Ku¯mara is easy to grow
Aotearoa’s first settlers brought ku¯ mara, taro, yams, gourds and tı¯ pore (Pacific cabbage tree) from the Pacific Islands.
Ku¯ mara coped best with our cooler climate and became a vital, main crop. Many different varieties were grown (in 1880 missionary William Colenso recorded 48) whereas today only three main varieties are widely available commercially.
These are purple ‘Owairaka Red’ (Awapuni Nurseries) with creamy white flesh, golden ‘Toka Toka Gold’ and orange ‘Beauregard’. These were much larger than the finger-sized varieties originally grown and were brought over from America in the 1850s.
Koanga Gardens near Wairoa sells a range of pre-European and early commercial varieties, including one that is white.
This nutrient- and carbohydrate-dense vegetable can be roasted, boiled and fried, plus you can also eat the leaves.
When to plant
Ku¯ mara should be planted in spring once all risk of frosts has passed, but don’t leave it too long as they must have a long, hot summer. Wiremu Puke, creator of Te Parapara, the traditional Ma¯ ori gardens at Hamilton Gardens, told NZ Gardener that at the gardens they plant ku¯ mara on a new moon in late October/early November when the Matariki stars are at their brightest. Harvesting takes place in late March before the first frost.
Growing instructions
There are two ways to start a ku¯ mara crop: buy a bundle of runners (bareroot plants) from your local garden centre, or produce your own free plants by sprouting a store-bought tuber.
Simply suspend a tuber in water on a sunny windowsill or nestle a large ku¯ mara into a pot or tray of moist sand. Within a couple of weeks it’ll produce shoots/plantlets out of its eyes. When these plantlets are about 15cm high, with their own roots and leaves, you can carefully remove them from the mothership and transplant them. Or simply bury your sprouted tubers whole.
If you’re in the south and conditions are too cold (there are records of ku¯ mara being grown as far south as Banks Peninsula), grow your ku¯ mara as an ornamental houseplant in a sunny spot indoors.
Ku¯ mara loathe clay and are one of the few vege crops that actually thrive in sandy soils. If your soil is a tad on the heavy side, mound up the soil. Dig in a handful of general garden fertiliser at planting time.
Gently push the plantlets into the ground (40cm apart) at a depth of around 5cm in the shape of a ‘‘J’’ lying down, with the long edge running parallel with the top of the ground. If you plant vertically pointing down, it can be too cold for the ku¯ mara to form from the nodes. Don’t cut