Enviroschools learn to grow kumara

Nick Roskruge examines freshly grown kumara tipu. Photo / Stuart Munro

Six Whanganui enviroschools are trying kumara growing.

Teachers, led by enviroschools co-ordinator Ron Fisher, had a first workshop on kumara growing two months ago. And on Thursday Massey University Māori agribusiness expert Dr Nick Roskruge gave a second workshop on kumara growing in Whanganui.

They heard how to bed whole kumara in a mix of gravel, horse manure, compost, bark or sand, keep them moist, put them in a warm place and watch them sprout. The long sprouts, called tipu, are divided into pieces, each with two or three leaves, for planting.

At the Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tupoho the teachers, and others, showed the results of their sprouting attempts over afternoon tea.

Kura teacher Hine Stanley had some vigorous tipu, each long enough to make three cuttings.
Dr Roskruge said warmth was one of the secrets, and that thin kumara warm up quicker.
"The whole idea is to warm up the kumara, get it active, because it's having a sleep."

Kumara are from the convolvulus family. They grow easily from stem cuttings, even if the cuttings have no roots, he said.

The group was then to move outside, where Dr Roskruge would demonstrate planting the tipu into fine soil in the kura garden. They will be ready to harvest in five months.

For more information on kumara growing see the national Māori Vegetable Growers Collective website www.tahuriwhenua.org.nz.