Since the method keeps coming up, it’s about time to do a Back to Eden review! Enjoy.
*Â Â Â Â * Â Â *
I finished watching the Back to Eden film for the second time online, then thought… what the heck – I’m buying the DVD to share. At $15 with free shipping, it’s well worth the price of admission.
It’s not that the film is perfect… it’s just that it’s totally encouraging. Back To Eden is one of those slices of inspiration that makes you want to jump up about half-way through and reinvent your gardens.
The Back To Eden Story
Paul Gautschi, a Christian arborist with a small farm, has been doing everything the hard way… that is, the conventional way. Tilling, hoeing, pulling rocks, irrigating and suffering through poor yields and low rainfall is just the way things are… until he hears from God and a whole new adventure begins.
Paul Gautschi garden and orchard, upon which the “Back to Eden” garden concept is based, is a no-till compost and woodchips approach along the lines of a Ruth Stout or a Patricia Lanza design.
Through the film, we discover Paul uses little to no irrigation… has almost no problem with weeds… doesn’t have imbalances in his soil… and yields huge, disease-free vegetables with consistency.
His enthusiasm is infectious and his memorization of Scripture impressive. When things get ugly, Paul is the sort of guy you’d want living next door.
As the film progresses, we hear from various experts about their views on soil, irrigation, organic growing and Paul’s methods. One of those is his use of dirt from his chicken run… he mentions the amazing job chickens do of breaking down scraps into rich soil and states the eggs are “just a byproduct.”
We also get to see inside other farms that are still struggling with more conventional growing techniques and the comparison isn’t flattering.
And The Plot Thins
In the second half of the film, the producers take us on a journey to “Back to Eden” gardens constructed elsewhere. This part of the film doesn’t varnish over the issues with nitrogen robbing by high-carbon materials and the time it takes for the soil to reach a higher fertility. However, it also gets a little thin on content, particularly if you’re a Certified Mad Horticulturist such as myself.
For newbies, though, it’s just fine. In fact, one of the reason I bought the physical DVD is so I can share it with my less green-thumbed friends and relatives and open their eyes to new possibilities for their yards.
One rather entertaining segment features Paul sharing his produce with visitors, including a boy from China who basically eats his weight in produce.
All around, a good watch and an encouraging flick. If you’re not sold on buying the DVD, you can see the entire film here:
The filmmakers obviously had a lot of fun putting this together, as manifested in a music video featuring fruits and veggies lined up to the beat… and fun scene changes such as this:
Definitely worth watching.
Copies can be purchased here.
Film Rating:
5/5 Spuds
UPDATE 11/30/12: I see this review has now been linked to from Back to Eden’s Facebook page. Thank you – I appreciate what you guys are doing… hope there will one day be a sequel.
15 comments
finally watched it, and i like what he's doing. If he could simmer down the quoting, i think his own actual observations are more than adequate for a brilliant video.
We do wood chip compost too. :) Great minds think alike.
Naw, I thought the quoting was the best part! :) This was a great film!
[…] Gautschi of Back to Eden fame has a method of composting where he throws food scraps and garden waste into his chicken run […]
Does he really think he literally had a conversation with God? Doesn’t God have better things to do than hand out personalized gardening advice? I would hope he/she would be more concerned about floods, earthquakes, terrorism, shootings etc. I’m always cautious about people like that. Anyone who has trouble separating fantasy from reality is not all that reliable.
Plenty of people have had conversations with God.
I remember when I was in college, I met another student who thought God should intervene to get her the dorm room she wanted. I don’t know if this gentleman hallucinates, but if he believes in God, he shouldn’t ask for minor favors. There are so many people suffering who really do need help. Maybe he should try asking God to help them.
That’s not very charitable, Robin. In the Lord’s prayer, we are told to ask for our daily bread. That’s a small thing. God’s children are instructed to ask Him about their wants and needs, just as children talk to their father.
Since when is it uncharitable to ask for help for the people who need it most first?! Putting your own minor wishes first is what is selfish. If there is a God, HE’s the one who’s uncharitable for letting people suffer.
Lol….. that’s the beauty of the Biblical God. His ways are so much higher than we can even imagine. You cannot put God in a bubble, although some try. He loves relationship with us, especially when we are in the midst of His Creation! That’s a major way He makes Himself known to us. Yes, God wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives, even the mundane. That doesn’t mean He’s not involved with all the earthquakes, floods, etc….. You’re trying to put a limit on God, why would anyone want to? He doesn’t have the limits we do, He’s God, Creator of the universe and all goid things in it! Hoping that God will reveal to you in a very real way of His amazing Sovereignty and His amazing presence.
Robin, God will speak to anyone who asks, the problem is most people have too much pride or lack of faith.. If the people who are suffering will ask, and listen, he will also speak to them. The key is faith, which is what most people have very little of.
Matthew 21:22: “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Paul is suffering physically from exposure to Agent Orange while in the military, yet he has not tuned God out, he is grateful for every little tiny thing that God gives him and He gives him sooo much. I’m sorry that you don’t yet have that relationship with our Heavenly Father but that is your choice. God is just sitting there waiting for you!!
IF God exists why should HE only help people who have “faith”in a certain religion? That’s not exactly compassionate, but most religions are more reflective of the failings of the people who believe in them than in any supernatural being.
One religion is true, the Christian one.
If you went to the car lot to pay your phone bill, then argued that it was not compassionate for the owner to refuse to let you top up your cellular plan, you’d be laughed out of the place.
God owes you nothing anyhow. His world, his rules.
[…] The inspiring film Back to Eden also features a variant of this method as used by farmer Paul Gautschi. (You can read my review of the film here.) […]
[…] The inspiring film Back to Eden also features a variant of this method as used by farmer Paul Gautschi. (You can read my review of the film here.) […]
[…] No dig gardening runs the gamut from Ruth Stout’s system (which is unfortunately straw-based) to the Back to Eden wood chips method. […]
Comments are closed.