Dirty Work: The Story of Elsie's Farm

Dirty Work: The Story of Elsie’s Farm is about an impossible, perhaps quixotic dream to take an old farm, invest it with new ideas and grow a community. Community supported agriculture; what does it take? Who are the people that make it happen? And how are their lives transformed by living out the change they hope to see? The film follows a year in the life of an organic farm, called Elsie’s Farm, in Ridgeland WI. From planting seeds in the spring, to the harvest in the fall, the documentary follows the ancient pattern of the seasons and shows what goes into making such a farm tick. It’s a film about getting your hands dirty, doing work you believe in, and planting the seeds of the future. The film steers us to think about how we might have a different relationship to the earth, to the soil, and plants that feed us. That such a life is desirable, and possible, even in our industrial society, takes faith, commitment, humor, a certain toughness, and the risk of breaking your heart.