Urban Homesteader's Action Day Video

We did another action day over at Take Back Urban Home-steading(s), which has now reached nearly 8000 likes.  Now that it's growing season in much of the country we got a chance to see what people are growing, from Maine to California.  We did our own little video tour of the homestead around 7 p.m. on a very windy North Coast day.  As usual it took two takes for us to get it right, and by then the battery was dying so we had to speed up the last part of the video.  I'm determined to do a really good, dare I say professional, video the next time I do this!  But, you will get the basic idea of our homestead layout and what goes on here.  (We forgot to mention that all of our garden and homestead structures are recycled, re-purposed or given to us except for the garden shed.)  Enjoy!

Here is the Alexander urban homestead tour!

 

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 

Mud Room Organization

School is out finally, and I've been recuperating from the last few weeks of school insanity.  I'm finally getting around to de-cluttering and organizing rooms in my house that have been driving me insane for months now.  I know you can relate!  We have a very small mud room/laundry room/back porch area.  It has been one of the biggest organization challenges.  It houses garden boots, 4 kinds of animal feed, seeds, bulbs, jackets and coats, and the list goes on.  I think I have finally figured out a way to keep it all organized....let's just hope it stays that way!  Ron brought home this awesome metal rack from work.  It is perfect for storing boots and shoes on the bottom rack.  I cleared the top shelf and added a cute tray with seeds and pots, and a basket for bulbs.  It's a small space, so I had to get rid of a lot of clutter!

An organized mud room is an urban homesteader's dream!  I hope to have a cabinet installed where the rack is eventually, but this works for now.

A few seeds left over from planting season.  I expect this tray to be full in the pre-planting seasons.

I hung a cute vintage sheet to close off the hot water heater area.  This is the animal feed/jacket/hat area.  Believe me, it looks much better than before!  

What organizing have you been up to on your urban homestead lately?  Tips? 

Hen or Rooster?

Lately our "hen" Ophelia has been exhibiting some suspiciously rooster like qualities.  I noticed the past few weeks that "she" has been becoming more and more aggressive.  She's always been the dominant chicken of the bunch, but it seems that she is now becoming a major bully chicken!  She charges the other chickens, has to be the one in charge, and pecks like there is no tomorrow.  I have noticed for weeks now that her comb is getting larger and darker than our other Buff Orpington, Penelope, but this morning I noticed that her wattles are getting enormous.  Penelope has no wattles and her comb is non existent.  She is super sweet and mellow unlike her "sister."  So I posted this pic on the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) fb page.  I figured that out of 7500 urban homesteaders I should be able to get a good consensus as to what "it" truly is.  But, I got very mixed opinions, some saying, "That's a hen, no doubt!" to, "I can bet money it's a rooster." Apparently the determining factors for figuring out if a chicken is a rooster in Buff Orpingtons are:  A large comb that shows up early, (even at just a few weeks), large wattle, saddle and hackle feathers, (they're longer and more spear shaped on the rear if it's a rooster), larger sized legs, and the ultimate test - the crow.

If "she" is indeed a he, then he will have to go, sadly.  We don't want a rooster due to the crow, (believe me, the neighbors will complain), and the fact that we want egg layers, period, so no fertilized eggs for this flock.  But I'm not going to worry about that until we know for sure.

So what is your vote:  Hen or Rooster?  I'll keep you posted.  Apparently Buff Orpingtons crow at around 20 weeks old, so we have a while to go.

Ophelia at 12 weeks, (left.)

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/

May Homestead Update

Hello Friends!  I've been MIA for about three weeks as life has been keeping me busy.  My two kids have both been sick off and on for about a month, I did my first radio interview ever!, the weather has actually been decent for the first time in months and I've been working in the garden finally, and as usual I've been busy as ever with my urban homesteading activism and Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) facebook page.  Phew!  We completed our greenhouse and chicken coop, so you could say we've been busy bees around here.  To get you up to speed here is a quick re-cap of what's been going on around the Alexander homestead:

The greenhouse is officially DONE!  Ron started construction on it about a year ago so it's been a long process, but we're finally finished.  The greenhouse is constructed of recycled windows, door and lumber.  The only new materials are the roofing material which was given to us by a family member.  The starts and seeds have been planted, and she's ready to rock and roll!  So far we are growing tomatoes and basil and have planted some watermelon seeds...we'll see how those do.  I'm so looking forward to nice beautiful red tomatoes this summer since last summer's tomato crop was pitiful.  Ron is going to install a drip irrigation system soon with the free side of the road irrigation pipe he scavenged some time ago.

Isn't she a beauty?  Ron got the blue tubs free from work and most of the pots were free from Craig's List.  It is possible to make a greenhouse on a budget!  (The yellow house on the right is our 1875 house, back view.)

The chicken coop, (or as one of our friends called it, the "chicken Taj Mahal" is finished!  Be looking for a big ol blog post about the entire construction process coming soon!

The peas are growing like mad as are the lettuce and kale.  We harvested our first salad lettuce last week! 

Here is a shot of the garden from the back to front;  I'm standing in the raised bed area.  The trees in the foreground were planted by us, and the bamboo fence and gate was constructed by Ron.  The entire back yard was bare except for a few ornamental trees.  We've come a long way!  

We put in three new raised beds!  This one below is for our raspberry bushes, and another is going to be for grapes.  Who would have thought you could grow grapes in the North West?  Well, it can be done apparently!

What's growing on your homestead now?  Until next time, Happy Homesteading!