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My Generation

Little House on the Parkway

A self-sufficient family that is blazing the trail for urban farming

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Meet a family who achieved what most people would think impossible in a big city. On less than 4,000 square feet of land in the heart of Pasadena, California, the Dervaes family gets all the food they need from their own backyard.

See also: Urban gardeners dig in to beat the recession.

This family of farmers grows 400 varieties of vegetables, fruits, greens and edible flowers and also raises their own livestock. But as a poster child for self-sufficiency, their green lifestyle does not stop in the garden. Almost all their electricity comes from solar panels and they use recycled cooking grease to fuel their cars. They’ve even found a money-saving method for washing up using water from their toilet. These are certainly not your typical city-slickers.

My Generation’s Val Zavala is welcomed into the home of these unique backyard trailblazers to discover the technique behind this well-sown clan.

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