What inspired you to want to make a film about the adventure of creating the farm?
Molly Chester: Honestly, when it comes to the film I’m simply the costar. My inspiration came in making the farm itself. There’s a creative force within both John and myself and we are very supportive of each other’s creative force. John is the filmmaker and he was the one recording what we were doing. I believed in The Biggest Little Farm because I believe in John as a storyteller. I think everything he does is amazing and good for the world to see. From the perspective of the farm, I believed in The Biggest Little Farm because what we’re doing on the farm is different—out of the box—from what is commonly seen and known. We’re allowing the voice of another way to exist, allowing regenerative agriculture to have a place in the more general conversation on agriculture.
What would you say has been the most meaningful thing that you’ve witnessed over the course of your time at the farm?
MC: I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what I wanted to see at the farm. It’s been fascinating to see how that has evolved and deepened within me. You get intimately intertwined with nature and your surroundings. You have to go deep and it gets hard. But the hardness doesn’t necessarily come from, “Oh, it’s hard work to farm.” That is one thing, but it’s also that when you are coexisting with nature, nature throws you curveballs constantly. It’s a very gritty and raw experience to work with biology. I think that experience has awakened my spirit to a connection with nature I didn’t even know I was missing. That’s been really beautiful. And it’s been wonderful to see dreams become reality and to see how working with a team forms something bigger than you ever could’ve imagined. To be honest, the farm has exceeded my wildest dreams and that’s been humbling and awe-inspiring.
What would you say is the greatest lesson that you’ve learned from the land?
MC: That conquering doesn’t work, that your focus isn’t eradication or winning, it’s collaboration and understanding. You’re always trying to figure out what purpose something serves and how you can channel it into that purpose so that it takes the pressure off of everything else and things can fall into alignment. You have to watch and be observant. Something is always going to be causing “problems” but they’re not really problems, they’re just teaching you what the land needs. They’re your next place to find greater harmony.
What for you is the most delightful part of daily life as a farmer?
MC: The most delightful part of farming for me is that there is an innate freedom within it and a daily experience of beauty, especially at this farm because it’s so beautiful. Everywhere you turn there’s a flower that blows your mind or butterflies in the air or the grass looks extra green because of the way that the sun is hitting it. Nature is your boss and you’re doing what needs to be done to make it all work. Freedom is something I’ve always valued a lot. Having a sense of freedom within such magnificent beauty is a thing that I really love.
And what is the hardest part?
MC: The elements. The winds in the winter are really brutal. Honestly, I’m scared of them. And the fires are scary. You can be squashed so easily. Then there’s maintaining your team and morale, making sure that you’re constantly nurturing and supporting the people around you. That’s work. But it’s fun too.
You live a life that calls on you to understand the interconnectedness of everything around you. How have the lessons that you learned from farming expanded to fill your wider life?
MC: Going back to the idea that it’s not about conquering and winning: I know it’s changed me as a manager because I have a more gentle approach, a more feminine approach to leadership and that comes a lot from watching Mother Nature. She can be hard but generally she has a sense of collaboration. I think that understanding has extended into my experience of the world, of my family and friends. It’s gotten me to understand more deeply how fragile it all is and to be a little bit more appreciative and go a little deeper.
What is it like to work within an ecosystem that is constantly under assault from climate change?
MC: I went to a school called the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts. When I came out, I got very, very deep into traditional foods, looking at how traditional cultures maintained health and longevity without medicines and modern conveniences. It becomes about your gut biome and supporting your body. And what I learned about the body was absolutely a blueprint for how we farm because it’s the same thing. We’re basically treating the soil of the farm as the gut, doing everything we can to increase the digestion of that gut and give it the most nutrition we possibly can. Right now our bodies are really struggling from the overuse and abuse of so much. And it’s the same thing in our climate. The irresponsibility in how we approach nature is similar to the irresponsibility in how we approach our bodies. Generations of decisions have led us to where we are now and it’s our responsibility to clear it up and to have generations of decisions in front of us that are more responsible. This work gives me purpose and meaning and a reason to wake up in the morning. I hope that that’s inspiring to other people. I’m not saying our way is the way, but if it helps people to find some love for nature and get reconnected, then possibly we can all make some serious change.
What are your hopes for The Biggest Little Farm once it comes out?
MC: I hope that the world falls in love with it. I hope it reminds people that the earth is a beautiful, magical place. I hope it makes people want to take care of something that’s precious.