Unsere große kleine Farm

In 2010, John and Molly Chester left city life and bought land in southern California to establish the Apricot Lane Farms. This documentary (co-directed by John with Sandra Keats) was filmed over a period of eight years, showing the beginning of their venture and the hardships and victories along the way.

It was wise to have documented the farming project over many years as it shows the many ups and downs of the period thus making this film almost seem like a traditional comedy/drama. Some of the farm animals are even highlighted as special characters including a phenomenally fertile sow named Emma.

As non-farmers, the Chesters did something wise: they hired a farming expert, listened to him, and put into practice what they learned. A basic lesson is re-learned here (listen to the experts) yet what they were taught is something that most people would have ignored; some would have chosen to shut down the project entirely.

The key is diversity in everything: all possible forms of livestock, fruit, and vegetables. This may seem bizarre at first, but throughout "The Biggest Little Farm", this method proves that if nature has created a problem, another part of nature can solve that problem. Apricot Lane Farms proves itself to be a fascinating ecosystem. And Lord knows our damaged planet can use as many of those as possible.

Overall, "The Biggest Little Farm" is entertaining, enlightening, and ultimately encouraging. - dbamateurcritic

I am so in awe of what these amazing people have been able to achieve. If we all took a leaf out of this farm's book, or salad, the world and it's future would look so much better and it would certainly be a happier place to live.

If you want to see a well paced and beautifully filmed documentary about an ethically-driven farm, please watch and enjoy. I'm no biologist (or farmer), so I offer no critiques about how they handled day to day issues concerning their animals and crops.

What was missing, however, was information about the ongoing finances of the farm - how much it cost to get it running, and how they obtained the capital to keep it going until they could generate income. What were the specific terms for repayment to investors? They were pouring money into animals, crops, and equipment even after acquiring the land. I was also interested in how or whether they paid and housed employees, and how much operating income they were generating from crops versus animals.

I understand that "dollars and cents" may not be the most interesting issue, but if the point of the documentary was to encourage others to pursue the same dream, then it would have been helpful to devote 5-10 minutes explaining how they kept it all going, financially.

This movie is Gorgeous! Strikingly so! So much even that im now very much interested in learning the ropes to be able to capture life in a similar fashion to how John has done it. In addition to the fantastic filmatography the movie does capture the life on the farm with all its struggles and successes very well. One truly feels capitivated by it all, which is greatly enhanced by some overly emotional music that never seems to catch a break. One thing i was constantly left wondering about once the thought arose was how this whole endevour really got funded, as in what the loan the Chesters got and on what terms. Like some other reviewers have pointed out the economy of this farm does seem a bit of at the start, and i do think there are some important details left out in the movie that would reveal the true cost for permaculture farming. But without the details i can only remain dubious to the replicability of whats shown, especially given the plentitude of help the couple gets from all sorts of people. All in all it is a film that can easily make one dream of the possibilities of another life, and of the beauty of it all, especially when shared together with a wonderful partner and a trusty companion.

"The Biggest Little Farm (2018), a documentary by natural animal filmmaker, John Chester and his wife Molly is focused on developing a sustainable farm (outside of LA). It explores their struggles on maintaining a large amount of acres discovering a return to farm lifestyle of "biodynamics" and features Alan York, to help restore dead earth into a robust geographic territory of eco diversity.

It features York visiting and consulting the Chester family with all areas, York has been known famously for helping California's wine industries. During the film, his life is documented which is the strength of the film. Discussing York's views of biodynamic living. A methodology, and theories based years back with other related associations to Rudolf Steiner, Waldorf School, etc..

And yes, the second strength is the eco diversity of varieties of species coexisting with each other. There's drama as the Chesters has to deal with "predatory" entities such coyotes, insects, etc.