Path to Freedom

I'm so in love with the Path to Freedom folks. I've mostly been reading their journal, and it never ceases to inspire me. These people are really doing it - they've created an urban homestead, growing tons of organic food on their 1/5 acre in Pasadena, using greywater to irrigate, raising chickens and ducks, walking and riding bikes, making their own biodiesel for car trips, building a solar shower and cob oven, holding educational events for sustainable-minded folks ... and with great eloquence, they are sharing it with the rest of us. (The beautiful flowers pictured are from their garden, just this week.) I always look forward to reading about the joys and the trials of their journey - for an example of the latter, see the Feb. 9th post on the composting toilet installation saga. The only bummer is not being able to link to a specific day's post, as there are so many gems. But you can search their site from their home page, and find what you need.

I deeply appreciate their commitment to sustainability in every area, not just cutting back or making changes where it's most convenient and hoping for the best. With their choices, they're making it clear that there is another way to make it on this planet, even when you live in one of the most populous urban/suburban regions in the country.

There are a ton of resources on their site and I highly recommend it. I've gotten lost in great links, which link to more great links ... you know how it goes. Currently, I'm most inspired by the idea of building our own wind turbine to produce at least some of our electricity. We live in an extremely windy area, and we have such a tiny house (400 sq. ft.) ... it seems silly to let a freely available energy source go to waste. Check out PTF's links page for alternative and renewable energy sources and get inspired.