Set against the striking landscape of North Otago, life at Awakino Station is shaped by season, land, and a deep connection to place. We speak with Jaz Mathisen about her journey to station life, the rhythms that guide her days, and the inspiration behind A Year at Awakino Station, a reflection on food, family, and living closely with the land.

You’ve built your life at Awakino Station. Can you share a little about your journey there and what drew you to this way of life in North Otago?

Right from a very young age, I have been immersed in the farming life, growing up on a small farm in Tinui, Wairarapa, before moving to Hanmer Springs at fifteen. From there, I found school holiday work on a local farm, which cemented that love of the rural sector, and after finishing high school, I studied agriculture. A shepherding job on Cleardale Station in the Rakaia Gorge introduced me to Dan, my partner, and in 2016, we made the move to Awakino Station in Kurow for Dan to take up the manager’s role. I have always loved the farm-to-table concept and the vegetable garden, so to combine those two passions in a station cook role seemed like the right move after becoming a mother. It enabled me to still have an involvement in the farming business while focusing on raising our three young girls.

Awakino Station is both your home and your workplace. What does a typical day look like for you, and how does the rhythm of the land shape it?

Yes, I think for many farmers living and working on the land, it becomes a way of life and not just a job. Typically, our mornings are centred around the kitchen and preparing lunches (and smokos) for the shepherds. I now have two girls at school, so there are also their lunches and school drop-offs to consider. After lunch, we get to venture outside - with the seasons and weather having a direct impact on what jobs we tackle. During the summer months, we may get to go to the sheep yards to help weigh lambs or sneak off to the river for a swim. Autumn provides us with ample foraging, harvesting and preserving opportunities. During winter, the shearing shed is buzzing with activity as our ewes are shorn, and in spring, we are usually occupied with rearing orphan lambs and calves.

You cook closely with the seasons. How does living in North Otago influence what ends up on the table throughout the year?

We have four very definite seasons here in Kurow for both the farm and the garden. During the summer months, the lambs are being fattened for meat contracts and so that allows us to have prime lamb in our freezer. This lamb is typically served with the lovely fresh summer flavours of new potatoes, salads and tomatoes. Come Autumn, we process the house pigs, which gives us a nice change from the lamb, and we can eat pork with freshly stewed apple or red currant jelly. We then send dry heifers to the butcher for winter beef. This is perfect for hearty beef stews as the days shorten. Paired with the root vegetables, like parsnip and yams, that can survive the colder ground temperature, or with stored produce such as pumpkins and potatoes. And as we welcome spring and the warmer temperatures, we consume a lot of venison thanks to Dan’s hunting skills. Early spring is the hardest time for us with winter stores running low and the ground temperature not quite warm enough to grow seedlings. So this is the time of the year when I find myself most reliant on the supermarket.

Raising three young daughters on a working station must be pretty special. What parts of this lifestyle do you hope they carry with them as they grow up?

It really is. I enjoy watching their personalities develop and finding out where their passions lie. Each of them is so different, yet they all share a love for the freedom that station living provides them. They are surrounded by a strong, tight-knit farming team, and so I hope they carry that work ethic with them into the future. The problem-solving number 8 kiwi ingenuity that farmers are renowned for, and the ability to hold a conversation with people of all ages at the dining table. Also, just the simple enjoyment of being outside, regardless of where their life takes them.

Was there a moment when you knew you wanted to turn this way of life into a book, or did A Year at Awakino Station come together more gradually?

I had contemplated the idea of writing a book and had a few ideas simmering away in my head, but I thought it would be something that would come to fruition once the girls were all at school. It turns out that being approached by a publishing team was the push I needed, and it saw A Year at Awakino Station being completed during my evening hours after the girls were in bed. I thought it was a great opportunity to share a more personal glimpse into a farming family's life, but also incorporate informative chapters around living off the land during a time where we are seeing a real shift towards a more simplistic lifestyle.

The book feels like such a personal invitation into your home. Was it important to you to capture not just the recipes, but the feeling of life at Awakino too?

Yes, I really wanted it to feel like I was opening our front door and welcoming the reader onto Awakino and into our home. There has been a string of rural women who have been influential to me throughout my life, and I take a lot of inspiration from their country hospitality ways - whether that was inviting me to live with them while working on their farms, preparing lunches for me during my shepherding and mustering days, or inviting me to come along to the local kindy after I became a Mum myself. There is something very special about rural women and the community spirit they exude.

Now that A Year at Awakino Station is out in the world, what’s next for you? Are there new projects, plans, or ideas you’re excited to explore?

At the moment, I am just soaking up all the positivity around A Year at Awakino Station. It feels surreal to have reached this milestone, and to have the book received so well by the readers is a huge sigh of relief. I think it is important to stop and celebrate successes before jumping onto the next project. However, over the next year or two, Dan and I are planning on restoring Duffy’s cottage, which is a historic stone cottage on the farm. There is so much history written in its walls, so I am really looking forward to bringing it back to life and being able to enjoy it with our family, and potentially with the wider public as an accommodation option.

Photography by Dana Johnston.

Follow Dana @dana.j.photography

You can find out more about Jaz and pick up a copy of her new book, A Year At Awakino Station, here. You can also purchase copies at Paper Plus and our Tarras Village Store.

Follow Jaz @jaz.mathisen

Jaz Wears: