Last year, at Colwill Kindergarten, we planted two sprouting kūmara that a parent had given us on the last day of 2020. After a long wait, we harvested 44 kūmara for Matariki 2021. The children enjoyed eating them as part of our celebrations and wanted to grow more. 

They wondered, if 2 grew into 44, how many would 10 grow into and so the research began. We learnt how to sprout kūmara by experimenting with several different techniques. We learnt how to plant them for maximum productivity and how to really care for them. We planted our 10 kūmara sprouts last November but with the hot summer we were really worried they wouldn’t survive. We didn’t need to be as once again we have a thriving crop.   

We can’t wait to harvest again and see how many we get this time.  We’re hoping for a plentiful crop that we can share with our whānau, especially at this time when many are suffering hardship.