E Rongo

27/11/2025

The heads above soil method worked fast but with a catch…

01/11/2025

Ko roa te wā! We’ve moved to our new kāika in the Waitetuna Valley 🙌🏼 and are putting our first Tāpapa Kūmara (Slip Raising Bed) down. It’s pretty late in the season now so I’m trying a new style this year - keeping the heads above the soil. Ko te manako ia ka tipu pai, ka huhua mai te māra kai a Roko 🙏🏽

22/04/2024

06/04/2024

"We can overcome the great challenges before us, if we reawaken to the universal wisdom that lies at the heart of all indigenous traditions."

Ko Ea! Feeling relieved and stoked! Super honoured to be the one sharing the story of Poutama Rites of Passage with an international audience this morning at the 5th Annual International Conference on Trauma and Embodiment led by the Center for Trauma and Embodiment. I was but one face representing many today 🙏🏽

"Rites of Passage were community-led interventions that validated individuals, their challenges, their gifts and their greatest potential. Rites of Passage affirmed the core values of the tribe and sustained the physical and spiritual lives of their communities. Rites of Passage were powerful experiences that facilitated the transformation of identity."

01/04/2024

How do you deal with your sh*t?

21/03/2024

Curing and storing kūmara so it lasted through the winter and to the next planting season was an essential skill for our tūpuna. With supermarket prices for kai especially kūmara this last winter it’s once again becoming essential to grow our kai and remember how to store it well. This year we’re trialing a new curing method. Love to hear how you cure yours. Mauri Maara, Mauri Ora! Tiaki

20/03/2024

Sometimes life is so full on that we can only find time late at night after the tamariki are all tucked up in bed to do our mahi. If it wasn’t for a rama, a light, it would almost be impossible to do this mahi. Similarly, when we’re struggling mentally and emotionally and in ‘Te Pō’ - the unseen and subconscious space where deep programming and conditioning lies, we need Pou Rarama, pillars of light and love to guide us through that mahi. Nō reira, let’s be that for our brothers and sisters, for our whānau members who are needing support in this busy and stressful modern world. We can still plant kai in Te Pō that will bear fruit and feed our tamariki mokopuna kai te haere ake nei!
Mauri Tū, Mauri Ora, Mauri Aroha Mutuka Kore ki a koutou katoa 🙏🏼Tiaki

30/09/2022

Kūi Kūi Kūi Tioro Tioro Ti Ti Ti Tioro! Our first bit of mahi in the māra since the birth of our põtiki 4 months ago. Feels good to be heeding the call of pīpīwharauroa and putting our tāpapa kumara down. Heres our process for those interested. Mauri Aroha!

06/05/2022

He mahi pai mā te kaumātua? Āe Marika! We're a few days in after the birth of our second tamaiti, and have had incredible whānau support. This morning Põua Gerry asked if there are any good jobs for a kaumatua to do? "Just you being here is enough" I answered "...and if you feel to, there are heaps of jobs that a kaumātua can do to contribute to daily life here on the pāmu" Its so important our kaumātua feel purposeful and valued and unfortunately in today's world this is rarely the case. Although our traditional life ways werent easy they provided such a rich and wholesome life from birth to death and beyond...

E Rongo

17/04/2022

Te rongoā o Rongo.
First post in a while as we been flat out with Poutama Rites of Passage mahi this last month and have run the tank pretty low. Feeling super grateful to have a space to whakatau, restore and rebalance when life's little challenges build up. The maara kai is magic like that. Encourage all my bro's (and sisters too) to get out and mahi maara when your feeling the build up of big feelings. Productive and healing. Mauri Ora ki a tātaou.
Tiaki

04/03/2022

Kei te kaha kato pārihi mātou I tēnei wā hei whakarite pētõ pārihi! Thought I'd share how we pick our basil so as to encourage the plant to produce more tipu and bush out. Mauri Ora!