marching towards socialism, this is a decent solution. Soon this'll be outlawed too. The state will find reason to shut them down "for their own good".

[numberonesurvivor75]

Maybe we need to redefine the word "centralize."

[jamo387]

You're right, centralize is poor choice of words here. What I meant was allowing many competing corporations to produce goods and services for us. Allow mass production to reduce costs and inefficiencies and little interference from the government. That way the minute a corporation stopped pleasing the customer with low prices, good products and good corporate citizenship, you'd go to a competitor. Now, government and corporations tend to work together to prevent competition and free markets.

[lchipley]

yeah, just let the market take care of it! Take a look at our current financial situation. Marching toward socialism? Please.

[jamo387]

You think we've got these problems in Banking and real estate because of the free market? You think we have a free market now or even in the last century? Just look up "community reinvestment act". Look up Barney frank, Herb Moses, Chris Dodd. research government ownership of Banking. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GSE's. Don't drink the Kool aid. Learn to think for yourself. BTW, Centralize in this sense means to focus power. The U.S., free markets and the constitution weren't designed that way.

[OrganicTexas]

Barney F, no doubt. That dude should be gone already. This crisis was born when regulations were lifted on the financial institutions to allow for a more "free market solution". Thought was these companies would regulate their own practices and keep themselves in check. Wrong! They took toxic assets and sold them on the market. The bubble burst and now thanks to Bush and Obama, we're bailing out these companies & banks that deserve to fail. I agree, we need to get back to the Constitution.

[JanH1961]

And the government is getting involved. With NAIS there will be a charge for every livestock animal - microchipping chickens, goats, rabbits, cattle, horses, sheep, etc etc *except for* those large lots of thousands that come in together and are slaughtered together. If there's $100 charge on each of those goats and chickens how long can the small farmer and homesteader survive? It's forcing people to depend on megafarms.

[jamo387]

I don't doubt that what you're saying is true.Government doesn't like small corporations/small business. Too hard to track and control. They like consolidation and monopolies. They can deal with just a few people and control an industry. The more leftist the government, the more control they want over private sector industry. Obama and his friends will make this worse than even Bush. Slippery slope. The name of the game is control, they don't care about free markets. Actually, they hate them.

[OrganicTexas]

Wait- are you kidding? The MORE leftist in control? Puh-lease! You need to realize that its not a left/ right thing. Bush was buddy buddy with Big Oil and the military industrial complex. Bush did what he could to be an obstacle to progress in science and environmental protection. Organic White House garden during Bush's 8 years? Pfft. NAIS started on Bush's watch. Bottom line- big business owns DC regardless which party is in power.

[jamo387]

Agreed, Bush was a horrible president. He served the elites. Leftists are more anti-freedom than the right in my opinion but it's a matter of degree. Libertarians/constitution party are the only ones representing the founders vision today. Bush started this "bail out" crap with a phony financial crisis and Obama disliked it so much he "doubled down" creating more debt than all the past presidents (inc. Bush) combined. We couldn't have done worse than these two losers. Now we are stuck.

[OrganicTexas]

IMO, the right are more responsible for anti-freedom efforts than the left. Last 8 years have gotten us the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, retro-active immunity for Big Telecom spying on American citizens, secret CIA prisons, torture, an endless war for peace, ability to classify anyone as a suspected terrorist w/o right to habeas corpus or a lawyer- the list goes on. If you disagreed then you were branded as an unpatriotic, un-American leftist commie who hated America.

[jamo387]

We'll have to agree to disagree. I think we can both agree that bailing out any private corporation is NOT the role of government and that these poorly run companies should sink without a dime of taxpayer money involved. In a TRUE free market, new (and better) companies would take their place in a minute!

[OrganicTexas]

Definitely- these companies need to fail and shouldn't get squat from the taxpayer. On the rest, we can agree to disagree. :-)

[jeremiahsineiii]

The Clinton Admin penned the Patriot Act.  Bush pushed it through. (Same team...See?)

[gaiatechnician]

I have a new type of solar cooker I would like them to try. "Compound" parabolic. I will have templates to download soon. It is good for up to 3 hours of unattended cooking at a time.

Brian.

[northhusky2]

thats awesome

[marchbabymimi]

It's true that they're in California, but Eliot Coleman does this in Maine. It is possible in most of the continental US.

[RjPSpaceInvader]

This is one of the Greatest Videos Ive Seen..

THANKS dnhooligan for finding this one

[johnlvs2run]

I like the solar oven.

With all that, why does it still cost $25,000 a year?

[caleacat]

Maybe because there's property tax and bills. Everyone can't live with 0 dollars.

[vidensodoacer]

Yeah, we all live in a Southern, coastal, Californian climate. Practice this in a Minnesotan climate for continuous years and I will be inspired. At least I'll live cheaply and not freeze to death in the winter. Literally.

[nariaga]

What an inspiration!!!Great way to live,an good for our enviroment....

[feralkevin]

What if every suburban house was like this?

[JeffreyRodriguez]

I think it's awesome that you guys are getting coverage like this.

I'm working on a bit of urban homesteading myself. Congrats, I love what you do, and the inspiration you generate.

[HumanTruth0000]

Awesome u guys are on CNN showing what u do to larger audience around the world.

[KawhackitaRag]

awesome!

[sampsonoff]

smelly hippies....gotta love em!

they must have hid the pot plant...

[5starrater1]

so inspiring - thanks. Just planted carrots today.

[bionicmisfit]

This is what kept this country going during the Depression...and in the war years when everything was rationed (except for the filthy rich and war profiteers) we had Victory gardens just like this. You are looking at the immediate future...especially after this November. Living at harmony with Nature can make an unbelievable difference in your life.

[6782485]

Thanks for the inspiration!

[SEElovEverywhere]

i took our lawn out 9 years ago and planted strawberries, also had a seminar here on permaculture, but still have a lot to do, want to get grey water system, and rain barrels, thanks for the inspiration!

[cookingupastory]

Right arm! Living the dream! You guys continue to be awesome and awe-inspiring!

[tfbbm]

RATE everything. EMBEDS count as VIEWS. GOVERNMENT and CORPORATION'S are Watching You.

SHOVE IT in their face.

And, tell everyone to RATE everything everywhere when You have nothing to COMMENT.

[cdubb3]

I love it great clip .

[antiwarmom]

I saw this on tv a few days ago! Hooray for the Dervaes family. It is very inspiring to see what you can accomplish on a small patch of land. Gotta get me some chickens . . .

[acerb45666555]

they gotta be careful!! Self-Sufficiency leads to Independance!! and no government wants its population to have that much brains!! look what they did to self-sufficient Natives! they didnt need any washington at all! but certain elements in washington wish for total control over all free thinkers. they want you to Need them!! if you dont need them, they have no power.

[citizenX9328g]

That's the way to go,but bear in mind,frigging Monsanto are trying to patent all seeds ultimately

So,get started straight away,now - get some seeds from neighbours if you can & try to avoid purchasing them commercially or you could find Monsanto demanding royalties sooner or later...

[citizenX9328g]

Watch "The World According To Monsanto" if you don't know what I'm getting at :-)

[Cromwell523]

this is cool :-)

[MaxWatt1]

Always the way: The crazies on the block to the envy of the community.

[davidcononie]

good for them, that is slick,

[ratonnewmex]

sure is....amazing. you can put edible flowers on cakes! yum!

[CliffPotts]

Impressive

[utubehayter]

Hey lady, you can simply generate electric power with your bike and use that. There are better ways to grind pastes using stoneware (and food tastes so much better that way). Also please be careful with the soap, not all soap is good for the soil. But with all that- keep up the good work.

[AKAGl]

Or you can, you know, just spin the blades with the bike and not lose a massive amount of work energy to inefficiencies with converting it from kinetic to electrical energy and back again.

[utubehayter]

the conversion from mechanical to electrical and electrical back to mechanical energy is very efficient - the method of usage however makes it much more efficient to simply produce the electric power you need, and then keep using it over time. The way the lady is doing it - it will take much more energy to manage/compensate for the wear and tear on the equipment. Please learn some engineering beyond high school physics.

[AKAGl]

The average person can produce between 125 and 200 watts of electricity on a bicycle generator.

If you have a low power blender, then it would probably work. Seems like it'd be faster to just skip the middleman though.

[utubehayter]

Yes, but an average person takes a long time to warm up and then cool down from the exercise. On the other hand, most of the blender power is wasted in blenders, spinning - literally (hence my recommendation of a grinding stone). Electric motors usually tend to be very efficient but less so if not loaded or motor winding not right. It makes much more sense to generate as much power, when you can where you want and then utilize it later when you want and where you want for more efficient tools.

[utubehayter]

And yes, you may spin the blender most efficiently by pedaling directly - but the objective of the activity is not spinning the blade, rather grinding the food items. If you focus on the true objective and not the means, you can come up with much better ideas. The problem with these green techniques are not entering them, but sustaining life with them - mostly because of quick solutions that seem good at first glance, but painful in long run - hence people quit if they don't get "used" to it.

[corduroy99]

dude, no need to be rude.

[utubehayter]

rude? you are kidding right?

[corduroy99]

no not kidding you are rude and smug telling the other poster "to learn engineering beyond HS physics" what, that is not rude to you? or you just suffer from aspberger's

[badfinger111]

Great video! :):):)

But, ya still need guns...

[Quetzie21]

Right on...Right on...Right on!!! Get off the grid and become independent=Freedom.

[NatureLegalized]

Fabulous video. -:)

[mialst]

YES GROW YOUR OWN FOOD

[rodneykingman]

This is a video of epic proportions. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

[guidotnb]

Great report. Do you ever have any problems with vandalism on your place? I'm deciding if I need a fence or not.

[weirdsciencelab]

***** Awesome!