Story

The Biggest Little Farm is a documentary by photographer John Chester about his and wife Molly’s move from apartment living to organic/biodynamic farming.

Molly is a chef who has long dreamed of growing her own food for cooking, but money has always got in the way of her dream. John and Molly adopt Todd, a rescue dog, who never gets used to living in an apartment, and they’re eventually evicted because of Todd’s barking. Aided by crowdfunding, they buy 200 acres of land in Southern California.

The documentary shows how Molly and John transform their barren land into a fully functioning biodynamic farm, with the help of mixed-farming expert Alan York. John and Molly also get a lot of help from international volunteers, who come to the farm because they’re interested in mixed farming.

As on any farm there are good times and bad times. John and Molly must learn how to cope with coyotes attacking ducks and chickens, gophers eating the roots of their fruit trees, snails infesting their gardens, and birds eating all of their fruit.

Themes

Farming; sustainable living; predatory behaviour

Violence

The Biggest Little Farm has some violence. For example:

• There is some fighting among animals.
• John shoots a coyote.

Sexual references

The Biggest Little Farm has some sexual references. For example, John and Molly kiss.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

None noted.

Product placement

None noted.

Coarse language

The Biggest Little Farm has some mild coarse language, including ‘Oh my God’ and ‘Oh my goodness’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The Biggest Little Farm is a beautifully shot documentary about returning to traditional mixed-farming methods and learning to farm in harmony with nature. Spanning a period of 10 years, the movie shows how nature can work to our advantage if we allow it to.

The Biggest Little Farm has some sad scenes that show the death of various farm animals, a beloved pet dog and a family friend. Therefore, it isn’t suitable for children under 8 years, and we recommend parental guidance for children 8-9 years.

The main messages from this movie are to overcome setbacks and disappointments with perseverance and determination and to learn about balance from nature.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include:

• sustainable living
• the benefits of growing and eating ethically sourced food
• tenacity
• teamwork.

This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the natural place and purpose of all things. For example, it might seem sad that the coyotes prey on the birds, but the coyotes also keep the gophers under control.