Denver Urban Homesteading (DUH) is dedicated to promoting local agricultural, good food and nutrition and self-sufficiency in the backyard and garden.  It is comprised of local farmers and food-preparers and organized by James and Irina Bertini.  Irina moved to the United States from Central Asia and was dismayed by the quality of many of the processed foods eaten here.  Thus she and James decided to make a contribution to local society by bringing all these farmers together and offering classes on topics such as gardening, beekeeping, raising chickens and goats, and by selling products to facilitate these activities.   Also this was inspired in part by Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma," along with films like "Food, Inc." and "Corn King,"  all of which we recommend reading and viewing if you want to learn more about our food systems.

"People are fed by the food industry which pays no attention to health, and are treated by the health industry which pays no attention to food."  Wendell Barry

Irina grew up in the Soviet Union, where Walmart and Home Depot didn't exist.  It was necessary to save everything in case it could be used for something else later.  It was the antithesis of our consumer throw-away culture.  This background made Irina determined to challenge our materialistic attitudes and so together with James, DUH also offers used furniture and other products for sale; Irina even teaches a class in how to restore your old wood furniture (and save a tree).  This is part of the new DIY culture.  We believe that if we produce more on our own, reuse and re-adapt and conserve what we already have, we can reduce environmental degradation, energy use and the negative balance of trade.  

James and Irina are social entrepreneurs.  According to Wikipedia, "A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change.  Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact s/he has on society as well as in profit and return. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many now are working in the private and governmental sectors and making important impacts on society."

Do we do charitable works?  One of the many pleasures we get out of life is helping others who need our help.  However, we do these things from our hearts and not because we want to use them as a marketing tool so we don't list those activities here although some of them are obvious, like the monthly Chicken Swaps and the Seed Swaps we host, free for the public.

Contact us at james@denverurbanhomesteading.com

The DUH classroom is a place to learn things about urban agriculture, food and other sustainable activities that are practiced far too uncommonly in this era. 

The DUH market is a place to sell and buy locally-produced agriculture and to learn about healthy alternatives to the supermarket.

Our mission is to:
* Help educate the public through classes in urban agriculture, food and sustainable topics of interest to individuals and families.
* Help people reconnect with local food production, gardens and the kitchen.
* Sell high-quality, local food and agricultural products thereby promoting local farming and local eating.
* Promote sustainability and self-sufficiency.
* Provide a meeting place for activities centered around food and agriculture.

Denver Urban Homesteading was created in response to the growing awareness that our industrial food production and delivery systems are not meeting many of our needs.   We intend to provide an alternative.

Recent media attention to our market and activities:

Online ire comes to terms with “urban homesteading”

Denver Post, March 31, 2011 article about trademark issue regarding our name

http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_17736972#comments

A Fight Over “Urban Homesteading” could wipe city farmers off Facebook

February 22, 2011  Westword article about trademark issue regarding our name

http://www.westword.com/2011-02-24/news/urban-homesteading-fight-in-denver/#

January 26, 2011

Denver Residents Push for Domestication of Chickens

http://themet.metrostudentmedia.com/features/2011/denver-residents-push-for-domestication-of-chickens/comment-page-1/#comment-2966

January 20, 2011

Face the State article about a City of Denver committee that discussed chicken law reforms keeping their deliberations

secret sundari kraft

No Room in the Coop for Denver’s Backyard Chicken Champion