One of our Stony Brook Village Farm stand customers was excited to tell us about a farm movie she saw called, ‘The Biggest little Farm.” She conveyed that the movie had such a tremendous impact on her. She cried, she laughed and she was very moved by the story. Whenever someone refers me to a good book or movie, I always jot it down for future reference. So, of course, I jotted the title down. After all, it was a farm movie so it must be good!
A few weeks later, my husband and I were searching through movies to rent. My husband quickly scrolled over “The Biggest little Farm,” and I told him to, “STOP!”. I immediately rented it as I needed to figure out why and how this movie had such an impact on our customer.
Farming is Cool
Many people get excited about the prospect of volunteering or interning at the farm. Farming is intriguing. Farming has a certain coolness to it. Farming has a real impact on the future of our planet. Who would not want to be a part of that?
When we have college and high school students who are interested in interning at the farm, I always require them to visit the farm for a tour. We talk about the history of the farm, the impact the farm has on our local community through donating to food pantries, and the way we connect kids to where their food is coming from. However, I also emphasize the other side of farming which includes being up at 5AM, harvesting vegetables in 90 degree, humid temperatures, lugging heavy boxes of vegetables on and off the truck for a farm stand, washing vegetables on a very cool, 47 degree morning when you’re hands feel like they are going to fall off, combatting weeds that are sometimes taller than you, meeting and sometimes taking home lots of fun bugs, and much more. I attempt to paint the real ‘behind the scenes’ picture that many people do not get to see or experience until they actually spend several hours at a farm. For some reason, they never believe me and always tell me that they are ready for all of that. However, once many people experience the ‘reality’ of the farm, they somehow have a ton of reasons why they can’t return. It’s all good as the right people do come back!
This Farm Movie makes a Huge Impact
So I excitedly watched “The Biggest little farm” and loved every minute of the film. It drew me in. It conveyed the reality and bigness of farming, regardless of the size of the farm. But, what it truly conveyed was the power of nature and the importance of balance and how nature somehow finds the balance. It demonstrates how critical it is to listen and watch to find the real answers. ‘The Biggest little farm” conveyed life lessons. It definitely was not just about farming. But, when conveyed through the farm, it had such a vivid and powerful message and such clarity about life.
Every season at our farm, we always have challenges with certain pests, too much rain, too little rain, etc. But it all seems to work out in the end. We try to watch and listen to what is going on around us and not react too quickly. Farming requires keen awareness and constant patience…as does life. The pest that is attacking the zucchini has its place at the farm and a reason for its presence. Sometimes this season may not be a zucchini, squash season, but next year may be significantly abundant. That might just be the way it’s supposed to be! Our real ‘farm’ customers get that and appreciate the fact that mother nature has dictated what they should be eating this season!
I highly encourage you to take the time to watch “The Biggest little farm” and receive its messages with an open heart and a reminder to embrace nature. As these messages are much bigger than any little farm.
