Nadia Lim & husband Carlos Bagrie take on their biggest project yet - taming 1200 acres of rugged South Otago farmland at Royalburn Station. Video / Three
My Food Bag co-founders Nadia Lim and Carlos Bagrie's new television show starts this week, with the couple keen to show all aspects of farming.
Bagrie and Lim are still filming "Nadia's Farm" which showcases a year in the life on their property, Royalburn Station, which is situated on theCrown Range between Arrowtown and Wanaka.
The show won't shy away from portraying the realities of running a farm, Bagrie said.
"It's a very unfiltered view of farming," he told The Country's Jamie Mackay.
"We all know what goes on on a farm, obviously there's life and death and that's just the circle of life - when things die, it gives birth to new life and we wanted to capture all of that."
Therefore, the couple will be showing the abattoir and butchery on their 485ha sheep and barley farm.
This warts and all approach will also be evident in Lim's meals, although the celebrity chef was quick to point out Nadia's Farm was "not a cooking show".
"There's always something from the farm that we find or grow or raise or harvest that ends up getting cooked and eaten.
"In episode one, I end up cooking my roosters from my home flock ... I had to cull a few and I didn't want to waste them so I end up cooking them!" she laughed.
The show also aimed to reintroduce Kiwis to rural life, as the couple felt there was a "disconnect" between how food was produced and how it got to the dinner table, Lim said.
"We feel like a generation ago most Kiwis would've had some direct connection to a farm ... but these days I think that's more rare than it is common and as such, a lot of Kiwis have probably not even stepped foot on a real working farm."
Royalburn Station is mostly spray-free and includes an organic market garden, as well as egg and honey operations.
The couple were also trialling regenerative practises on-farm.
It was very much a work in progress, and the couple maintained a "pragmatic" approach, Bagrie said.
"There are elements that are going really well and there are elements that we're still testing.
"We're always learning."
Also in today's interview: Bagrie talks about why the couple chose farming over selling the property as a housing subdivision.
