Biggest_Little_Farm
2023

Salina Art Center Salina, KS

with

Madeline DuBois, Mercedes Santiago, and Claire Wineman

Soil Ecology Team at the Land Institute

and

Jeff Cooper

Local Salina farmer

The Biggest Little Farm— Getting to the root of it

Join researchers from the Land Institute’s Soil Ecology team and local Salina farmer Jeff Cooper to discuss the science and ideas behind regenerative agriculture and how they can help us to strengthen our regional food system.

Salina Art Center Salina, KS

Film Synopsis

A couple are followed through their successes and failures as they work to develop a sustainable farm on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles.

A testament to the immense complexity of nature, The Biggest Little Farm follows two dreamers and a dog on an odyssey to bring harmony to both their lives and the land.

When the barking of their beloved dog Todd leads to an eviction notice from their tiny LA apartment, John and Molly Chester make a choice that takes them out of the city and onto 200 acres in the foothills of Ventura County, naively endeavoring to build one of the most diverse farms of its kind in complete coexistence with nature. The land they’ve chosen, however, is utterly depleted of nutrients and suffering from a brutal drought. The film chronicles eight years of daunting work and outsize idealism as they attempt to create the utopia they seek, planting 10,000 orchard trees and over 200 different crops, and bringing in animals of every kind—including an unforgettable pig named Emma and her best friend, Greasy the rooster. When the farm’s ecosystem finally begins to reawaken, so does the Chesters’ hope—but as their plan to create perfect harmony takes a series of wild turns, they realize that to survive they will have to reach a far greater understanding of the intricacies and wisdom of nature, and of life itself.

The Biggest Little Farm is directed by five-time Emmy-winner John Chester, with executive producer Laurie David (An Inconvenient Truth) and writer Mark Monroe (Icarus, The Cove, Chasing Ice).