Synopsis

Will we ever know who Michael Malone really is?

I started out buying vegetables at Hungry Toad Farm and little by little got to know Michael Malone, the proprietor and soul of the farm, and his partner, Nancy Kelly.

The more I talked with Michael the more I realized what an interesting and complicated character he is. As a character study he’s contradictory which is a trait I value in my subjects. On one hand he looks like a crusty old redneck, but in reality he’s highly educated (he was an English major in college). He’s thinks of himself as an artist and his canvas is his three acres on which he plants his organic produce.

His farm is right in the middle of a gentrified neighborhood but reminds me of what farming was like 100 years ago. To some the farm might look unkept, however the tastiest vegetables and most beautiful flowers are grown there in abundance.

Most people don’t think about where their food comes from. They just go to their local grocery store, and buy produce. In my film, Michael shows us the whole process from beginning to end.

He also raises laying chickens. Unlike commercial farmers, his chickens are not crowded into tight little cages, and are given plenty of room to move around. Michael says that his coop is “like a Luxury Hilton hotel for chickens.” The eggs are good, really good, probably the best I’ve ever had. I agree with Michael when he says that he could never order eggs in a restaurant.

An organic farm is complex and hard to run successfully. In a world where farming is mechanized, Michael and his farm workers do most everything by hand, from planting seeds to harvesting the crops.

Every year Nancy grows dahlias (as well as many other flowers). She painstakingly covers each dahlia with a protective netting, which at first glance seemed quite odd but inspired me to do a series called “Sad Brides.”

I often have conversations with Michael when he’s not busy and enjoy learning more about his life and philosophy. These conversations led me to make a documentary film.

In the film, I try to learn who exactly Michael really is, you certainly can’t tell by his appearance. His son-in-law said “that if I ever figure out who Michael really is, I deserve a Nobel Prize.