Kūmara Raumanawa
$9.00
SHIPMENT DATE: Expecting mid-November, but the actual timing varies from season to season. Orders are then sent out each week, mostly in the order received, but the actual send out time of any particular order depends on multiple factors including availability of tupu and speed of growth. Please read ordering information below.
Family: CONVOLVULACEAE
Genus & Species: Ipomoea batatas
Limit 1 per customer
Out of stock
Description
Heritage Status: New Zealand
Bio-Region of Origin: Unknown
Quantity: 5 Tupu
Description: One of four sacred pre European kumara that was gifted to Annie Botcher then to Koanga who have held them for over 30 years, from the elders of Ngati Kuri in the far North . This is another very rare old kumara remembered perhaps better than all other old cultivars, by elders all around this land. It came to us rom the far North as a pre European cultivar It has a gold skin and yellow flesh but with orange mandalas within the flesh when cut in half. It is very sweet and of a medium texture, not too dry or too soft. This kumara was recognised by Te Whanau a Apanui elders Koro Spadey and Nanny Barlou, when we lived there as the one they used to grow and send to school with the kids who cooked them on bonfires on the beach to eat for lunch with freshly harvested pipi etc
Kūmara Growing Guidelines: Kumara need light/ sandy soils (Maori carried sand long distances to improve heavy soils) with a hard pan about a foot under the surface. We prepare our beds by making two mounds lengthwise along the bed, so that each mound takes up half the bed width. The tupu are planted in small hollows you can make along the top of the mounds at 30cm spacings. Bend the roots of the tupu under into a J -shape when planting so the roots face up to the top again under the ridge of soil, facing east or, in some traditions, north. Traditional additions to the soil were baked ground shell, seaweed, and wood ash. We also use compost. Ensure that after each tupu is planted there is hollow around it so that water will stay around the tupu rather than running off. they only need watering usually, until they begin running.
Important information on ordering:
Due to the need to juggle different varieties being ready and their regrowth rate, tupu will be made available to order after each pick (usually Friday).
We will make what we have that week available but there will be more coming so if you miss out don’t worry. We have changed our system so that only members (when logged in) can join our waiting lists. If you are on the waiting list you will be notified via email when these tupu become available, if you miss out and still want to be notified when the next lot is available please put your name back on the waitlist for the following pick.
Initially they will be available to members only but this will change as the season progresses.
If you are not on the waiting list, and you want to be, then choose the varieties you are interested in, open the product and add your e-mail address.
On send out customers will receive an order note with tracking number to let them know their parcel is posted and to provide planting information