The Alternative To Big Farms

We hear so much about big farms today, driving out small farmers, being interested in profits at the expense of growing good, healthy food, without pesticides.  Well, it doesn't have to be this way.  After watching the award winning documentary, The Biggest Little Farm, small farms can succeed and thrive.

In 2009, John and Molly Chester adopted a dog named Todd.  They rescued him from inhumane living conditions, and it was because of Todd that they started their organic farm.  They lived in a small apartment near Los Angeles, and because of his incessant barking, the family was eventually evicted.  This was an opportunity for Molly, the  food blogger and gourmet chef, and John, her aspiring filmmaker husband, to make a move.  They bought 200 acres of parched land in Moorpark, California, and eight years later, had turned it into what a traditional farm should be.

The Chesters knew nothing about farming, but through reading, trial and error, and with the help of agricultural savant Alan York, created a magnificent biodiverse farm.  No pesticides were used, but instead they brought in owls to kill the gophers, ducks to take care of snail infestations, and two herding dogs to guard the henhouse from coyotes.

Today, they have 60 employees working the farm, 85 animals, and produce and sell over 500,000 pounds of produce every year.  In addition to this, they have a thriving egg business that sells out each week at the local farmers market.  Apricot Lane Farms is not only a thriving biodiverse farm with dozens of varieties of stone fruits, but it is a model for what a small farm can be.

The animals became so much a part of the movie, it almost reminded me of an adult Charlotte's Web.  Emma the pig, nursing her 13 babies and leaving room in her home for a lone rooster who became her constant companion, warmed my heart.  The movie also emphasized how difficult farming is.  A farmer must be a businessman, scientist, hunter(some coyotes were killed), and problem solver.  A farmer must also have some good luck, as Apricot Lane Farms did when a fire a few years ago came close to them, but then a shift in the wind saved everything.  If you get a chance, watch this delightful and informative movie.  I found it on Amazon.