So we tried to fight the gopher problem with manpower, you know, and spent, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars trapping gophers.

But they soon learned about the many ways nature can turn against you, no matter how noble your intentions.

The Chesters tried to turn a dry and soil-depleted 200-acre parcel into a lush, organic farm.

They were determined to tend fruit orchards and raise cows, pigs and chickens in harmony with nature.

John Chester, who was a filmmaker before he tried farming, directed a new documentary called The Biggest Little Farm, about the obstacles he and Molly, a former private chef, faced and overcame and what their experiences can tell us about the relationship between humans and our environment.

The Biggest Little Farm has won several awards at film festivals and will be in theaters this Friday.

But it had been extractive-ly (ph) farmed for 45 years; meaning that in order to grow the food cheaply, they were taking out the nutrients from the soil and not generating them.

And that - you know, thats kind of the basis for conventional AG.

So we essentially had just convinced our partners to purchase a bankrupt piece of land.

And we had to figure out a way to jumpstart that flywheel system of the soil through these regenerative practices.

But its amazing what happens when you start to think your happiness is in front of you with something.

I mean, the muse, the Merlin, the - you know, the - this guy Alan York, whos - was an adviser to the project.

Give us an idea of some of the early advice he gave you, some of the first things he said you should do.

And so he was looking at - what do we need to take out, to put in what should more naturally grow in this region.

So he wanted to basically - he was encouraging us to start a 10-ring circus.

You managed to recruit volunteers from all around the world to come and help, which was, of course, critical cause there was a lot of work.

So stuff grows. The trees grow.

And then you discover various pests like to eat the fruit on your trees.

And the snails, you know, eat the leaves of our citrus trees.

If someone could tell me what I could do with gophers, we would be in the black a lot sooner.

And so it really required a commitment to go a lot deeper than we thought we were going to have to go.

Theyre actually helping transfer and inoculate various funguses that are important to soil health and bacteria.

Dream Chronicles All Of Them