Connecting to Grassroots New Zealand
It wasn’t a typical Sunday for my family. We packed a lunch, extra layers and headed an hour south from our home in suburbia Napier for an opportunity to see what goes on behind a farm gate as part of the inaugural nationwide Open Farms day.
On arriving at Mangarara Station in Central Hawke’s Bay’s Elsthorpe, we followed the signs down a long windy driveway where we and other families were warmly welcomed from our hosts, Greg and Rachel Hart at their guest Eco Lodge. Nestled in front of the farm lake, among rolling hills and native trees, it was a picturesque and peaceful setting, which had you immediately feeling relaxed, with a sense of belonging.
Farm dogs roamed and socialised with the children while Greg talked about stewarding the 1500 acre hill country, which his family took on in 1990 and have continually regenerated to create a harmonised slice of paradise.
We got up close and personal with the property’s animals. The children naturally gravitated to our first stop at the pigpen where they were eagerly waiting to be fed. The kids got amongst the pigs and were happy to be petted while they chugged back wedges of pumpkin. The chickens were equally relaxed to have visitors feeding and holding them. There was sheer delight on the children’s faces as they discovered the chicken eggs in the mobile chicken home, which gets moved to follow once cows have grazed, enabling the cycling of natural fertiliser AKA manure.
The sheep and sheepdogs sure put on a show for us. We witnessed a tightly controlled mob of about 200 sheep with the shrill of a dog whistle, which could only be described as a whirlpool of sheep. We then bustled into the shearing shed and saw some sheep shorn, with the crowd feeling the fresh wool, and the kids played rousers, collecting it up. A young man working on the farm described his journey from growing up in the city to his career in agriculture that had the crowd captivated.
We had the privilege to walk through the farm’s forest of native and exotic trees where the heart of biodiversity was in action. Some of the newer trees on the Mangarara property were planted with the help of the Air New Zealand Environment Trust, with other trees having a history of over 100 years housing native animals. We looked at the paddocks and talked about the important role of rotational grazing to nourish and heal the soil, which forms the foundation for regeneration.
My kids came away with an experience they will never forget and want to repeat. I came away with a profound appreciation for our farmers who work with nature to produce the sort of food the world craves. I now have a deeper understanding of the complex, yet balanced holistic systems that are needed to sustain food production, and am thirsty to connect and learn more.
For more information about Mangarara, the Family Farm visit this website.