Apricot Lane Farms

We’ve been eager to visit this incredible place ever since we saw The Biggest Little Farm, an inspiring documentary that chronicles John and Molly Chester’s journey to become farmers dedicated to the health of the soil and everything that grows from that. From the air, the farm looks like a Jim Denevan art installation, with spiraling orchards and radiating patches of linear row crops. Spanning 234 acres just 40 miles from Los Angeles, the farm is a wonderland of fecundity where John and Molly use certified organic, biodynamic and regenerative agricultural methods to grow more than 160 varieties of vegetables, 75 varieties of fruits, and raise sheep, cows, pigs, chickens and ducks with care and respect. If you’ve seen the film, you know a bit about the labor and love and many rounds of trial and error it took to reclaim this once-barren land and create the dynamic ecosystem it is today. John and Molly will tell us what they’ve learned and put into practice here since they first embarked upon the project in 2011. Sisters Rory and Maeve’s popular new spot, Rory’s Place, in Ojai is the organic culmination of growing up in their mom’s Santa Monica bakery, Maeve’s stints running the kitchen at Gjelina in Venice and Saltwater in Inverness, and Rory’s warm front-of-house hospitality and wine knowledge. Together, the sibs and their team will glean the farm’s vast pantry and bring their wood-fired cookery out to the field to create a meal to remember.