Julie Bass aka "Veggie Criminal" now "Bad Dog Owner"

In case you haven't heard the story, a woman named Julie Bass was given a misdemeanor for growing vegetables in her front yard in Oak Park Michigan.  Yes, you heard that right - growing vegetables in this town is a crime.  It's a long story, and Julie tells it quite well here in her blog Oak Park Hates Veggies.  Her story went viral on the internet and she was on MSN, CNN, and other news stations across the country.  She was also written up in Treehugger, Grist, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and her article was front page on the Drudge Report.  My Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) fb page did a massive letter writing campaign to the city of Oak Park, and spread the word around fb about Oak Park's actions.  I honestly believe we made a difference in this case, and I'm proud of us as a community for taking action and effecting change.

A day or so ago Oak Park dropped the charges against her, which is good news, but her battle isn't over officially yet.  The city can pick up the charges against her at any time because the case wasn't legally settled.  So, they have her on a string still and they aren't letting the poor woman rest which is just wrong on so many levels.  The word tyrannical comes to mind, among others not suited for a polite audience.  The city didn't officially inform her that they had dropped the charges about the veggie garden by the way, which is very weird.  She found out in a round about way, and then they brought up an old issue - licencing her dogs.  Apparently the licenses had lapsed, so she had to go in and pay for them for her two dogs, plus the late fee which she did a while ago.  She thought the issue had been settled, and even double checked about it, but no. Now she's being asked to appear in court for dog licences, (on the same day she would have showed up for the veggie charges),which she ALREADY PAID.  I don't usually use caps, but this is outrageous!!!  I feel the city is now harassing her because of the bad press they got over the veggie issue.  I sure as heck hope she brings her lawyer with her to court because I wouldn't be one bit surprised if the city tries to pull something.  Luckily the mayoral elections are coming up soon, and the person running against the current mayor is totally in support of Julie, and I SO hope she wins!!

So, that's the update on Julie Bass.  I spoke to her on the phone this past week and I was so very impressed with the woman.  She is just down to earth and real as I mentioned in my last post.  The woman wants to live her life in peace with her husband and 6 kids, 2 dogs and front yard veggie garden.  Aren't there real criminals out there the city should be spending their time on?  Seriously!!!

It appears Julie isn't the only one out there being harassed by the city for vegetables.  The same week her story came out another one from Canada emerged.  Dirk Becker of Lantzville B.C. is facing 6 months in jail for guess what?  You got it, growing veggies!  He turned a gravel pit into a veggie farm and sells his produce at a local farmer's market, but laws in this town don't allow for veggie growing, no siree.  A petition has been started for him, and people are spreading the word on fb and the net about his plight.  I fear more stories like Julie and Dirk's are going to be emerging in the future, and I'm working on several fronts lately to raise awareness and make the government aware of this issue.  I have a feeling it's going to be a long term fight, with no short term solutions unfortunately.

Vision, Identity, and Faith

Once upon a time there was a stay at home urban homesteading mom of two who dreamed of living an idealistic life on her .15 acre in the city.  She envisioned raising chickens and harvesting fresh veggies from her garden daily, then she would blog about it via her cool eco-groovy mama urban homesteading blog:

One day she heard about the trademarking of the terms "urban homestead"and "urban homesteading", and her dream was interrupted.  The rest is history my friends.  My idealistic image of being like Amanda Soule, crafty super mama hero of all crafters, disappeared into a fog of legal speak and a rapidly growing, and very wonderful urban homesteading facebook page.  Things took a turn shall we say, a major shift in direction, and I became the leader of a fast moving grassroots urban homesteading community almost over night.  It's been an exceptional ride, and I wouldn't change a moment of it, but lately I've become introspective and have been questioning who I am in all of this.

The questioning started when an interviewer asked me, "What is your life plan?"  Ummm.....life plan, what is that anyway?  That got me thinking about what my "plan" is, and truth be told I have none.  My vision up until this point has been to continue being a stay at home mom, growing my sewing and designing business, which I'm still doing slowly but surely when I'm not on facebook fighting the latest battle.  Honestly though, I'm just taking life as it comes and living in the present, following my heart, and trying to take the community I'm leading in the right direction in the mean time.  I'm sorting through the multitude of directions that are opening up to me, and that others are presenting me with.  Everyone has ideas, really great ideas, but if I were to implement every single idea presented to me I would lose vision, lose focus, and ultimately not get a darned thing done.  I get phone calls, e-mails, requests, etc. and for the first time in my life I have to sit back and evaluate each possible direction carefully before taking action.  There have been times when the direction I've gone has back fired, (and I've got the hate mail and letters to the editor to prove it!)  But, I've learned to get back up, shake the dust off, and continue on without dwelling on the past.

Lately I've been asking myself another question, "Who am I in the midst of all of this anyway?"  Writer?  Activist?  Leader?  At first I tried to fit into the mold of blogger as my main identity.  I tried, and there were days where I almost believed I could be an amazing one post a day urban homesteader blogger who would wow the crowds like Erica Strauss of Northwest Edible Life.  That woman can write like no other urban homesteading mama I've seen out there, seriously.  Just read one post and you'll see what I mean!  Then there's Deanna Duke of Crunchy Chicken.  She's another one I just can't hold a candle to, sigh.  Eco groovy chicken lovin' writer extraordinaire, that's what she is!  There are others out there who get all down into the psychology of homesteading and house holding and house this and that...I've lost track of all of the terms, I just can't keep up anymore.  Harriet Fasenfest, (amazing writer and woman in general), is one of them, as is Calamity Jane of Apron Stringz.  Just reading what that woman does on a daily basis makes my head spin.  Really?  She does all of that, really? Wow, just wow.  Talk about giving someone an inferiority complex!  Then there are the super hero gardening sorts like Rachel Hoff of Dog Island Farm. She's doing the "year without groceries challenge" and I just stand in awe of that kind of commitment.  There's lots more of the super hero gardener types, so please forgive me if I skipped over you!  But I love them all, they are truly wonderful and talented women....just not me.

Enter Julie Bass, of Oakparkhatesveggies - the gardening hero who has been all over the media for the audacious crime of growing veggies, (NO!), in her front yard in raised beds in Oak Park Michigan!  I first heard about her veggie "crime" via the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) page.  Within a day of posting her story on the main TBUH feed Treehugger and Grist had articles up about her, and within a few more days her story had gone viral.  Then I checked her blog out, and I was sold.  This was a woman I could relate to, a woman I could hang my hat on.  Her tone resonated with me and I get her, or at least I think I do.  She's totally down to earth and human, but don't let that sweet voice deceive you - she's got got an iron fist under the velvet glove.  There will be no backing down until she gets what is rightfully hers let me tell you.  I guess I see a bit of myself in her and the more I think about it the more I see that I'm an activist at heart.  I sit down to write a blog, and I have a hard time finishing it because I'm too busy looking through news feeds, or blog posts to see what's happening.  I look for people to help, causes to fight, and although I wasn't initially looking for a cause when the urban homesteaders united, I do now.  I know the power of a unified voice, of people standing up in unison and refusing to accept the status quo.

I have faith that I can make a difference in this world somehow.  I believe that my position in the urban homesteading community was more than simply fate.  I don't speak much about my personal faith beliefs publicly, because honestly I hate the idea of anyone feeling I'm shoving my religion faith down their throats.  Deep breath...I quit church a few years back because I was done with other people telling me what God's plan for my life was, so very done.  I'm still sorting through all of that and trying to figure out what my faith means, how to implement it, and where to go from here.  (Did you hear that God?)  The past few months I've come to realize that the planet and nature itself are more important to God, (yes, I believe He (they) exist), than I ever knew before.  I don't think any of my life happens by accident, and I think God puts people in places at specific times for specific reasons.  (Disclaimer:  I'm not saying you must believe this.  I'm not saying if you don't believe this you will go to hell.  I'm not accusing or judging you in any way.)  This is what I believe at my core, and if I'm going to stay true to myself I need to follow my own path, and this is it.

So, to conclude, thank you Julie Bass, Erica Strauss, Harriet Fasenfest, and the rest of you wonderful, talented and intelligent women for helping me figure out who I am in all of this. We're in this together, so keep writing, blogging, house holding, and I'll be right beside you fighting the fight.

Vegetable Growing Criminal?

I took a break outside and enjoyed my beautiful backyard for a moment on a  lovely Northcoast day a few hours ago.  I can sit out there for hours and enjoy the many fruits of our labors:  Overflowing veggie beds, trees we planted with our own hands, a beautiful greenhouse and more.  If I had this on my front yard in Oak Park Michigan I could go to jail...seriously.

A few years ago we didn't have all of this to enjoy because we rented and our only real yard was our front yard which was off limits for gardening for the most part.  We wanted to plant a garden in the yard, but our landlords forbid us from doing so.  Their reason?  It wouldn't look good, in their opinion.  So we planted things around the entire perimeter of the yard, some things grew in pots, and when we moved we uprooted the entire garden, moved it here, and then re-seeded the yard with grass.  Now we have people asking us to give them garden tours, asking us how to make raised beds and grow veggies, and I am the admin for a large growing urban homesteading page that has turned into a powerful grassroots movement.  Take that "don't plant a garden on your front lawn" land lords!


A few days ago I heard about a woman named Julie Bass who lives in Oak Park Michigan.  She was cited and eventually charged with a misdemeanor for growing vegetables on her front lawn.  Her story struck a cord in me because the reason she was given for not being allowed to have a front yard garden was much the same as the reason we were given a few years back.  She was told that her vegetation was not "suitable" by the city planner, who went on to say that suitable meant "common" from Webster's Dictionary.  I looked up the definitions for myself, and found that his definition is inaccurate.  The definition for suitable has 3 meanings: 1.) similar, 2.) proper 3.) satisfying propriety.  Now the city planner is claiming he used the legal definition for suitable, which is completely different from the Webster's definition.  But he was recorded saying he used Webster's on camera, so there is no way he can back out of that one.  Julie's story is all over the internet and was picked up this week by Grist, Washington Post, Treehugger, Huffington Post, and then the big hitter Drudge Report where the story was sandwiched between a picture of the space shuttle launch and Prince William and Kate for much of the day.  How's that for press coverage?!  The petition for Julie is now up to 4,400 signatures in just a few days, and the urban homesteading activists have only just begun.  


As I sat out on my garden bench the famous quote by Thomas Jefferson came to mind, "If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."  Is this what it's come to America:  The government dictating what foods we eat?  Honestly, I doubt that the Bass family of 8 could even afford organic vegetables, I know that my family of 4 certainly can't!  So the city of Oak Park is dictating that Julie and her family won't be able to eat organic vegetables ultimately, is it not?  Julie asked specifically if the city codes prohibited growing vegetables.  The city planner's response?  "I don't know."  He never gave a definitive answer either way, and now he's attempting to manipulate language and definitions to suit his purposes.  What has this country come to if a family isn't allowed to grow their own vegetables, seriously?  Just because her yard doesn't look exactly like the other yards in her neighborhood she was given and misdemeanor and could spend 93 days in prison.  I've read that the city of Oak Park is having financial issues, and honestly it sounds to me like they're trying to make a buck off of Julie.  It's a sorry situation in more ways that one, and I feel at this point they should throw in the trowel, I mean towel and let Julie feed her family in these tough economic times.  


So what do you think?  Should Julie be allowed to grow veggies in her front yard?  

In Oak Park Michigan it is Illegal to Grow Veggies in your Front Yard, Seriously

You read that right, it is apparently illegal to grow veggies in raised beds in the town of Oak Park Michigan.  Julie Bass, mother of 6 and upstanding citizen has been given several citations from the city because she is growing veggies (gasp!), on her front lawn.  Apparently she is high on the list because she received her citation early in the day, and the city official claimed to be busy, wow.  I honestly thought I'd never see the day!  Vegetables, such violent creatures by nature don't you know?!  You would think that this city would have better things to do than fighting "vegetable crime!" 


So, as usual the Take Back page is jumping on the band wagon and writing letters, blogging and letting the world know all about this story.  I posted a letter writing action day and we have almost 140 people writing letters to the city planner and city council members.  I posted a petition for Julie and saw it climb from 22 to almost 500 today!  I feel like we're making a difference as a community and I'm very proud! 


Here is the letter I e-mailed to the city of Oak Park:


Dear Sirs,

Recently I heard about a woman in your town named Julie Bass who has been given several court summons by your city over the "crime" of growing vegetables in her front yard.  I am the creator and admin for the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) facebook page, which consists of nearly eight thousand urban homesteaders, most of which grow and harvest vegetables in their own yards.  

Urban homesteading is becoming increasingly common during these difficult times when families like myself are struggling to make ends meet.  Many are hanging on by a string financially and having access to their own free produce on their land makes a huge difference both nutritionally and financially.  My family lives on .15 of an acre in Eureka, Northern California.  We have 10 raised beds full of veggies on our property which we eat from daily.  We are a family of 4, with only one working parent, living in a very expensive area of California.  The prices of gas, food, and goods have all increased exponentially in the past few years, and families like ours are finding it increasingly difficult to support ourselves.  Fresh produce is very expensive, and organic pesticide free produce is even more expensive and completely out of our budget at this point.  Growing our own vegetables gives us the opportunity to eat healthy nutritious greens, whereas we wouldn't be able to have access to them otherwise.

I have researched Julie Bass' story extensively, and it appears that she was cited for not having "suitable" vegetation in her front yard.  The statement made by you, Mr. Rolkowsky was as follows, "If you look at the definition of what suitable is in Webster's dictionary, it will say common. So, if you look around and you look in any other community, what's common to a front yard is a nice, grass yard with beautiful trees and bushes and flowers."  I researched the definition of "suitable" in Webster's dictionary and found the following definitions:  1.)  similar, matching, 2.)  proper 3.) satisfying propriety, 4.) able, qualified.  Nowhere in these definitions do I see the word "common."  Ask any horticulturist and they will tell you that kale and ornamental kale are very similar, however one is edible and the other is not.  Is it not true that all vegetation is related genetically?  It is obvious that you are splitting hairs in regards to your definition of suitable in this instance in order to drive your point home.  Just because Julie's garden doesn't satisfy propriety in your eyes doesn't mean it is in any way an eye sore to her neighborhood. 

Julie and her family of 6 8 are law abiding citizens who are simply attempting to grow their own food in a creative and innovative way as are thousands of people across the nation.  She doesn't have unsightly garbage, un-registered cars, an unattractive unkempt home, or anything unattractive or illegal on her property.  Her front yard raised veggie beds are some of the most attractive I personally have seen.  Yes, this is an exception to your norm, but it doesn't make it unattractive, just different and foreign to you. 

Myself and the community at Take Back Urban-Homesteading fully support Julie's actions.  Our group consists of hundreds of bloggers, writers and urban homesteading activists who are writing, blogging, and spreading her story on the internet and the media at large.  We won't refrain from actively supporting and educating the public about your actions until she is allowed to grow vegetables in her front yard.  As a fellow urban homesteader and mother I ask you to please reconsider your position.  Please put yourself in her shoes and ask yourself the question:  If I were a mother of 4 6 living on a tight budget would I put a raised bed garden on my front lawn to help feed my family? 

Regards, 

April Alexander

creator and admin of Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Take-Back-Urban-Home-steadings/167527713295518 

Urban Homestead Video and Photo Tour Action Day Round Up

We did another action day over at Take Back Urban Home-Steading(s) this past weekend.  This time our action day was a video and photo tour of our urban homesteads.  It's so amazing to see all of the beautiful gardens and homesteads from around the country!  We had front yard veggie gardens, balcony gardens, back yard gardens and more!  Thanks to everyone who participated!  I got some great ideas from some of your gardens and thoroughly enjoyed every tour.  Here is the round up, enjoy!

Photo Tours:

A Life In Balance - Urban Homestead Tour

Caitlin Harvey - My Balcony Farm

Terry Corum - Backyard Garden

Sarah Spitz - Apartment/Condo Urban Homestead

Mary Larsen - Urban Homestead Tour

Amy Patricia Kraemer Hawks -  Urban Homestead Tour

Liz Carter - 5 Gallon Container Potato Plant

Steve Denton - Potato Harvest

Rosey Jean - Edible Landscape Herb Garden

Victoria Finkenstadt - Tulip Tree Homestead


Video Tours:

Ron & April Alexander - Alexander Urban Homestead

Kristen Wheatley - Urban Homesteading in Auburn Maine

Chris Keith - A Video Tour of the Trailer Park Homestead

Robert van de Walle - Building a Floating Island

Rodney Collins - Outfox Farm's Urban Homestead Tour

Linda Ring - Gators and Garters

Mireille Halley - Evolution of an Urban CA Homesteader

Dan Fountain - Urban Homestead Tour

Tami French Logan - (Disclaimer - this video shows a chicken being killed.)  Our first chicken processing adventure.

Mother Earth News Editor in Chief Issues a Response

Yes, 'tis true, I received an e-mail from the Editor in Chief of Mother Earth News.  That's the good part.  The not so good part is that the response was pretty much what I had expected, a big fat disappointment.  I had to put on some pretty large hip waders to get through the content.  I knew that there was no way what she said was completely true, and upon further investigation my feelings were confirmed.  I wrote her back, and also issued a call to action on the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) fb page.  We're going to have an action day letter writing campaign weekend.  We're a small voice in the wilderness, but I feel it's our responsibility to stand up and make our voice known.  

Dear April,
 
If you search our website for “urban homesteading” and “modern homesteading”, you will find that we have used both of these terms for many years, and that we continue to use both terms.

Cheryl Long

Editor in Chief

Mother Earth News

My response:  

Dear Cheryl,

Thank you for your response.  I did a more in depth search for the terms "urban homestead", "urban homesteading" on your site and could not find article titles with the terms "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading" in them since 2010.  As you can see there are multiple articles with the titles using these terms in the years 2009 and 2010.   http://www.motherearthnews.com/search.aspx?search=urban%20+%20homesteading  I could not search prior to these dates because I kept getting error messages.  I found 2 instances of "urban homesteading" in 2011:  A work shop:  http://www.motherearthnews.com/fair/ws-sr-homestead-kaplan.aspx and this small blog post which uses the term once:  http://www.motherearthnews.com/happy-homesteader/homesteading-alphabet-zb0z11zkon.aspx.

It is obvious that since the Dervaes Institute has trademarked these terms Mother Earth News has quit using the terms in articles.  The use of the terms is negligible otherwise, and it appears that you are choosing to legally comply with the Dervaes Institute's trademark demands.  You continue to advertise the Dervaes Institute's blog "Path to Freedom" under your "What We're Reading" section.  Although you have used the term "modern homesteading" for years it is now the most prevalent homesteading term on your site, which creates the appearance of further compliance with the Dervaes Institute's demands.  

The Dervaes Institute has destroyed their reputation among much of the urban homesteading community at large.  They sent out 16 cease and desist letters to bloggers, writers, publishers and libraries demanding that they refrain from using these terms in print or otherwise.  They then demanded that facebook disable the Denver Urban Homesteading FB page, which has caused great financial loss to this farmer's market cooperative.  

The community of thousands of urban homesteaders on the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) fb page are very disappointed in these actions, as I stated earlier.  Many of us have looked up to and respected your magazine for years.  After all, you were one of the first publications which pioneered the urban homesteading concepts in the early 1970's long before Jules Dervaes began his urban homesteading blogs, websites, and now attempt to own an urban homesteading empire.  You spear headed our movement, and seeing you bow to commercialism in this way is a huge let down for our community.  It seems that your current actions are going to cause you to continue to lose popularity with the urban homesteading community.

We're asking you to partner with us firstly by removing the Dervaes Institute's "Path to Freedom" site from your website.  As I mentioned prior, since 2011 you haven't used the trademarked terms in articles or article titles.  We're asking you to begin using these terms with frequency as you did prior to the trademarking of the terms.  Please keep in mind that our community consists of many writers, bloggers, business owners, and urban homesteading activists who are working together to fight the trademarks on the terms which belong to all of us.  Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

April Alexander

Creator and Admin of Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) FB page

UPDATE:  Since my last letter, and e-mail to the Happy Homesteader blog writer, her link to the Dervaes' blog has been removed.  Partial victory, and it remains to be seen if Mother Earth News will continue to use the terms urban homestead and urban homesteading in print.  I will keep you updated!

Dear Mother Earth News...

Today it came to my attention that Mother Earth News, (MEN), is now using the term "modern homesteading" in place of "urban homesteading" on their website.  In fact, one of the main sections on their web page is called Modern Homesteading.  As a quick refresher, Jules Dervaes of the Dervaes Institute demanded that urban homesteaders use the term "modern homesteader" in place of urban homesteader in the 16 cease and desist letters he sent to authors, publishers, bloggers, etc.  So when I saw this term up front and center on the MEN website I took a close second look.  Upon further investigation I saw that the words "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading" are non existent on the site's current articles, links, etc.  Instead the terms "modern homesteading" and simply "homesteading" are the current lingo.  To add insult to injury the Path to Freedom is on the page's "What We're Reading" list.  Seriously MEN??  I feel like I just walked into a manure mine field, or maybe a modern homesteading manure field.  If MEN thinks they can re-create the terms that define the urban homesteading grass roots movement they have another thing coming.  As usual, when I'm mad  I write, and generally the quality of writing increases exponentially per anger factor.  So of course I fired off a piece of my mind to MEN this afternoon, and I honestly hope they give me a decent response.    




Dear Mother Earth News, 


I am writing to you concerning the "Modern Homesteading" section on your web page.  As the creator of the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) page I am both disturbed and concerned regarding your choice of terminology on this page.  Equally as concerning is the obvious exclusion of the terms "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading" which as I'm sure you are aware have been recently trademarked by the Dervaes Institute of Pasadena, CA, (and who's websites "Path to Freedom" is listed under your "What We're Reading" section.)  Earlier this year the Dervaes Institute sent out 16 cease and desist letters to publishers, libraries, bloggers and writers demanding that they cease using the terms "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading" to describe sustainable living for educational, commercial and other uses.  The Dervaes Institute's actions caused an out cry in the urban homesteading community and TBUH, (which has grown to 8000), was created as a grass roots protest against their actions.  Currently the EFF, (Electronic Freedom Foundation) along with Winston and Strom are representing Process Media, publishers of "The Urban Homestead:  Your Guide to Self Sufficiency in the Heart of the City" in a petition to cancel the trademarks on the terms "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading."  Attorney James Bertini of Denver Urban Homesteading, (who's facebook page was removed without notice per the Dervaes Institute's request resulting in substantial loss of business), is also part of the petition.  The trademark battle has run the gamut in the media, urban homesteading and otherwise, and the general consensus in our community is that these terms are generic and should be available for use by everyone in blogs, books, and all written format.  The Dervaes Institute demanded that the term "modern homesteading" be used in lieu of "urban homesteading", so it is very disappointing to see these terms in one of the headings on your web page.  (I don't remember seeing this term used this way on your site prior to the trademark issue.)  It is even more disturbing to see the Dervaes Institute's blog listed on your site considering the actions they have taken against the urban homesteading community.  Your decision to support and publicize the Dervaes Institute isn't working in your favor with many in the TBUH community, which consists of hundreds of urban homesteading bloggers, writers, and activists. 


Regards,  


April Alexander 

I Done Got Published!

Well, I never thought I would see the day I would have an interview in a magazine, but it's happened.  I was interviewed for an article in EcoSalon, a "Conscious Culture and Fashion" magazine about the whole urban homestead trademark controversy.  The article is titled "Bad Blood on the Home(Steading) Front" and also includes an interview from Rebecca Jeschke, Media Relations Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  The Dervaes were contacted via e-mail and phone twice, and haven't responded - big surprise.   I think the writer did an excellent job of articulating the trademark controversy and my favorite part of the interview is this bit, * " On team TBUH, in the meantime, it looks like the damage done to the family’s reputation – generous, neo-hippy and inclusive – is irreparable.

Nevertheless, April adds,  “The urban homesteading community is very giving and I really believe that if they would be willing to mend fences and be more neighborly” all could be forgiven."   After all, the Dervaes  tout being neighborly as one of their main tenants.  

*Quotes and photo via Eco Salon:  http://ecosalon.com/bad-blood-on-the-homesteading-front/

Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) Two Month Re-Cap

The Take-Back-Urban-Home-steading(s) facebook page that I started just had it's two month anniversary last week.  We're now 7000 strong, growing daily, and the momentum of the movement we created is continuing to gain speed.  I still wonder sometimes how little old me, a housewife of two, ended up starting such an amazing place for urban homesteaders to gather, share information, network, and fight injustice.  I feel like this thing literally fell into my lap; things like this don't come along often, and I've been around long enough to know that when it happens there is a good reason.  The universe, God, or whatever you want to call it, has smiled down on me and I'm enjoying the ride this page has presented for me.  I've met so many amazing, interesting and fantastic people, from well known authors and writers to home grown folks such as myself;  it's pretty cool.  There are also great challenges that go along with the page and at times I feel like it's a demanding two year old, but as with children the pain is worth the pleasure.  I've never volunteered for a more worthy cause, so I wouldn't change the way I've gone about any of this even though at times I've questioned and second guessed myself.

The page has become a two pronged focus:  We started out as a protest to the Dervaes family trademarking the terms "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading", but somewhere along the way we realized we were a community of urban homesteaders.  When this happened I'm not exactly sure, but before I knew it people were sharing their tips on vermi-composting, chickens, good urban homesteading reads, zoning laws, and the list goes on.  There came a point when I thought this kind of community would have been better organized on a web page; facebook just seemed an odd place.  But then I saw people networking, sharing information and blogs, connecting with other relevant fb pages, and the web of information was spreading;  There was no doubt about it, facebook was the perfect venue for this community.

In the background of all of the garden tip sharing looms the legal battle we as urban homesteaders are up against.  It's always there, like a bad rash, and as much as many of us would like for it to be a non issue, it is.  In the mist of it the urban homesteading community has been beyond supportive, and after seeing the positive force we have become I have no doubt in my mind that we will win.

We're not quitters, and from what I can see we have actually brought more public attention to urban homesteading than those who are attempting to trademark our community.  Recent articles about urban homesteading were published in the New York Times and LA Times.  Deanna Duke of Crunchy Chicken, was just listed as one of Tree Hugger's Green Lifestyle Experts.  She was one of the instigators of our page, and in her bio for Earth Day she discusses her plans for her urban homestead.  Go Deanna!  I think we've created a buzz around urban homesteading, and I predict we will be seeing more in the media about it in the future.  If that isn't a huge accomplishment I don't know what is!

Hre is a re-cap of what we've accomplished in the short two months the page has been in existence.  Get ready, the list is long!

1.  We've grown to 7000 in just 2 months, crazy.

2.  We've been in many on line publications including:  Grist, Boing Boing (twice), BlogHer, Triple Pundit,
     EFF, LA Weekly, OC Weekly, SF Bay Guardian, and many others.

3.  We've raised funds to help the Denver Urban Homesteading, (A Denver based farmer's market cooperative who had their facebook page pulled due to the Dervaes' actions, resulting in thousands of dollars in financial losses to their vendors), file a petition to cancel the supplemental trademarked term "urban homesteading."

4.  We've helped advertise and spread the word through action days to support Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen's book  "The Urban Homestead: Self Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City", and Rachel Kaplan and Ruby Blume's book:  "Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living." The publishers of "The Urban Homestead", Process Media, along with the EFF has formally petitioned to cancel the trademarks on both terms.

5.  We had a massive blogging action day, in which over 200 bloggers spread the word about urban homesteading.

6.  We did an urban homesteading action You Tube Day, where around 50 urban homesteaders took videos of themselves on their urban homesteads.

7.  We've raised nearly 2400 signatures on our petition to the Dervaes to remove the trademarks.

8.  We've become a community of urban homesteaders who share information, network, raise public awareness about urban homesteading, and fight the Dervaes' attempts to trademark the terms that define our movement.

9.  We've raised awareness about the Dervaes' family's actions:  Trademarking the terms urban homestead and urban homesteading, sending out 16 cease and desist letter to libraries, publishers and authors using the terms in print, having facebook pull pages with the terms in them without notice, and now putting up new web pages and blogs with different titles than they previously had, (if you don't dig a bit you wouldn't know they are their pages.)

10.  We continue to spread the word about our movement through the media and facebook, and won't give up until we get back what is rightfully ours.  WE ARE URBAN HOMESTEADERS!!

The Proverbial Compost is About to Hit the Fan

After weeks of declarations of innocence from the Dervaes clan the evidence is finally presenting itself, or as some would say, the compost is hitting the fan.  Rebecca Kaplan, one of the authors of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills For Sustainable Living, had just announced that the book was being released to the public when Jules Dervaes' lawyer fired off a threatening letter to the publishers.  Here is an excerpt from the letter:  

"Although my client has attempted in good faith to resolve this matter amicably and without litigation, because you have indicated that [publishing company] is unwilling to comply with our requests, Dervaes has no choice but seek protection of its rights in court.  Unless we receive written confirmation by the close of business on April 1, 2011 that [publishing company] will comply immediately with each of the demands detailed in my letter of 2/16/11, (and a subsequent more formal agreement detailing those terms,) Dervaes intends to seek an injunction, along with any damages and attorneys fees, against [publishing company]."

The demands detailed in the 2/16 letter were basically that Kaplan and Blume were not allowed to use the words "urban homestead" or "urban homesteading."  They were graciously "allowed" to use the terms homestead and homesteading however.  

For weeks the Dervaes have claimed up and down that they were not suing anyone, which for the time being was true, but it was obvious by their actions that they were headed down law suit lane.  They denied sending out cease and desist letters, accused bloggers of spreading "misinformation", and have continued with the same party line for weeks now.  I never bought it, never for a minute.  It was obvious by their tone and actions that they would take whatever actions necessary to own the words that define a movement.  I have seen a serious lack of integrity on the part of the Dervaes in the past few months. 

I started the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) facebook page as a protest to the Dervaes trademarking the terms 'urban homestead" and "urban homesteading."  I have been amazed at the incredible support and community which has formed in such a short amount of time through this page.  We have banned together to support one another, and with true grit and determination I believe we will get back the words that define who we are.  I believe that we have waged this battle so far with integrity and purpose, while the other party has not.  Here is a little summary of some of the things we have been up against:

The Dervaes' accusations that the blogging community has put out "misinformation."  From the Dervaes Blog: "These last few weeks, the blogosphere and certain media outlets have been full of unfounded and false reports that have led to a smear campaign against members of our family."   This is absolutely not true.  Any of the urban homesteading blogs or media I have seen are representing the facts correctly, and have gleaned their facts directly from the Dervaes' websites, blogs, etc.  Not long after this declaration came from their website "media outlets" such as Boing Boing, Blog Her, and the SF Chronicle, and Grist reported much of the same information, interesting isn't it though?   

 

We didn't send out cease and desist letters.  When you send out letters to 16 organizations, libraries, publishers, etc. that tell publishers, authors, and web pages not to use certain generic terms in print, that is a legal cease and desist letter, so yeah, you did send out cease and desist letters. 

Go ahead and use the terms in your blog.  Sometime after the initial cease and desist letters, and the hundreds of blogs posted in the blogosphere about the issue, the Dervaes suddenly said it was ok to use the trademarked terms in blogs!  They had already told Rebecca Kaplan who has a blog associated with her book Urban Homesteading, not to use the words anywhere in print.  So what are we supposed to believe?  This kind of inconsistent speech is not helpful, or honest in my opinion.  

Plagiarism. The Dervaes put out a post about plagiarism, then it was discovered that they themselves had plagiarized information for Freedom Gardens.org from Michael Nolan's blog "My Earth Garden", as well as the fact that the information on the plagiarism blog had not been cited correctly for the internet.  They did admit they had not cited the information from the Freedom Gardens site, and apologized, but the fact remains that they were accusing others of something that they themselves were guilty of doing.  They only corrected the error when they were caught red handed.

Steaming Pile of Compost.  "We will not  [nor it is our intention to] squelch the use of Urban Homestead or Urban Homesteading nor will we go about hindering this movement by those who are living the lifestyle.  We are Urban Homesteaders and appreciate those who are lending their actions and words of support. We are extremely grateful and we encourage others to spread this lifestyle with pride."  Really, you don't want to squelch the use of urban homestead or urban homesteading?  I don't think I need to say much more...this one is a no brainer. 

Friending people from the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) Page.  The Dervaes decided it would be smart to come over to our page and friend up with people.  For all of their declarations of innocence this was the last straw.  It was a desperate move on their part to try to win back favor from a group that they have alienated.

 

So what can you do to help fight against this injustice?  Go buy the Urban Homesteading book, join the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) page, and spread the word about our cause! 

There are other publishers being represented by the EFF now, and we raised funds for the Denver Urban Homesteading to petition to have the trademark removed from "urban homesteading."  We also have helped get over 2000 signatures for an on line petition to the Dervaes to remove the TMs.  Not that it will change their minds, but it is good proof that the urban homesteading community is not in support of what they have done. 

Urban Homesteader's Action Day

Tomorrow is our third urban homesteader's action day.  We're attempting to finish signing a petition to the Dervaes Institute to cancel the trademarks on the words Urban Homestead and Urban Homesteading.  We have 1829 signatures and need 2000, so if you haven't done so yet please head on over and sign!  Let's show the world that we are more than just a handful of bloggers upset about the trademarks.  We are a large community of urban homesteaders who will continue to fight for what is rightfully ours.  Go urban homesteaders!

The Story of a Housewife That Started an Epic Facebook Page

Three weeks ago yesterday I started the facebook page Take Back Urban Home-steading(s).  The day started out pretty much like any other day, then events both on the web and in my life began to take unexpected and surprising turns.  Some of it's a blur to me, but to my best recollection this page was started the day my uncle Phil passed away.  Two days prior another person had passed away in our family, Moochie, the grandmother figure to our family.  Just as we were starting to recover from her death the unexpected and tragic death of my uncle Phil hit us sending us reeling into further shock and grief.  Two deaths in two days seems unimaginable, but it happened, and we continue to work through the shock, disbelief and grief.  Whether it was a way to deal with my grief, a distraction, or merely coincidence, this page came into being.

That day as I went through my usual facebook routine I came across a post by the Dervaes family which read, "We're getting death threats now."  I quickly went to their page to investigate what was going on.  People were asking questions left and right, and no answers were being given.  Then Deanna Duke of  The Crunchy Chicken  posted a link to her blog post:  Urban Homesteader's Cease and Desist.  It turns out that the Dervaes family of "The Path to Freedom" had trademarked the words "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading."  The urban homesteading community was outraged, putting it mildly.  We began to express our anger and frustration about what they had done, one thing led to another, and I knew I had to do something.  "What if we started our own facebook page to take our words back?" I posted.  People were in full support, so I did it.  I knew I couldn't use the words urban homestead or urban homesteading because several pages had been pulled with these words including the Denver Urban Homesteading and an Oakland bay area group called the Institute of Urban Homesteading who wrote the book Urban Homesteading, (whos publishers have also been sent informal cease and desist letters from the Dervaes.)  Those college grammar classes finally came in handy and I threw a dash into the word homestead and added an "s" in parenthesis at the end.  Then I went back to the Dervaes page to share the link but the page had disappeared.  I panicked thinking we had lost our chance.  I remembered some of the names of the people I had been chatting with luckily, Deanna being one of them. I quickly friended them, sent them a link to our page "Take Back Urban Home-steading(s)", and the rest is history.  Deanna put our link on her blog, (thank you Deanna!), and people began to spread our page like wild fire all over facebook.  "I'll send your link to my 1000 fans" one guy said, and others made similar comments.  Within 24 hours we had 2000 likes and counting, and we had started a twitter account that was tweeting away, (thank you Michele!)  Before we knew it we were on Boing Boing, OC Weekly, LA Weekly, Blogher, and numerous blogs and on line news sources.

My friend and fellow urban homestead blogger and reporter Melody Stone of  It's All Happening contacted me and said, "April, this is truly epic!"  Her husband Luke was actually the person who submitted our page to Boing Boing, which has statistically brought the most traffic to our page.  "The internet has turned on these people and created a movement", (paraphrased), they told me.  "So what do I do now?"  I asked, completely clueless as to what an internet movement was, or even how this had happened.  "I just started a page though!" I said.  Melody's advice was to let it do its thing and sit back and watch.  So that's what I've been doing for the past three weeks and as we near 6000 likes I continue to be astounded and proud to be part of such a thriving, giving, organic and impassioned community.

Recently the Dervaes have accused our movement of "spreading false reports that have led to a smear campaign against members of our family."  This is from their web site, and I won't post a link to increase their page hits.  If you really want to see it go to their Path to Freedom site and it's there.  They have also accused bloggers of false reporting.  Let's set the record straight once and for all.  It all started when the Dervaes sent out informal cease and desist letters to bloggers, specifically the Urban Homestead Experiment, publishers of homesteading books including: Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living by Rachel Kaplan and K. Ruby Blume, and The Urban Homestead - Your Guide to Self Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City, by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen, public libraries, and web sites including Denver Urban Homesteading.  They also had facebook shut down pages which included the terms in them, including the Denver Urban Homesteading who relied on the page for their business, The Urban Homestead Experiment, and The New Institute of Urban Homesteading, which is an educational project, with NO notice whatsoever.  They're claiming that they are the ones who have coined modern urban homesteading.  Urban homesteading ideals have actually been published by Mother Earth News in the articles: "The Integral Urban House (1976) and Live Country in the City (1979) and books on urban homesteading were also published in various books prior to the turn of the century.  The idea has been around a long time and the Dervaes didn't invent it.  They are attempting to trademark a lifestyle, one which abhors commercialism in any sense, and one which won't back down until we re-gain the words that define who we are.

I've been blogging for several years now and was planning to start my own urban homesteading blog right around the time this controversy started up.  I think it's the main reason I created the page;  what the Dervaes has done directly affects me and my right to free speech.  Now they claim that it's ok for bloggers to use the term, (thanks for the permission), but haven't rescinded the letters they sent or restored the facebook pages they had pulled.  So how are we fighting back?  The Electronic Frontier Foundation decided to take up the case for Process Media, the publishers for The Urban Homestead due to the huge outcry from the urban homesteading community.  We're raising funds via our page to help the Denver Urban Homesteading file a petition to cancel the trademarks.  We started an online petition to cancel the trademarks, and have had several action days in which we use the words and spread information about our cause, first through a blogging day of action and last week through a Youtube day of action.

Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) has become far more than an urban homesteaders activism hub through all of this.  Despite the battle we face we have become a cohesive organic community for urban and suburban homesteaders and we share advice, encourage one another, provide resources and networking, share blogs, and create a positive venue for people to share free information with one another.  We refuse to be trademarked by two words and we continue to spread the truth in an ethical non biased way.  We are not a smear campaign, and we are willing to take a hard look at what who we are and what we represent.  I am proud of this community who has banned together and created a thriving hopeful community.  We live in the land of opportunity, and when we saw our community being threatened we stood up and took action.  Go urban homesteaders!  

Urban Homesteader's Day of Action via Youtube

Today is our second urban homesteader's day of action!  We're posting videos on Youtube about urban homesteading and you can find them here on the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) discussion page

This was my first video attempt on my new camera, so somehow I ended up with the largest possible file, oh well.  It took all night to upload on Youtube, and you can view it here on  Youtube. Ron is harvesting some beets and discusses what urban homesteading means to us.  Funnily enough he forgot to mention that I was the creator of the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) page.  He also says that I'm the one who discovered the controversy which is partly true.  I was one of the first ones to find out about it, but for the record I wasn't the first!  Anyway, enjoy watching urban homesteaders across the country showing off their urban homesteads and talking about why they do what they do!

Urban Homesteader's Day of Action

Monday is the second day of action for urban homesteaders!  This time we plan to upload videos via Youtube about who we are and discuss the current battle we wage to regain the words that define our movement.  So far about 40 people have signed up to either help spread the word or make a video and post it on Youtube.  We're going to post under a common link on the

YouTube page here 

I can't wait to see all of the urban homesteads across the country and around the world.  I'm hoping to upload a video myself even if we have rain tomorrow as expected.  So be sure to spread the news far and wide - this day will be legendary!  Hope to "see" you on Monday.                     

Urban Homesteader's Day of Action

The last few days have been a whirlwind for me - an organic grassroots whirlwind!  I am just in total awe of the urban homesteading community right now...words don't accurately describe the way we've banned together to fight for what is ours.  I must admit that I underestimated the force we would become on the net and in the blogosphere.  We are a force to be reckoned with!  Our fb page has passed 3000 likes, and we've been linked in various on line blogs and publications, some of which include:  The LAWeekly, OCWeekly, BoingBoing, Blog Her, and scads of other blogs.  We're organizing, blogging, spreading information, and creating groups, events and think tanks left and right.  Here is a paragraph from our info page: 

"This page has evolved into an organic expression of the urban homesteading community and our quest for keeping the words which define who we are as a movement and community germane to all of us. In a real way we're advocating for one another; we're discussing, networking, organizing for change, creating events, and expanding our vast and original knowledge of urban homesteading. We're finding new formats in spreading the word that we ARE urban homestead, and that nobody can copyright our identity, which belongs to all of us."

So somehow I became an urban homesteading activist....and no, you may not copyright that!  I have to say that I think it's fitting that a stay at home mom of two would be the one creating a place for urban homesteaders to unite.  We're a grass roots movement after all, not a big corporation.  We think outside of the grid and we're fiercely independent creative thinkers.  When someone tells us we can't do something, and tries to take away who we are it isn't a pretty sight....I'm glad I'm not on the other end of this putting it mildly!

Monday we're having an "urban homesteader's day of action."  We plan to tweet, blog, and update with the words urban homestead and urban homesteading in the title.  We'll blanket the web with the words that define who we are.  It will be amazing!!  So do it - be sure to put the words in the title of your post so they show up on google searches.  Let's take things up a level and germinate this land of ours!