Excerpts

In 2011, when my filmmaker husband John and I packed our bags to move from Santa Monica to a neglected farm an hour north of Los Angeles, everyone thought we were crazy. I had been working as a chef and food blogger, and the few tomato plants I had wedged onto my tiny patio just weren't cutting it anymore. Besides that, our beloved rescue dog, Todd, had been annoying our neighbors for months with his incessant barking! As we considered our options, we pined for a ten- acre parcel where we could create a traditional farm that worked in harmony with nature, while Todd roamed freely. We were motivated by a desire to live with purpose, create a closer connection with our food, and cook with the most delicious and nutritious ingredients possible. Word of our ambitions circulated through friends and family, and with the back-ing of a like- minded investor, we found ourselves contemplating hundreds of acres instead! Visions of every conceivable food I wanted to cook danced in my head as we drove down dusty roads lined with monoculture crops typical of California's farming belt. We arrived at a dilapi-dated farm nervous but giddy with excitement to embark on a journey of regenerating the land. Spurred on by eager optimism and undaunted by inexperience, we set to work. Learning the Hard Way Many of you reading this have already become familiar with our tale as chronicled in John's heartwarming documentary The Biggest Little Farm. The movie reveals our early days settling into the farm, and the challenges we faced, including the friction between our first animals and their eager predators. Each triumphant piglet that Emma the Pig reared under Greasy the Rooster's protective gaze has brought us a strong relationship with our food that has only deepened over time. And as I stand on the hill overlooking our orchard at Apricot Lane Farms, which we affectionately call the Fruit Basket, it is difficult not to be inspired by the sheer abundance of life teeming forth from the blossom-laden branches of our trees. In the spring, insects drink the flowers' nectar and bounce from understory to canopy, pollinating this year's harvest, while birds chase them to keep their population balanced. Plump earthworms convert organic matter like fallen leaves into nutrients for the tree roots. In this sacred part of the farm, the great circle of life unfolds before me. But, the first year was a comedy of errors with a steep learning curve. Honestly, we spent a lot of time being jealous of our dog. Most days, Todd was living his best life lying in the sun or chasing after squirrels while John and I grappled with epic drought, wildfires, all-night lambing sessions, and rampant pests. The area that we marked for our vegetable garden was a compacted and dry old horse arena. We tried to make the ground more fertile by reusing the waste in our neighbor's horse barn, but little did we know that planting tomatoes in forty tons of raw manure is risky business! Those tomatoes didn't make it to market, but we still reminisce about how insanely delicious they were. We made do while learning hard lessons, and I cooked with what little was available besides those tomatoes. We inherited one gigantic rosemary plant from the prior owners, and it became my constant companion in the kitchen, even after we were utterly tired of eating from it. At the time, the farm's soil couldn't support growing much of anything else, and I was simply too busy with planning to wrap my head around creative meals, let alone drive to the grocery store. But our path to Apricot Lane Farms had been years in the making, and we knew that quitting wasn't an option. A Delicious Journey to Health There is a rhythm of life described in the film that I've long been drawn to involving cooking, tending the soil, and coexisting with plants and animals in a healthy ecosystem. As a young adult, I experienced various health conditions, including polycystic ovary syndrome and gut and joint inflammation, that challenged my ability to enjoy life to its fullest. It was a confus-ing time as I navigated conflicting health advice and fad diets. What's worse, I wasn't able to enjoy the simple pleasure of eating. And I loved food-- I became a chef, after all! While I'd followed a vegetarian diet my whole life, I began to embrace the idea of incorporating meat and animal products to help ground my blood sugar and give my system the vitamins and minerals it needed to thrive. But I didn't have the tools or the knowledge to truly embrace the shift. This began to change during my culinary education at the Natural Gourmet Institute of Health & Culinary Arts in New York City when I discovered Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, a book based upon the research of Dr. Weston A. Price that is devoted to the healing wisdom of ancestral cultures and culinary techniques that enhance the nutrient values of foods. It became obvious to me that the choices farmers make about the soil (essentially the earth's gut) are just as important to our bodies as what happens in the kitchen. Integrating pastured animals and their composted manure is important to the microbial health of the soil. This "living soil" encourages the roots of plants to take up nutrients and helps them thrive. In turn, the plant produces more flavorful and nutritious fruits and vegetables. The overall farm ecosystem flourishes, including the health of the animals. You can not only taste but feel the difference in the meat and eggs from these happy pastured livestock! I began seeking healthy animal fats and grass- ed meats, full-fat raw dairy, and pastured eggs more than ever before. It was a drastic leap for me, but I had a better understanding of my body's needs and how this way of eating fit into traditional cultures. I knew this approach was indeed the right way forward for me. For the very first time, I felt strong in body and infinitely more grounded in spirit. But to make a fully committed transition away from vegetarianism, I needed to figure out how to honor the animals that would be feeding me. I tried to buy meat and dairy from farms that encouraged their animals to live as they were meant to-- foraging for food and moving freely-- and helped them have a long, happy existence. I began to con-nect the dots between grass-fed pasturing and holistic approaches to caring for the land. As I immersed myself in this new knowledge and way of eating, I continued to feel better. Oh-- and how tasty that healing proved to be! Fat is not only an essential part of a healthy diet but a remarkable carrier of flavor. Raw dairy has a silky mouthfeel that, when cultured, provides a creamy and tangy addition to any meal. The rich orange yolk of a pastured egg carries amazing flavor-- as do grass-fed pork and beef, with their earthy, nutty undertones. They have inspired my cooking in a whole new way. Likewise, I've learned techniques to coax both flavor and nutrition from ingredients. Studying the science as to why soaked nuts and seeds are more nutritious is one thing; biting into the satisfying, natural sweetness of a soaked and dehydrated walnut is all the argument one needs to take this easy step. Nurturing health through flavor is at the heart of this book. Healthy, delicious fats combined with organic, farm-fresh fruits and vegetables can provide a lifetime of nourishing, seasonal meals. After culinary school, John helped me build my first big, beautiful garden in Maryland during what happened to be the hatch of the seventeen-year cicada. Those loud alien-looking things were everywhere and tried to run me out of town, but I persisted! If I was going to grow my food, I had to become comfortable with the roly-polies, ants, spiders, and other insects that make up an ecosystem. Soon after, we relocated to Los Angeles and I intended to become an organic personal chef. Since I had restored my health through food, I wanted to find path-ways to help others do the same. All I had was my porch, but that didn't stop me from creating an organic potted garden, complete with mediocre tomatoes. Although our move to Los Angeles was an exciting step forward in my professional career, I felt as though I was just getting started. Motivated by my own health improvements, I wanted to be a bigger part of the solution. Excerpted from The Apricot Lane Farms Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from the Biggest Little Farm by Molly Chester, Sarah Owens All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.