sweet & savage
Tell us about your family and where you live.
My husband, Kristin, and I live in Hickory Bay, New Zealand, with our two kids, Pippin (5) and Fern (3). The nearest city, Christchurch, is nearly two hours away. It’s a very dramatic landscape, with high cliffs and a beautiful rugged beach. We live on an organic farm, nestled away in a valley that runs down to the sea. The road is steep, narrow and 600 metres above sea level in parts—and we are often snowed in for days on end. In certain seasons, it can feel very isolated. The very things that are the best points of living here can also be the most challenging. Living here has taught us to take little for granted and to be very respectful of the weather.
How does your environment affect your food choices?
We moved here from the city seven years ago, and the adjustment was huge. If we don’t have something in the pantry or the garden, we just have to do without it! We drive to the supermarket once or twice a fortnight. Some days I stand at the pantry, scratching my head, wondering if I’ll manage to pull off dinner that night. But I enjoy the challenge, and I would now rather have less to choose from than more. We grow some of our own produce (I am no expert gardener, but I’m learning!). We also have a lot of established fruit and nut trees, and we eat wild blackberries, watercress, mint and spinach. We’ve got a small flock of chickens, and we eat
