Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Click here for English translation E tū ana ahau ki runga o te waerenga nui o Te Puea i te atatū rearea te pakinga o ōku pāpāringa. Kāre e tino tawhiti atu i te rīpekatanga rori e ahu atu nā ki Whakatāne.
Ko Rākaunui e ai ki te māramataka Māori te pō nei koia te wā tika ki te whakatō kai.
Mangū ana te whenua i ngā tini tangata kua puta mai ki te awhina. Kai kōnei te kura a Raukura, kai kōnei hoki a Kaitao Rotohokahoka me te tini hoki o ngā pou hāpai nō te hāpori me te pākihi nui a Kai Rotorua.
Kua wāia kē ngā manu o te hāpara ki te tangata, kāre he aha ki a rātou ka tāketekete kau ngā korohī mako.
Ki te whenua nei, he mahi kai te haere, engari mā te tikanga anō te ohu e arahi. Ka whakahope atu ai ahau ki te ohu e ahu nā ki te māra, kātahi au ka māhara ake, e tai, pai kē atu pea ngā kamūputu tēnā i ōku hānara māwhero – heahea hoki.
Whoi anō – he māeneene nō te whenua kāhore he take tāku ki te tuki whenua mā te rangatahi kē e mahi.
Ko te mana tiaki i ngā tupu e toru mano kai tētehi whānau nō Hapanī ka awhinatia e ngā pou-hapai o Kai Rotorua te koroua nei a Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea ki te neke i tētehi ipu para kī i te wai ka haria ki te wākena tō e noho iti nei ki muri o te tarakihana rikiriki.
Ka whakatata atu rātou ki te wāhi mahi ka riringihia te ipu nui ki ngā pākete rikiriki ka whakanōhia ngā pākete ki tāhaki o ngā ahu. He pouako a Whaea Tiaho nō Raukura māna te karakia, he ahakoa ehara i te ao tawhito te karakia kai te mau i te wairua o te ao tawhito.
Ka kauwhautia te pūrākau a Ngai Te Arawa mō te takenga mai o te kūmara me ngā tini kai a ngā tūpuna ka whakataukītia ake te kōrero a Whakaotirangi, inā te kete rokiroki a Whakaotirangi.
Ka tae mai ki ahau te poupou o Whakaotirangi e tu ngangahū kau ana i te poho o tō tātou whare runanga o Wāhiao. ( Kai te kaha keremetia a Whakaotirangi e Tainui waka e rua, e rua i runga i te ngākau māhaki me te wairua hāneanea ngā kereme nei) kāti ake, ka tae noa ki te pito whakamutunga o tana kauwhau ka hoki mai ētehi maumaharatanga nōna e taiohi ana; kāua rawa e takahia ngā tipu, he kai kāre e tika ana kia takahia te kai – he whakaparanga tēnā.
Tū mai a Te Rangikaheke me te ako tika i ngā taipakeke ki te whakatō kai. Ka oti ana tana whakaako ka hoki atu māua ko Te Rangikaheke ki te kāuta ki te kōrero, ki te kai tahi ka māoriori te noho.
Hai tāna, i pakeke haeretia ia me te kūmara. Nō rātou nō Te Ure o Uenukukopako ngā waerenga kūmara ki Mokoia, e toru eka hoki ki Pikirangi nō tōna matua tāne nō mua tonu i te huringa hai tauranga whakarererangi mō Rotorua. Ko te whakahonohono tangata ki te whenua ki a Papatūānuku te aroha nui o tana mahi.
Ka tīmataria ai a Kai Rotorua e rima o ngā tau kua pahemo atu ki te whakatō kai, nā i te wiki kōtahi ka oti i ngā pou awhina te whakatō i ngā māra e ono tekau mā waru. Nā rāua ko Jasmin Jackson, he tohunga kai tika ia, a Kai Rotorua i whakaara ake i te tau e rua mano tekau mā ono i muri rawa i te otinga o te whakatō kai i ngā māra e ono tekau mā waru.
"Ia rā ka puta mai te whitu tekau o ngā tangata awhina he aroha noa". He whakangākau atu a Kai Rotorua ki te Kaunihera o Rotorua ki a Fonterra me te Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
I te hui matua i tu ki Toi Ohomai i ngā wiki tata kua pahemo atu, ka whāki atu tana whakahekenga i tana tūranga matua engari ka noho tonu ia hai pou-whakahaere. E mea ana te kōrero, "ka haere te mātātahi ka noho te mātāpūputu".
He mutunga kore o te kaupapa kāinga māra kātahi nei a Te Rangikahaeke ka hoki mai i Murupara kua oti anō i a ia ngā māra e toru tekau.
He pākihi nui a Te Puea Orchard ka hauhaketia ngā kūmara ka hokona. Nā Carl me Cheryl Dibley te pākihi nei engari kai te kaumatuatia rāua he kore hiahia nō ā rāua tamariki ki te hāpai ake i te pākihi he ahakoa kai te hiahia whakatā tūturu rāua.
E whā ira rima heketa te rahi o te whenua nei ka pai kē atu mēnā ka hokona e Kai Rotorua te whenua hai tā Te Rangikaheke. Ko tētehi o ōna whakaaro tūārangi hai hoko i te whenua nei, ko te waihanga i tētehi ture tātai ā kūmara nei he ahakoa he whakaaro nui kua tīmatahia te kimikimi ā pūtaiao nei me pēwhea e tūtuki ai te moemoeā.
Ko te kimi me pēwhea e ora roa ai te kūmara kia kāua rawa te kai e pīrau tētehi anō o āna kaupapa, nō te wiki tonu nei kai te whakamanuwhirongia e ia tētehi kāmura e pūkenga nui ki te whakatū whare ā hemp-crete nei nō Whakaoriori tēnei tangata.
"Ko taku hiahia ki te whakatū rua kūmara ā hemo-crete nei engari kia tū ki runga ake i te whenua koia te pae tawhiti".
Me Māori nei te wāhi e ora tika ai te kūmara kia kāua e pirau. I tapaina ko Te Puea Orchard i te tūtakihanga o Te Puea Herangi me Tā Apirana Ngata i te tau kotahi mano e whā tekau i kōnei tonu.
Nā te hū o Rotomahana i te tau kotahi mano e waru rau waru tekau mā ono kua mōmona te whenua.
Hei Te Rangikaheke, taputapu kē a Carl Dibley ki te mahi whenua ki te tiaki whenua he tino tohunga ia ki te kōrero oneone me āna hītoria katoa. Kai te whakamātauria e rātou tētehi whāriki kōaka hai whakatāhangia atu te whāriki kirihou mangū nei. Ko te rapu rautaki patu rāpeti hoki tētehi anō kaupapa.
Kai te pae e rua mano rua tekau mā rua kē a Te Rangikaheke ināianei i runga i te hākoakoanga o te ngākau ki te oranga tonutanga o tēnei kaupapa. Hai whakakotahi te Hapanī me te ao Māori kua whakaarohia e ia tētehi kaupapa e kīa nei ko te, Taniwha and Dragon festival' hai te Matariki whakarewa ai tēnei kaupapa nui.
Nā te kūmara anō te hāpori i whakakotahi i Rotorua.
"Ka nui taku hiahia ki te whakapakari i te aka kūmara mēnā koe e nganā ana ki tēnei kaupapa nau mai ki te māra kai.
Ka whakarauika te marea ki Te Puea mo te kaupapa tō Kumara. Whakaahua / Rawinia Phillips Smith
"E waru mano te maha o ngā tangata whakatō kūmara he timatanga kau tēnei koina taku pirangi nui kia tukuna ā hau pūkerikeri atu nei te kōrero ki ngā tōpito katoa o te motu."
On a fresh spring morning I find myself at Te Puea Orchard, not far past Te Ngae Junction on the highway to Whakatāne.
It is an auspicious time for planting, Rakaunui on the Maramataka Maori.
Answering the call, dozens of volunteers have turned out, providing willing hands to plant kumara.
A van load of boys from Raukura, another van load of students from Western Heights High School, other helpers from the community and a raft of volunteers from Kai Rotorua.
Their presence hardly stirs the cooing doves sitting on their perches on the sheds. They have seen it all before.
But there is serious business to be transacted and tikanga to be observed.
I join the group for the short walk up to the maara and wonder if perhaps I should have worn gumboots and not pink jandals. Too late now but the ground is not muddy and I won't be in the garden.
Japanese whānau have charge of the 3000 tipu and the boys help the Kai Rotorua koroua, Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea, move a rubbish bin full of water onto the trailer behind the small tractor. Once near the site the bin is emptied into a number of buckets and placed along the planting site.
The Raukura boys teacher, Whaea Tiaho Fairhall, begins with a karakia. She tells the boys it is not from te ao tawhito but expresses the same sentiments that would have been voiced at a traditional planting.
She gives a brief explanation of the Te Arawa korero that the kumara and other edible plants were brought from Hawaiiki by Whakaotirangi, in te kete rokiroki o Whakaotirangi. In my mind I see the pou in our tupuna whare Wahiao, of Whakaotirangi with her kete. I am in a happy space.
(Tainui also claim Whakaotirangi and the tribes have engaged in friendly banter about the origins of the kumara for generations.)
In rounding up her korero Whaea Tiaho imparts tikanga from her childhood: Please do not walk across the tipu. It is kai and you do not step over it.
Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea. Photo / Rawinia Phillips Smith
Te Rangikaheke shows the planters exactly how the tipu should go into the ground with a drink of water.
His demonstration completed, Te Rangikaheke and I head back to the kitchen for a kapu ti and a talk.
He tells me maara kumara have always been in his life. His Uenukukopako forebears had gardens on Mokoia Island and his father had three acres of maara at Pikirangi before the land became part of Rotorua Airport.
For him, growing food reconnects us to Papatuanuku, the earth mother, and the kumara is part of the Māori DNA.
Kai Rotorua, he says, began five years ago where in one week volunteers planted 68 backyard gardens in one week.
He and nutritionist Jasmin Jackson founded Kai Rotorua in 2016, immediately after they finished the backyard garden project.
"Every day we had 70 volunteers."
Through Kai Rotorua he has formed a number of relationships and is grateful for the support of bodies including the Rotorua District Council, Fonterra, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
At Kai Rotorua's 2021 AGM at Toi Ohomai just a couple of weeks ago he told stakeholders he was stepping down from his pivotal role but would stay as projects manager.
"It's time to back away, to let the young ones take over."
Those backyard gardens continue and just days before we meet Te Rangikaheke was in Murupara where there are 30 backyard maara.
Te Puea Orchard is a major project where produce is sold at harvest time.
The owners, Carl and Cheryl Dibley, want to retire but their children are not interested in continuing their legacy. The area is 4.5 hectares and Te Rangikaheke would ideally like Kai Rotorua to own it.
One of his ideas to fund such a multimillion-dollar purchase would be the development of an infant formula from kumara, a possibility which is already undergoing scientific research.
Another of Te Rangikaheke's projects is finding environmentally and eco-friendly storage for kumara, to prolong their shelf life. This week he is hosting a builder he went to see in Masterton who uses hemp-crete in housing construction.
"I am looking at an above-ground rua and hemp-crete might be able to provide that. We'll see."
Kumara need an environment where the temperature and humidity are controlled.
Te Puea Orchard, named for the Tainui ariki Te Puea Herangi who met there with Apirana Ngata in the 1940s, has soil ideal for gardens, as a result of the Tarawera eruption in 1886 spewing pumice and natural minerals far and wide. It has an ideal micro climate.
Te Rangikaheke said Carl Dibley is a whiz at profiling the soil and can tell anyone the history of the site just by digging down.
The growers are also trialling hemp mat to see if they can find an eco-friendly alternative to black polythene as a weed suppressant.
