Q. What did you study/do prior to coming to New Zealand?
I graduated with a BA (hons) in publishing at Edinburgh Napier University. After graduating, I went on my OE to New Zealand … and I am still here!
Q. Why did you decide to come to NZ?
I always loved the idea of heading to New Zealand. My mum’s best friend lives in Hawke’s Bay and would ring and tell us about weekends spent at the beach and the laid-back life. I thought it would be a good plan to travel as far away as I could from Scotland and travel my way back, but NZ kept calling me back.
Q. Did you always want to live off the land?
My family is from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, and our holidays would often be spent there at the farm. It was simple and wholesome, and very self-sufficient. We would be eating meat from the farm, fish from the sea and spuds from the garden. I loved it there. Then when moving to New Zealand, I found myself in jobs in amazing spots that had me being a little more resourceful with my time, food and supplies. I found the food here to be a lot more seasonal — in the United Kingdom you can get most things at any time of the year, so my tight budgets and frugal Scottish genetics had me squirrelling away food here when it was in season and more affordable. I met my partner and he was a practical Southland farmer, and he was used to living with the land and the seasons and it just grew from there. We lived in rental properties and even on farms in Australia, so we learned what skills we could in the hope one day we would have our own place to do it.
Q. How did your grandmother inspire you?
She was always generous with her time, knowledge and food. She knew how to look after herself and feed a household with limited supplies, and looking back I admire how much she did with not a lot. I wish I could go back and ask her all the questions, but it has been really fun to work on this book and hear her stories. I love that she had her own milk cow and made cheese and crowdie for the house and the other islanders.
My aunts and uncles used to joke about how she would always be thinking about the dogs, the cows or the sheep whenever she was off the farm and I find myself doing exactly the same when I leave our farm!
Q. How did you learn to cook, preserve etc?
Solo travel and flatting meant I was never too worried about cooking or preserving anything other than freezing leftovers. When I met Hamish, I realised he was used to decent meals and was pretty good in the kitchen. His influence rubbed off and I experimented more and more with cooking using any recipe books I could find.
We got jobs in Western Australia on these big farms, and I was hired as the station cook. I took nothing but my little Edmonds cookbook, and managed to feed big teams of hungry farmers for months. The internet was good then, but this was back before we were using social media like we do know. So I was really relying on what food we had available to purchase and the home kill on these farms to feed people, and I think the limited resources and seasonality of food really became important then.
I really learned to preserve in our little rental kitchen in our wee house in Winton with Hamish. We would spend weekends picking fruit or buying in bulk from roadside stalls and stocking up the pantry (which was the spare room). There was always something brewing!
During this time here in Winton, I worked as a vet tech at the local vet clinic, which had us out on farm every day. I also worked as a relief milker, and occasionally helping on the family farm. These four years were a pretty intense time of learning, but set us up for success for our lifestyle block now.
Q. What is your favourite recipe that you’ve discovered along the way?
Favourite recipe has to be anything cooked on the fireplace in winter! We really rely on our fireplace in winter and it is on 24/7 from around Easter until November. Utilising that heat is practical, so most days you will come in to the house to find something simmering away on top of the fire. Slow-cooked anything is delicious, but I have power-cut nachos in the book and I recommend it when you need something delicious on a cold night.
Q. What is your favourite thing to grow?
Garlic! Hamish has been growing garlic forever, but now we have our own place to do it, we keep expanding the crop each year. It is a really easy crop to become self-sufficient in, and every meal is better with garlic. In January this year, we pulled out over 1000 heads of garlic, definitely enough to keep us going, enough to keep as seed for next crop … the rest we will pop in the roadside shop.
Q. What has been your standout if I don’t laugh I’ll cry moment?
There have been some moments. When we first bought the property, I didn’t realise the alpacas and the kune kune pigs were being left behind. We managed to rehome them but I remember turning up and thinking “huh — what the heck are we going to do with them?”
Q. What have been some of the wins you’ve had along the way that have reaffirmed your journey?
The people we have met along the way. Our wee community here is so supportive, and there is so much to be learned by working together. A big day for me was the day the sheep arrived. Our first batch of Wiltshire ewes and they were so pivotal here as they were a big step in us having our own meat source. I remember that day they turned up and I felt so proud. Years of working for other farms, or not owning land that we could keep stock on … this was a big turning point. Opening the farmside shop was a great win, extending a branch into the community to share our produce and start conversations with new like-minded people. It has been like popping up a flag and saying “this is what we do here, we are really proud of it!”.
Q. What have you learnt about yourself as a result of this journey so far?
Learning when to stop working. There is always something to do here and we could work all day and all night — but definitely in the past year I have learned to slow down and enjoy it too.
Q. How do you juggle it all — gardening, stock work, paid work etc?
Some days I do, somedays I don’t. I love a list, and from there work out what is important. Often the animals and then the paid work are the priority, the garden can quite quickly get chaotic but we don’t mind it — we do what we can. I work from home, run the business from home and I am home 99% of the time so I book in time to get off farm and fill my cup up. Even if that is just heading for a coffee in town!
Q. What do you do for relaxation/hobby when you get the rare chance? I love reading, live music and I love to travel. I have been really lucky in the past year to go on some little trips to Christchurch, Sydney and Melbourne where I have been able to combine all three. Booking concert tickets for a favourite artist, and making it a wee weekend trip where we can go look at second-hand book stores, try new bakeries and coffee, visit farmers markets and see the different produce and meet the local makers.
Q. What are your top tips for others considering a similar journey? Don’t be put off by not owning your own house or living on a farm. Many of the skills we learned along the way were when we were living in a rental, or working on someone else’s property. There are so many homesteading skills you can learn without owning property. We worked seasonal jobs to upskill, would buy bulk fruit from local orchards or ask family if we could use their garden to grow things in. Building a community and finding like-minded people is more important … and makes the whole thing more fun.
THE BOOK
Images and text from The Good Life by Gillian Swinton, photography by Francine Boer Photography and Gillian Swinton. Published by Allen & Unwin NZ, RRP $39.99.
Honey marshmallows
Cradling a cup of hot chocolate to warm your hands in winter after being outside is one of life’s greatest pleasures. In our house, we have to load them up with marshmallows as a rule and we used to have a jar of pink and white marshmallows in our pantry for such emergencies. However, with our own supply of natural sugar from our own honey, we started making our own and the subtle taste of the honey in these makes for a very delicious addition to any cup.
This recipe uses gelatin; we prefer to use a high-quality product which is sustainably sourced and high in collagen and protein. Sneaking higher-quality ingredients into our recipes makes treats like this a little kinder to our bodies and the environment.
Time:
30 minutes plus 24 hours to set
Equipment
Pot
Spatula
23 x 23cm dish lined with baking paper
Cake mixer or hand-held beater
Ingredients
3 Tbsp natural gelatin
½ cup and ¼ cup cold water
1 cup honey
Flavouring — optional.
Method
Add ½ cup cold water to the gelatin and leave for a few minutes to bloom. If using a cake mixer, do this in the mixing bowl.
In a pot, bring the honey and ¼ cup cold water to a boil and allow it to sit at a rolling boil for 3 minutes. Be careful here as if left unattended it can foam up and overflow. If using flavouring, add it at this stage. Gently stir for even heat distribution.
Turn the cake mixer or hand-held beater to low speed. With the bloomed gelatin in the bowl, slowly add the honey syrup. Gradually increase the speed, being careful not to splatter the hot liquid. Whisk at full speed for 6 ½ minutes until a thick marshmallow cream is formed, depending on how cold the kitchen is!
Pour into a lined dish and allow to set in the fridge for 24 hours.
To cut, use a hot sharp knife. I simply run hot water from the kettle over the knife to do this. Marshmallows last around a week in the pantry in a container, or up to two months if kept in the fridge. They can also be stored in the freezer if you need to make a few batches!
These honey marshmallows also make a delicious marshmallow slice. Simply follow the same steps and pour over a biscuit base. Be sure to line or grease your tin prior to pouring.
• Honey is the main flavour but we sometimes add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon fine fruit powder (ground-up dehydrated fruit) with great success.
Preserved spiced honey apples
A jar of spiced apples is a pantry staple in our house. They are delicious straight from the jar or with ice cream, or, better yet, add a crumble topping and pop in the oven for an easy, quick dessert. The flavour from the honey adds a lovely wee subtle flavour that makes these apples so much better than anything from the supermarket. You can also use this recipe for preserving spiced pears with the same success.
Time
45 minutes plus cooling
Equipment
6 x 1 litre jars
Lids to fit the jars
Preserving pot with rack
Tea towels
Jar lifter
Metal bowl
Lid lifter
Ingredients
5kg apples, preferably your own or foraged from your neighbour’s garden
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
6 star anise
2 litres water
Method
Prepare the apples by peeling and coring them.
Cut the apples into quarters and add to a large pot. Add the sugar, honey, spices and water to the pot and bring to a boil to lightly poach the fruit, about 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the apples to a paste. I like to add the apples to the boiling syrup and bring them back to the boil, then turn off the heat. When you put a fork in them it should feel like a parboiled potato.
Wash the jars, lids and bands in hot, soapy water, and rinse well.
Pop the jars in the oven to sterilise at 100°C. Pop the lids in a metal bowl and fill with boiling water.
Once your apples have reached the boil, remove the jars from the oven and place on a tea towel on your kitchen bench. Carefully pack the apples into the sterilised jars, leaving about 1cm of head space at the top of each jar. Fill the jars to the brim with the hot syrup and pop one star anise into each jar. Use a non-metal instrument like a chopstick or a bamboo skewer to de-bubble the jar, ensuring all the air is released from the gaps between the fruit. Top up again to the brim with more sugar syrup.
Add your lids (seals and bands) and leave the jars to seal. You will hear pops over the next hour or so as they seal. Leave for 12 hours to allow them to seal and fully cool.
Test the seals and remove the bands. Tap the lids to ensure they are all depressed. If any lids move or don’t sound the same as the others, put them in the fridge to be consumed first. Clean the outside of the jars with hot soapy water and label. Store the sealed jars in a cool, dark place.
If you would prefer to use the water-bath method when filling the jars with the hot honey syrup, instead of filling to the brim, leave 1cm of head space. Add the jars to a water bath and cover with 5cm of water, bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes.
Remove using a jar lifter and allow to cool before testing the seals.
Tip for a quick, easy, delicious apple crumble — simply pop open a jar of this readymade pie filling and top with a crumble.
Slow cooker green tomato, apple and lamb curry
We sometimes get caught out at the end of autumn with excess tomatoes. In summer, we typically leave our tomatoes to ripen on the vine, picking only when they are a luminous shade of red (or yellow or purple). However, towards the end of the season when frosts are about to start, we pick unripe green tomatoes and leave them to ripen indoors. There are a few ripening hacks to try, including leaving a banana with the fruit, or leaving them on a north-facing windowsill to catch the sun. However you ripen them, patience normally rewards your endeavours.
I am not known for my patience, however, and I like to use them while they are still green. You can fry green tomatoes in an egg, flour and breadcrumb coating, or even make a zingy green tomato relish. I love to use the unripe tomatoes in a Thai curry. They hold their shape and bring a bright texture to this warming autumn meal.
Chucking all your ingredients in the slow cooker will reward you with a hearty meal to enjoy cosied up in front of the fire. When I have the fire on, I try to utilise that heat and often have a meal simmering away in a cast-iron pot.
Time
20 minutes
Ingredients
1 kg medium-sized green tomatoes,
chopped
Lamb shoulder roast
1 onion, finely chopped
2 apples, grated
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2.5 cm (1 inch) fresh ginger, grated
2 green chillies, cut lengthwise
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp oil, butter or tallow
400ml can coconut cream
Fresh coriander leaves, for garnish
Method
Wash the green tomatoes thoroughly and chop them into medium-sized pieces.
Add all the ingredients except the coconut cream to the crockpot.
Leave on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours.
Before serving, add the coconut cream, stir well and season as required. Serve with fluffy rice and garnish with some fresh coriander.
Note: The cut of meat you use for this recipe is up to you: lamb, mutton, beef and venison all work well. Tougher cuts or anything still on the bone do well in a slow cooker. You can also use cubed meat if you prefer. I assure you it will be delicious whichever option you choose!
Tip: Consider adding a grated apple to stews or even pumpkin soup. Its sweetness elevates most slow-cooked hearty meals.
