EDITOR’S LETTER

Naomi Larkin on this month’s issue.

Irecently dreamt about friend hadn’t seen for some years. The dream crisscrossed roughly a decade but a fair bit focused on a period when gardening helped her through a tough time. The hobby was newfound but she took to it with gusto, turning a tatty back garden into a lush, verdant paradise (or so it seemed back then). Reading about the gardening journey of Lara Bui and Issac Weston in Tauranga therefore struck a chord. Theirs is a poignant tale of discovering gardening and growing plants which began initially as a distraction from the heartache following unsuccessful rounds of IVF and then blossomed into a passion, resulting in a bountiful oasis that brings much joy (page 118).

Another wonderful yet quite different garden is owned by Mandy and Tim Donaldson in Canterbury. Although Mandy had long been fascinated with the large estate that included a sizable home and paddocks for horses, she had made peace with the fact it couldn’t be hers until auction night when the fall of the hammer turned her dream into reality. Once they had renovated the interiors to their liking the garden was next. Four years on, the Donaldsons have made their mark on the 3.8ha estate and both the house and garden are standouts (page 70).

Nadine Rubin Nathan’s travel feature on New York (page 164) has us all wanting to book tickets to visit what has always been (minus the Covid horror period) one of the coolest destinations, while Maite Paternain’s Spanish Fiesta recipes ( page 140), with their rich yet subtle flavours, have us wanting to sample more global cuisines. Lots to discover and dream about in this issue.