Maramataka mode: A gardener's life dictated by the moon and stars

Thursday, 23 June 2022

For one Taranaki gardener, the arrival of Puanga in the night sky is a reminder of just how closely connected she is to her whenua.

Pounamu Skelton is a kai maara (gardener) who has a focus on promoting food security and teaching whānau how to grow their own produce.

She also helps run the Waitara-based crop swap initiative.

But the arrival of Puanga represents a time for rest and reflection for Skelton, and a chance for the whenua she looks after to rejuvenate.

Puanga is celebrated in Taranaki and other parts of Aotearoa, instead of Matariki. However, both are a traditional time to harvest crops and stock up the pātaka kai, or food cupboard.

At the recent celebration of Puanga at the Parihaka in South Taranaki, those who attended had their hands in the soil preparing their gardens, before taking time to share kai together.

For Skelton, observing the maramataka, or Māori lunar calendar, has dictated how she works the soil in her own backyard for the past 10 years.

”It’s getting us back to working with the natural cycles.”

The arrival of Puanga “is like a milestone as a kai maara (gardener),” Skelton said.

It is a time when the final harvest should be completed and everything grown or preserved stored away.

It provided a chance for Skelton to reflect on her gardening practice, plan for the season ahead but also nourish herself and her relationship with others, including her tūpuna.

Kai, in the form of a hākari, or feast, with whānau was also a common way to mark the occasion.

Skelton said one thing which was important during Puanga, which sometimes got overlooked, was “giving back”.

This meant acknowledging the atua (gods) for the food they provided during the seasons, she said.

Often this involved a hautapu ceremony, in which a plate of kai was prepared as an offering, as a way to say thanks.

“That’s like a Thanksgiving, like the Americans do.”

It’s also a way to teach gratitude to tamariki, she said, to make the point that “it doesn’t just turn up, there’s a lot of things that have to align for food to be served up on a plate”.

She said the arrival of Spring is marked in Taranaki by the birdsong of the long-tailed shining cuckoo, or pīpīwharauroa.

Skelton’s deep connection with her whenua meant she often got “itchy” around this time too, as she waited for the soil to be warm enough to start planting.

“You really want to observe your own patch and your own backyard and look for all the signs, the tohu, that shows it’s time to do the activities.”