Last Wednesday, when I went for a stroll through Hamilton
Gardens, I mentioned I visited a few of them.
One was Te Parapara, the Maori kumara garden.
This was the entrance gate to the garden.
Outside the enclosure was this building. It is a pity that there is not more signage
around, as I would have liked to have known what its purpose was meant to be.
This building, built to sit above ground, looks like a storehouse for the kumara when it is harvested.
The ground is currently being prepared to be ready for
kumara planting time, when that arrives.
This photo, taken in 2020, shows what the kumara look like
when they are half-grown.
I’m not sure what this building represents (it may be another
type of storehouse), but it is obviously tied up with fertility!
These carvings look to me like they are there to protect the
crop.
Around the outside of the garden there is a planting of native
plants. I believe these are to represent
the food that was gathered from the wild, as opposed to what was cultivated.
Our weather today (Sunday) is misty drizzle. Hopefully, this coming week will bring some
more lovely sunny days with it.
Stay happy 😊
Margaret.
Interesting to see the mounds for growing the kumara. I have always used rows with furrows between.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, those carvings just might startle me enough to leave the crop where it is!
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret, I had to look up kumara only to find that it is a sweet potato. We're big fans of them here and at this time of the year they're almost always on sale ( This is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and sweet potatoes are a 'must'.... right along with the turkey).
ReplyDeleteThat garden seems like a nice quiet place to walk.
I hope you have a week filled with sunshine.
Granny M
Sorry, I should have explained that they are a type of sweet potato. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving :) xx
DeleteHi Margaret, I never knew that kumara is planted on little mounds like that. The kumara garden looks so orderly. Amazing photos. The weather is unsettled here in Auckland. We started off today with a cloudy morning, then the sun came out and I did a little bit of gardening and got slightly sunburnt! Then later on we had a short thunder storm. Weird weather! Hugs, Rose x
ReplyDeleteI think we may have had the same thunderstorm pass through here! Very noisy, with a short bout of really heavy rain, and then it was gone again :)
DeleteHow great that they actually grow kumaras there. Gosh I'd love to taste a real kumara again
ReplyDeletePity we can't send you some :)
DeleteVery interesting. Are all those wood carvings hand carved?!?!? That would take some serious skill.
ReplyDeleteYes, all hand carved. Maori have an enviable reputation for their carving skills.
DeleteI hope you have some good spring weather this week, Margaret. This is a beautiful garden!
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting and I love your photos. When I was young I lived next door to a family whose Mom came from Wellington, NZ and the dad came from Texas. When I was about 9 they moved back to Wellington and I was always so curious about what it looked like there. I had an idea in my mind which was totally inaccurate! Your photos give me a good idea of where my friends went. My son in law’s mom was born in Christchurch and spent part of her youth there before moving to the UK and I have seen photos of her home and it looked surprisingly like houses in America! It is so interesting to see places through these blog photos. Thank you for posting.
ReplyDeleteThe first does not look too inviting to me, but thank you for going through and showing the interesting follow up. Yes. Explanations would´ve helped! I saw a docu on how they do tattoos. They are very skilled artists in many a way!
ReplyDeleteI was going to look up Kumara but it was explained in comments. What an interesting place to visit, so many carvings and the faces looking like the Rugby Players when they do the Haka
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ReplyDeletethe story behind the carvings would have added so much interest to the gardens for those of us who are not that familiar with Māori lore..
ReplyDeleteWe also ended up with a thunderstorm Sunday afternoon - which I did not appreciate as I had developed a migraine.
So far this week the weather has been more spring-like... long may it last!!
Blessings
Maxine
Great blog
ReplyDeleteFun to see! Espeically the carvings!
ReplyDeleteI think the kumara must be the same vegetable we call sweet potato or yams. I saw carved buildings like that at Waitangi and at Whakarewarewa and at Waitakere Ranges.
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting with these different gardens you visit. But I agree that it would have been nice with some information about the history and meaning behind the different things.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting. I feel really guilty that I didn't know that it existed :(
ReplyDeleteGreat carvings. I wonder what they used to colour them red (pre-pakeha and the arrival of paint)
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what the Kumar was, and saw the plant..it reminded me of sweet potatoes and saw where you told that they are a type.
ReplyDelete