All hands to the dirt at Marae Kai Community Garden's first great kumara haul

People put their raincoats on and got their hands dirty at Apumoana Marae for the Marae Kai Community Garden's first big kumara dig.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick, councillors Karen Hunt and Mark Gould, visitors from Korea, gardeners from around Rotorua and members of the marae turned out for the dig on Saturday morning.

Gardener and one of the brains behind the project Bob Te Aonui said the weather wasn't on their side.

"We dug up one of the gardens then called it a day," he said.

"We had a really good haul, at least seven or eight boxes of kumara out of that one garden."

Two more boxes are left to be dug out and Mr Te Aonui said they would be given out to community organisations and perhaps a couple of boxes will be sent to Edgecumbe.

A box will also go to the Maori Women's Welfare League for a pickling workshop.

Mr Te Aonui said he was sure they would be able to find community groups that would benefit from the remaining kumara.

The marae is now deciding what to plant next, and is introducing six more garden boxes.

"We had a general meeting recently, we asked for more keen gardeners and young people to come on board, so we're hopeful it will keep growing," Mr Te Aonui said.

"We're slowly chipping away at it and making it more prominent."