A little patch of garden
March 7, 2022
100 Squares
To be able grow your own fruit and veg on a busy street in the inner city is rare, we only have a tiny section but my wife Mel has put considerable energy and time into creating a beautiful wild garden. It's a surprising and untamed place, a mix of flowers, vegetables, berries and herbs. It's where we go foraging for food, our wild place amidst the noise and traffic of modern living - literally. The cars rumble past as we weed the garden and tend the tomatoes. Mel is such a wonderfully positive person, the garden she gifted the family has changed our lives for the better. It's living proof that you can build your own kind of paradise even in a central city suburb.

There are important lessons here for those watching New Zealand's own homegrown platforms which are taxpayer supported through NZ on Air. Whether freeview or payview, what are we actually seeing and why? what are we actually paying for and why? Are we simply paying millions to subsidise commercially fragile kiwi media platforms or are we paying to ensure a future for kiwi made factual content? These questions are particularly relevant as the government considers new funding models for both film and television.