The traditional Māori garden created by students and staff at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi indigenous-university is almost fully planted, with seven varieties of pre-colonisation kumara in the ground as well as the medicinal plant kumarahou, hue (gourds) and Māori corn.
Environment Studies students at the wānanga’s Tāmaki site are designing the garden using pre-European horticultural practices such as soil amendments with ash, sand and gravel, stone-mulched mounds and cultivated soil heaps.
Environment Studies lecturer Phil Ross said the Māori garden would provide a resource for teaching science, and would also allow for investigation and research into Māori practices on soils, plants and related organisms.
The exercise of planting kumara had uncovered differing perspectives on Māori horticultural traditions, Mr Ross said. There were limited written records of how early Māori grew crops and students were continuing to research the subject. However, some students had information on specific practices that had been passed down verbally.
“We are finding differences in what is regarded as traditional practice,” Mr Ross said. “There are different and sometimes conflicting sources of information. This provides an opportunity for research – an opportunity to practice the processes of science: investigating, observing, collecting information and interpreting the results.”
The kumara have therefore been planted using a variety of methods.
“We will watch how the plants respond to different treatments. We can then draw conclusions about the right way to grow these varieties in the Tāmaki area.”
Three different horticultural techniques are being used to grow the kumara. The first, called puke, is a hole filled with amended soil built into a mound; the kumara is planted near the top. The second method is stone-retained terracing – a characteristic of earthworks on Auckland’s volcanic cones. The practice will be simulated by “sun pits” that take advantage of microclimate effects and solar energy stored in the rocks as heat. Mr Ross said the effect of stone terracing on soils and soil biology was an area of potential research. The third style is a conventional furrow.
Students were already excited about analysing and comparing the effectiveness of the various techniques, Mr Ross said.
Kumara storage pits – an essential aspect of Māori horticulture – are planned for the second or third year of the project, once sufficient quantities of produce are achieved.
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