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Home / Northern Advocate

Martial arts exponent finds way to reconnect

By Sue Ferens
Northern Advocate·
5 Mar, 2005 04:56 AM3 mins to read

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What is a former world karate master doing growing vegetables in Waimate North?
You might well ask, but for Rob Downing, of Mahinga Oranga, (Garden of Wellbeing) the answer is simple - there is a synergy between martial arts and working with the soil.
"It has the same grounding principles," he said.
And
discipline, which along with perseverance, has certainly been tested and tuned during the past two years, breaking in 1.2 hectares of garden from pasture thick with Kikuyu grass.
With no background in farming or gardening, Mr Downing started his market garden from scratch two years ago and the results are impressive.
"I cleared the first plot on my hands and knees with a grubber," he said.
Things are easier now, with two of his three plots sown in a variety of greens and root crops and one in ley, all bordered with thick beds of lupin as shelter and herbs and flowers as insect deterrents.
Hundreds of comfrey plants are planted around the garden, playing an integral part in this garden based on biodynamic principles.
Mr Downing has returned to the Kerikeri area where he taught martial arts around 20 years ago.
His career took him throughout New Zealand and overseas, teaching karate, and in 1987 he became a world karate master.
"I wanted to reconnect with the earth," he said of his return north.
At Waimate North, his new focus sees him spending long hours each day cultivating the soil and producing a range of fresh vegetables, which he sells via home delivery orders and on Sundays at the Kerikeri Farmers Market.
The biodynamic approach even sees the positive in dock, which for many is a nuisance weed. Its roots reach deep down, said Mr Downing, preparing the soil for root crops.
As for bug control, this gardener has a secret weapon - ducks.
"I asked for some helpers and they've arrived," Mr Downing said of his burgeoning brood of ducks which have swelled in two years from four to 22.
"They're great at picking up the slugs and they don't damage the crops."
But Mr Downing is confident bugs and pests will decrease as the soil's health and structure improves with each season.
The Mahinga Oranga land was originally kumara fields and Mr Downing is returning a large part of it to root crops - squash, peruperu, beets, onions and carrots.
He also grows butternut and red pumpkin but the year-round crop is mescalin (green salad) mix which is picked fresh for each market day or home delivery orders.
The land was prepared with five conditioning plantings of crops before any vegetables were planted.
He uses rock dust to put back minerals into the soil and fish fertiliser to enrich as well as loads of compost.
The challenges are evaporation and drainage, for the gardens lie to the north and are very warm and sheltered.
Irrigation sprinklers water the new seedlings.
Longer term, Mr Downing's vision is to have people, particularly young Maori men, visit and stay to work in the garden.
"I'd like to bring people here and help them learn about growing things.
"One thing I can teach people is perseverance.
"The earth is very accommodating. It's grounding," he said.
For this former karate master, the disciplines involved in growing food and proficiency in martial arts are very much aligned, with his new work a daily reminder.

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