My family has been friends with the McIntyre family from the moment we moved from Auckland into the country (an hour south of Auckland). I’ll always remember that move. When my parents were introducing my sisters and I to the idea of living in the country (I was 9 at the time) all I remember thinking was, the cows looked boring (Mum was having a great time pointing all the animals out to us) and that I had horrible hay-fever whenever I went to the ‘country’. But nevertheless we moved. As soon as I left high school, I moved back to Auckland for University and stayed in the city until this year. And while I’m definitely still a city girl at heart, I love going back to my parents house and I can definitely appreciate the stillness, freedom and beauty that living in the country can offer. I’m sitting here in my parents office typing this, listening to the hum of bees outside, birds chattering and that’s it. No car noise, no sirens, nothing. Bliss. Jane McIntyre has created a garden called Plum Meadows, which celebrates everything about country bliss. 3 1/2 years in the making, she has turned bare fields into amazing works of art. The garden is on the property where Jane has lived all of her life, a property that has been in the family for 5 generations. I photographed Kerry & Aaron’s Encore shoot and part of my video on the McIntyre’s property in one of the plum orchards. Jane has even created her own preserves from her amazing garden. Plum sauce, onion marmalade, crab apple jelly, tomato relish….. Incredible vegetable garden!