Jade Temepara

The award-winning gardener is hosting an edible-garden plot at the NZ Flower & Garden Show. “The theme of Tāne Mahuta is about going back in history to see how Maori have used the land and how we could bring traditional practices into the present.”

What traditional Maori food plant would you recommend trying to grow first? Kawakawa is perfect for beginners. Maori potatoes are amazing, too, as they’re full of antioxidants and other nutrients. What inspires you as a gardener? I got a lot out of learning how to grow food from my grandfathers and I want to enable as many people to experience that as well. Being able to feed my children with good food is also a top priority.

Is healthy eating a priority? Since I have children, I know a lot in that area. My mandate is to pass that learning on to my children – to live what I teach. Describe your diet and lifestyle. It’s a mainly traditional Maori diet, with lots of seafood, veges and fruit. I don’t eat gluten, dairy or processed food and I cook what my ancestors would have eaten.

What is your typical breakfast? Today I had poached eggs, salmon, leafy greens and horopito hummus. I usually serve a cooked breakfast, such as eggs, porridge or spinach.

What about lunch? It’s usually lots of fresh veges, foraged foods and seaweed. We like kumara, lots of fish and mutton birds.

What’s a typical evening meal?

Panfried fish – sometimes whole

– is a favourite. I also cook a lot of vegetarian meals. We love kumara fries, horopito hummus and lots of soups for winter, including pumpkin, kumara and coconut-milk-based ones, as we’re dairy-free.

What’s your idea of food hell? Having an environment where we can’t access or grow our own healthy, nutritious food. Unclean land, water and oceans would be the ultimate nightmare. We need to preserve our environment so it can continue to sustain us and future generations.

New Zealand Flower & Garden Show, November 29 to December 3, the Trusts

Arena, Waitakere, Auckland.