Nadia's Farm, proudly sponsored by My Food Bag, is documenting the farming journey of former MasterChef NZ winner Nadia Lim and her husband, Carlos Bagrie, who took over the historic Royalburn Station in rural Otago three years ago.
We've seen the pair take on the mammoth challenge of producing delicious, ethically raised and sustainably grown produce on 1200 acres of farmland, including an attempt to grow crops never before attempted at the station. Diversifying Royalburn includes an organic market garden that's 700m above sea level, producing pasture-raised free-range eggs, honey, lamb and wool, and maintaining some of the station's traditions. While Carlos and Nadia have taken on a plethora of projects, they've faced harsh lessons along the way.
In episode five, the couple face more trials and tribulations as a COVID-19 lockdown amid the outbreak of the Omicron variant sees domestic tourism at a standstill. With the newly opened Royalburn Farm Store filled with delicious, fresh, homegrown produce, the couple are concerned all their hard work will end up in the compost without the customers to buy it.
Meanwhile, the market garden is continuing to sink capital, and an urgent need for more staff is not conducive to profit.
But first, let's start with a recipe for a caramelised onion summer quiche with fresh, organic veggies harvested straight from the garden. Nadia tosses orange beetroot with homemade harissa - made with the farm's own glasshouse chillies - and maple syrup, ready for roasting.
With just one sheet of flaky puff pastry on hand, she fashions a crust out of the remnants and shortcrust, and fills the base with five eggs and half a cup of cream. She tops the egg mixture with wilted spinach and onions that have been caramelised with sugar and balsamic vinegar, before whipping up a pesto with rocket, parsley, carrot tops, lemon, olive oil, garlic, parmesan and toasted pine nuts. She tosses the roasted veg with a fresh salad and tops the quiche with pesto for a delicious homegrown and homemade lunch.
Thanks to My Food Bag, you too can recreate Nadia's delicious vegetarian quiche paired with a roast vege salad and basil pesto at home, just head to myfoodbag.co.nz/nadias-farm
Next, we're in Arrowtown, where Nadia and Carlos are preparing for the opening of their Royalburn Farm Store; a converted garage that will sell their produce direct to the public. Made with mostly second-hand materials, the Farm Store's front door also features its original knocker, which Carlos proclaims is "phallic". Nadia doesn't see it, arguing it instead resembles an elephant trunk.
"It's pretty heavy, aye?" she says, lifting the knocker up and down to illustrate, prompting fits of giggles from her husband.
Back at the farm, Nadia's ambitious pet project, the market garden, is still failing to turn a profit. With shorter growing periods, imminent frost and disruption to their planting and harvesting schedule, the garden's fate is hanging by a thread. Royalburn simply doesn't have the manpower to keep up with the constant weeding, and the project isn't proving financially viable due to its labour-intensive nature.
Thankfully, Nadia has an ally in Dave, an artist who is now managing the garden to great results. But despite glowing feedback from the local hospitality industry, many restaurants have shut up shop due to the pandemic, causing orders to plummet.
Later in the episode, we're told that while the market garden is doing better under Dave's management, the opening of the farm shop has presented a new concern. Nadia and Carlos need a solid plan for continuity of supply and scaling up demand, which means they need more hands for harvesting, weeding, planting and packing orders. They can't make more money without more staff, but can't take on more staff without spending more money.
With costs considerably up, Carlos is weighing up whether to cut their losses now, or sink more capital into expanding the operation in the hope it might pay off.
"We're at an awkward phase between being too big to be small but way too small to be big," he says.
At the wool shed, there's a busy day of shearing ahead. General manager Michelle has called in an expert crew of shearers to get the job done with minimal impact to the animals. Nadia and Carlos' sustainable farming ethic means this work is as much about caring as it is shearing.
Meanwhile, someone else is picking through the wool to ensure it's clean before utilising; Nadia likes to repurpose the renewable fabric for woollen blankets and compostable planter pots.
Elsewhere on the farm, 'research and development' worker Michael, a green waste recycling aficionado, is conducting a 'high-pressure' experiment with thyme in the hopes of turning the herb into an essential oil. Nadia is hoping to eventually expand into a range of Royalburn cleaning products, such as wild thyme soap. The experiment, thankfully, is successful.
Two weeks later and it's time for the grand opening of the Royalburn Farm Shop, bringing the highest-quality produce direct from farm to customer. Builder Callum cuts a string - the farmer's alternative to ribbon - and locals descend on the store for their weekly basics. Although the shop is opening at a time where tourism is at an all-time low, Carlos is hopeful the slow start will give them a chance to take feedback on-board. Of course, this is another enormous job for the couple to run and maintain.
Later on, we discover that while the shop is ticking over with locals and Nadia's fan club, the ongoing lockdown has significantly impacted domestic tourism, which in turn, has brought Queenstown's once-thriving hospitality industry - which the couple expect to be supplying - to a standstill.
The industry has faced an 80 percent reduction in sales, and now, Royalburn is producing too much supply for local demand, and they're too small to shift the pile-up.
The couple are advised that if they want to continue the project, they need to expand their sales territory outside of Queenstown and start selling to the rest of New Zealand - which means increasing the scale of what they're already producing.
With the eyes of the nation watching, the coming seasons will determine whether this is the making of a Kiwi legend, or a legendary farming failure.
Do you fancy cooking up something delicious from Nadia's Royalburn Farm? This week My Food Bag has Gourmet Beef Eye Fillet with Green Panzanella & Nadia's Gremolataon the menu plus a great selection of products from Royalburn as part of their Kitchen offering! Enjoy a premium restaurant-worthy dinner at home.
Check out more tasty Nadia inspired recipes at myfoodbag.co.nz/nadias-farm.
This article was created for My Food Bag, proud sponsors of Nadia's Farm.
