Peddler's Wagon - About Path to Freedom

About Path to Freedom

Since the mid 1980s, members of the Dervaes family have steadily worked at transforming our ordinary city lot in Pasadena, California, into an integral urban homestead. We regard our 1/5 acre urban homestead as a living resource center where we are setting out to live by example by breaking new ground every year.

Today our small city lot is a sustainable "urban jungle" in the middle of greater metropolis of Los Angeles and a viable homesteading project that is a successful model inspiring others both locally and worldwide. We began documenting our journey online in 2001 at our website www.PathtoFreedom.com.

Our yard has over 350 varieties of edible and useful plants. The homestead's productive 1/10 acre organic garden can now grow over 6,000 pounds (3 tons) of organic produce annually, providing fresh vegetables and fruit for our family’s vegetarian diet, along with a viable income. In addition, we have chickens, ducks and goats; brew our own biodiesel (made from waste vegetable oil) to fuel our car; compost with worms, animal manure, and garden waste; obtain electricity from 12 solar panels installed on our garage; and often cook our food in sun and earthen ovens.

We seek to live more environmentally conscious, simple, agrarian and self-sufficient life by bringing about change in our daily lives—one step at a time. We hope that our journey will inspire fellow travelers who are on the path less traveled.

PEDDLER'S WAGON® INVOLVEMENT WITH PATH TO FREEDOM®

From the time the public aspect of Path to Freedom® began in 1999, we have paid the costs of our outreach and website fees out of pocket. We shared information freely, advising other aspiring urban (and not so urban) homesteaders on what products, methods, etc., to use as they set out on their own journey toward self-sufficiency.

However, Path to Freedom® has grown bigger over the years and has expanded in many ways beyond just a documented example of one family’s personal lifestyle. As this movement's and the Path to Freedom® website's popularity began to rise, so did the costs of sharing information. After many years of advising and inspiring others with no monetary compensation, we decided to become distributors of the products we use and recommend. By this, we could continue to offer a service to others—the sharing of tried-and-true products that work. And, in return, our customers would be supporting us by purchasing items from Peddler's Wagon, allowing us to continue our outreach program.

The Path to Freedom® urban homestead™ is still supported by the work of our own hands. It is a real-life, working farm supported by the selling of organic, fresh produce (www.DervaesGardens.com). Path to Freedom® is Jules Dervaes and his family’s personal journey of a lifetime, and we want it to stand on its own as a true example of a single, ordinary family making a go at living a self-sufficient, sustainable life by the hard work and toil of our own hands and the innovation of our entrepreneurship.

PATH TO FREEDOM and PEDDLER'S WAGON are registered trademarks of Dervaes Institute.