The documentary The Biggest Little Farm follows John and Molly Chester from their tiny L.A. apartment to a farm spread out over 200 acres in the foothills of Ventura County, as they embark on a journey to build one of the most diverse farms of its kind, in complete co-existence with nature. Over the course of eight years of daunting work, they take the land that was depleted of nutrients and suffering from a brutal drought and plant 10,000 orchard trees and over 200 different crops while also bringing in animals of every kind – including Emma, an …
The journey depicted in John Chester’s documentary The Biggest Little Farm is meant to be inspiring. You see John and his wife Molly Chester, two people who were newcomers to farming, try and succeed at an ambitious project of living in harmony with the chaos of nature. But watching all their trials and tribulations, I couldn’t help but be astonished at how hard it was and see why it was so unusual that anyone would attempt to live this way. On the one hand, I have to applaud the Chesters for pursuing their dream, but as it’s …