Tending the garden, the bees and the chickens with Elly

Elly in her garden with her baby Arlo

In my series on motherhood I want to portray the diversity of the motherhood experience and what it means to be a mother now. I’m interested in telling stories through other mamas to give insight into their approach to motherhood; be it their struggles, triumphs, their deepest feelings, how they have evolved and grown, perhaps how they raise their children connected to nature and live with a light footprint, or how they approach mothering consciously. 

I want to portray the essence of motherhood in every family’s unique language and am evolving this series to now encompass how we nourish and feed ourselves and our families, sharing the hands, earth and hearts that feed us.

Today I am sharing Elly’s story. She lives atop a hill overlooking the sea in Christchurch, New Zealand with her lovely young family. 

All photos by Charlotte, Olive & Pop

I would call my cooking style nutrient dense garden goodness. I am winging it 90% of the time! I always try to pack in as much nutrients into a dish as possible so I normally end up with a resemblance of what I was aiming for!

My husband always jokes every time I try something new it will be the best as I will actually follow a recipe and from there is evolves into something else of my own creation. Following directions isn’t a strong characteristic of mine but if I can fit extra veggies or nutrients into a meal I will.

It took me a really long time to understand myself and how I thrive in the world, as I always have been a very “fluid” person so having a strong foundation for me is vital. One of my biggest values is freedom and having a ingrained rhythm for my days allows me the space I need to make sure I am doing the things that keep me sane and the freedom to go with the flow, this is especially important during this season of motherhood that calls so much adaptability.

I think there is such power in micro moments of self care and creating beauty and gratitude in the small things. Self care can sound like a luxury but it should be consistency in the small things that are the most impactful. Having a dim shower with just the salt lamp on or 15 mins watering the garden at sunset are just the most recalibrating things for me.

To nourish my family is about finding ways to create space for all of us to eat well, from prioritising the types of food we have available at home, spending our time  in the garden growing food, and try to make meals a time of connection as well as nourishment (easier said than done).

Making sure we move our bodies everyday even in just a small way creates ripple effects into our mental state and when we are consistently giving time and energy to all three of these layers we are so much better off as a family.

My main focus is always how can we facilitate the best foundation for Arlo, especially when it comes to the integrity of his gut, his nervous system regulation, the foods he is experiencing and how that may influence his relationship with food and health in the future.

How do I nourish myself so that I can be the best mum? As a chiropractor I have seen in practice for years (and it is so true for my family also), the better the mother is doing the better the family is doing. We are so good at putting everyone else’s needs above our own, but in reality my biggest role is to co regulate Arlo. So the healthier and regulated I am, the better the foundation we are creating for him. So, for me, my non negotiables are weekly chiropractic adjustments, get outside everyday, movement everyday (even if it’s only 5 minutes).

I really recharge while at home, so it is vital for me to have 1-2 days where we don’t leave the house, this creates the freedom to do what feels good for us to recharge like getting some garden chores done, clean the house or if I’m lucky get in the beehive.

I hope that as Arlo grows up seeing us tending to the bees & the chickens, growing food, cooking and enjoying food in a social environment, it will create a positive atmosphere around food and where it comes from. I hope that he will enjoying spending time with us in the garden and creating in the kitchen. I have so much more passion and excitement for the garden this summer, as we are growing the food for him! I can’t wait to see him picking strawberries and reaching for the cherries. Arlo has been hanging with me in the garden since the first few weeks of life rain or sun. I try to have loose boundaries while we are outside, allow him to get his hands dirty (it usually ends up in the mouth too), he is going to pull out plants and create a little bit of chaos in the garden and that’s ok.

I daydream about when he is a little older and can have his own little bee suit, eat fruit right from the free if he gets hungry while playing, exploring and climbing in his own little world outside.

We are still in our beginning stages of our food journey with Arlo and I had some energy about it at the start, the admin, what foods are best and the mess! I have been so surprised how much I have been loving it, we came from a very gut focussed approach with no pressure if he did or didn’t eat and I am absolutely loving it and he seems to be too.

To approach food waste we really work with a circular system; all our scraps go in the compost to create nourishment for the garden, extra/wasted food goes to the chickens (who obviously give us eggs) and we are able to use the soil created in their area to fertilise the garden. We also try and share as much as we can or freeze extra portions.

We have always loved the calmness of meals, taking the time to sit and enjoy our food without too many distractions. So we are just trying to figure out how to create small moments of calm and connection for all three of us with an 8 month old, it’s amazing when the stars align!

I definitely didn’t grow up with a strong connection to food. It was more just something I needed to put in your body to keep doing the things I enjoyed. I played sport to a high level growing up and I just remember grabbing something really quick in between games or in between training sessions (usually from the canteen at the complex). It saddens me now how nutrition was never a part of the conversation at that stage and the difference that could have made.

Mealtimes were often a non event as I trained most evenings and often got home late, although I do have really fond memories of eating outside in the summer usually still in wet togs with my family and neighbours. 

My relationship with food really flourished when I moved overseas at 21 and became vegetarian. It was a steep learning curve to find out how to nourish myself and the foods that worked well for me this allowed me to fall in love with food and cooking and it’s a big part of who I am today.

We try to stick to a budget but I am also very aware that health and food are a high value for us so we make sure we focus on having quality food at home and in the garden to avoid the temptation to eat out, for example I will buy a nice bag of coffee every week so we can make nice coffee at home on the stove top opposed to buying one.

There are a few core things we have been able to implement into normal daily rhythms that lower our food costs and that is making our own bread, granola and fermenting/preserving.

We also try to swap as much as much as can with neighbour’s and friends as well and eat as seasonally as possible.

Here are 2 recipes that Elly has shared!

Nice cream

1 frozen banana

2 tablespoons of cacao powder

1 tsp cacao nibs

1 tablespoon of nut butter

A dash of milk of choice

Handful of ice

Additional options - a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, chai seeds, maca powder, foraged for you (mothers blend) or frozen berries

Blend together and you have a bowl of yummy health ice cream.

Serves 2

Baked BBQ salmon with avocado mango salsa

Salmon spice rub

- smoked paprika

- tablespoon of honey

- crushed garlic

- diced Chilli (depending on your taste)

- dash of hemp seed oil

- onion powder

Salsa

- 1 diced avocado

- diced mango (frozen works well)

- chopped parsley

- 1/2 lime/lemon juice

- 1/2 red onion

- salt

- generously apply spice rub to salmon fillets

- bake salmon for 15-20 mins

- generously layer salsa on top of the salmon once cooked

- serve with veggies or on rice