Taiatini Lepaio in the centre, with her son Deejay Rewita-Kaitai, right, and his friend Apiata Patena, left, in front of art in their maara kai. Photo / James Pocock
Taiatini Lepaio in the centre, with her son Deejay Rewita-Kaitai, right, and his friend Apiata Patena, left, in front of art in their maara kai. Photo / James Pocock
An aspiring social worker wants to share her bounty of food and knowledge with the whole community.
Taiatini Lepaio has been growing a maara kai - community food garden - in the backyard of her Onekawa home for the last eight years.
"We only started off with a little dwarf lemon tree and now the whole backyard is just food."
There are too many different varieties of fruit and vegetables to list, but she said some of what she grows included cucumber, pumpkins, kamokamo, corn, beetroot, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and kumara.
She moved to Hawke's Bay from Tokoroa about 10 years ago and soon after made the decision to grow her own food to eat and share, as well as teach her kids how to.
"I've got a 13-year-old, and me and him are always in the garden. He's not always keen on it, but for me it's like a self-care thing. For us to get out there and try and do something makes us feel a whole lot better."
As well as her son, she said she got help from his friends, their families and others in the community who reach out to offer assistance.
Nearly everything in the maara kai has been recycled or donated, and much of what is grown is donated to the community. Photo / James Pocock
She delivers many of her harvests to those in need around the community- advertising when she has food to give away on Facebook pages or stocking community pātaka pantries.
"Any marae, funerals, birthdays, anything I see I will just message and say I've got some food, I can give it, because we can't eat it all, it's too much".
She said the need for food in the community ramped up when lockdowns began.
"That's when I had families really reach out for food. I thought "Oh my gosh, this is really a huge thing"."
Taiatini and her son also offer seeds and assistance to those who wish to start their own gardens.
When they returned to Tokoroa last November, they spent time teaching others how to create their own gardens.
"We did six houses in one day. We just took seedlings, shovels and stuff and stayed with family".
She said she learnt how to grow things from a wide variety of sources, including YouTube, workshops, EIT and people.
She also follows Maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, when deciding when to plant things or teaching others when to plant.
Taiatini Lepaio's lush maara kai in the backyard of her house, full to the brim with a wide assortment of herbs, vegetables and fruits. Photo / James Pocock
She said she was hoping for more space to grow food for the community.
She said the Napier City council was supportive when she reached out to see if it would grant permission for her to plant seeds on a grassy area in a nearby cul de sac, but she was doorknocking to get the community's help next.
"It didn't seem feasible, because I realised that I have got to manage my garden and then manage that one. But it's something I wanted the community to jump in and do."
Her recommendation for those who wanted to start a maara kai of their own was straightforward.
"Just find a spot, dig it up, put the seedling in and that's it. Then water it- really, really simple."
