Nadia Lim LOVE, LOSS & FIGHTING BACK

It has been an emotional rollercoaster for the MasterChef judge

- Sophie Neville

I'm not sure I buy into this whole concept of balance," laughs Kiwi food star Nadia Lim. It's 11am on a Thursday and she's sitting down to chat at her rural Arrowtown home after another hectic morning.

Up at 6am, she's fed the chooks, harvested the day's takings from the glasshouse, made the lunches, got the kids up and off, met with farm staff, finished the final pages of her latest seasonal journal, organised publicity for her new family cookbook and prepared for a trip to Auckland for her new role as a MasterChef NZ judge. Nadia, excuse the pun, is a woman with an awful lot on her plate.

"It is a bit chaotic at the moment, but this is just what my life is like!" she explains. "I keep telling myself I need to take on less, but it never seems to happen because these cool opportunities keep popping up that I can't say no to."

It's two and a half years since the My Food Bag co-founder and her husband Carlos Bagrie, 36, packed up their Auckland city life and moved south to a 485-hectare sheep and crop farm. They have become passionate farmers, transforming the previously conventionally run operation into a very diverse, more sustainable and ethical model of food production.

It's been a massive labour of love, and there's no doubt their sons Bodhi, six, and River, three, are thriving in this idyllic environment, but Nadia, 36, admits she and Carlos could never have imagined just how busy it would be.

'I am genuinely happy every day waking up next to Carlos'