Community kumara harvest at Hamilton Gardens

New Zealand’s only publicly-owned traditional Maaori productive garden will hold a kumara harvest on Friday, 17 April 2015 from 8am.

Kumara is grown annually in Hamilton Gardens’ Te Parapara Garden in line with the Maaori lunar calendar, and Gardens’ staff will work along side Ngati Wairere elders to harvest the kumara.

Hamilton Gardens operations manager Gus Flower says the annual harvest generates a strong sense of pride from the Gardens’ team. “Normally our team focuses on ensuring each garden remains visually spectacular year round so it’s extra special when a garden looks great and produces a crop that can be shared with the community.”

Mr Flower said assistance from local iwi has been invaluable during the planting and harvesting of the crop.

The kumara will be distributed to Te Arikinui Kiingi Tuheitia and local charities including the Salvation Army.

Te Parapara was the original name of the pre-European Maori settlement in what is now the centre of Hamilton Gardens. Before Europeans arrived the riverbanks throughout central Waikato were lined with many Maori gardens, so the Waikato/Tainui horticultural heritage in this area is of national significance. The Te Parapara /Hamilton Gardens site was at one time home to Haanui, a famous Ngati Wairere chief, and was particularly renowned as a site of sacred rituals associated with the harvesting of food crops.

The harvest will begin at 8am and public are invited along to watch and speak with the Gardens’ team about food cultivation.

ENDS

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