Adam Creason - The Biggest Little Farm

    This past weekend I watched the film, “The Biggest Little Farm”. It’s a true story filmed by the couple themselves as they journey through their vision to develop a truly sustainable farm. The male partner was a wildlife photographer and his female partner had a passion for natural and organic cooking and growing. They eventually realized they could live their dream, so they bought a desolate piece of land (200 acres) a couple hours outside of Los Angeles. The land had been destroyed due to previous industrial agriculture and similar processes. Their first challenge was to revive the dry and dead soil that was their entire property. They did this by accessing the water table below their property and mixing that water with worm, human, and any other manure they could find. They used this to water their grounds as they planted much foliage and ground covers to begin to rebuild the soil by returning nutrients. Once this was done, it was time to establish their sustainable farm.

                They did this by bringing cows, pigs, chicken, and sheep as well as sheep dogs to protect the livestock. They also planted groves of trees to grow fruits and vegetables. They soon began to see the wildlife returning to this once desolate landscape. Soon they began to realize this wildlife was destroying their farm, as the wildlife had long been lacking such resources. Rather than taking aggressive measures, the couple realized that there is a natural equilibrium in nature. The world and its life had evolved for millions of years to continue to be stable. So, they decided to complete this circle of life by making their nature and wildlife more complete. To deal with their snail problem, the couple unleashed their chickens in the tree groves. To deal with the gopher problem, the couple built perches for owls to sit upon. To deal with the coyote problem, the couple trained more dogs to protect the boundaries of their farm. The coyotes in turn helped with other problems, such as the gophers. There was even a case where a rejected rooster found his home with a mother pig who had born her piglets only months before.

                There were also times exemplifying the truth of nature. A coyote had paralyzed itself as it ran into a pipe. They had to euthanize it. It was a sad situation, but a full reminder of what the wild truly is. That rejected rooster was accidentally eaten by their guard dogs. This almost made me cry, not going to lie. But once again, this was a stark reminder of the nature of nature.

                The Biggest Little Farm is a wholesome reminder of the relationship between man and nature. It is possible to live in harmony with the wilderness. There is a natural equilibrium of all living beings that in its untouched state provide great flourishing for all beings in the environment. In other words, shalom is achieved when human intervention is kept to its most natural degree. To sustainably live and farm requires a respect for this connection and balance. One must have a true habitus in their habitat. This movie was a film that I would’ve loved and appreciated before taking this class. However, now I am able to conceptualize what I saw with terms and concepts that I have developed in this class. It makes me want to reexamine all that I perceive in the world.