Kumara collection & curation project

If you walk through the garden at the moment, you’ll see neat rows of little hills filling the entire northern corner of the māra — right beside the path as you walk in. These rows mark the beginning of our participation in an extraordinary kaupapa: the Kūmara Collection and Curation Project, which we are proud to be sharing with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and the Te Pourewa Gardens.

When the maramataka signals the right time — sometime late October or early November — we will plant out cuttings (tupu) of 16 heritage varieties that we are currently nourishing in our tāpapa beds into these little hills, or puke.

The collection represents varieties known to have been grown in Aotearoa both pre and post colonisation. Each variety will be grown out and multiplied at Dignan St Community Garden and Te Pourewa with the aim of increasing the seed (tuber) stock, and with it, the number of tupu available each year going forward. It is being carefully curated to ensure these taonga are more accessible to iwi gardens in particular, since these varieties are their taonga, first and foremost.

Each variety has its own story — distinct in leaf form, skin, tuber shape, colour, and taste. Together, they represent an unbroken line of care, selection, and resilience stretching back over 800 years.

We invite you to join us for the planting, tending, and harvesting of these kūmara as the season unfolds.

We’re thrilled to share that Growing Point is now leading this kaupapa with significant support from Foundation North, who have funded the curation project and future research into these taonga. The team also plans to produce a booklet detailing the varieties and their stories to preserve and share this mātauranga for generations to come.

Our heartfelt thanks to the Starfish Foundation for funding new cold frames for raising kūmara tupu in tāpapa beds. Crafted from untreated macrocarpa by the Sandringham Men’s Shed (thank you, Ozzy!), these frames will help protect the young plants, provide a head start during unsettled spring weather, and extend their growing season.

And finally — congratulations to Luke, our grant writer par excellence, for helping make the funding flows possible.

This is a milestone moment for our garden, and we’re so excited to share it with you.