Te Mahi Maara Hua Parakore

Mirimiri i te oneone, whakarongo ki ngā manu, ki ngā aitanga pepeke. Kei reira a Papatuanuku I tatari mau, kia hoki atu ki te kainga tuturu. Ki raro i tōnā kiri e maha ōna kohimuhimu. Engari i te tuatahi me whakatika i ōna mamae, i ōna mauiui, a ka whakautu i a koe me ngā kai e kii ki ngā taiora, i ngā mea e whakaora I tou tinana, wairua, hinengaro me to whanau. Ka ataahua haere a Papatuanuku, a ka tangi haere a Ranginui, na te ngarohanga o tonā Whaea. Ka whakapakari haere te oranga o Papa na ngā (supplements) ki roto i ngā roimata o Rangi.

Ki roto i tenei pukapuka rerehua, i tenei pukapuka manukanuka a ko te ‘Te Mahi Maara Hua Parakore’, e maha ngā korero, tikanga, kaupapa, maramatanga kia tutuki koe I ngā mahi kua whangai ngā tangata ataahua rirerire kia pakari ake a Papa a ko koe koutou ko to whanau hoki.

I tino waimarie ahau ki te tutaki  ia Jessica Hutchings, te kaituhituhi o tino pukapuka. Ki roto i tenei pukapuka ka korero e pana ki nga ngoke, nga rakau, te taiao, nga wairakau awhe a he maha ano hoki. Ko te kii a Jessica “Ahakoa he iti he pounamu”. Ahakoa te iti o te maara, ahakoa te nui o te maara he taonga kia matou.  Ki ahau nei, he pai te maara ki taku kura.

Na Philly Mete-Kingi, Tau 10 ki Te Kura-a-Iwi o Whakatupuranga Rua Mano

Feel the dirt, listen to the birds, to the insects. Papatuanuku is waiting for you to go back to your real home. Under her skin are lots of secrets, but first you need to make her better, fix her sores. She will repay you with food filled with nutrients, nutrients that will make your body, spirit, mind and family healthy and nourished. Papatuanuku will be become even more beautiful; Ranginui will become sad not being able to embrace his wife he will cry. Papa will be become stronger than ever due to the tears of Rangi.

In this book ‘ Te Mahi Maara Hua Parakore’ there are lots of useful  korero, thoughts, achievements and methods that have come from some very committed people of Aotearoa who practice the hua parakore ways of managing maara. This is based on māori values and applied to the maara. These korero will not only help Papatuanuku become  sustained  and healthy, but also you and your family can apply these methods.

I felt very lucky to meet Jessica Hutchings the author of this book. In this book it talks about the purpose of worms, compost heaps and so many other ways in which we can contribute  to our creation stories by our tikanga māori values.  Jessica has a lot of quotes in her book, from lots of different people, but one I most relate to is “Ahakoa he iti he pounamu” “Although it is small, it is greenstone” The size of the garden doesn’t matter, all gardens are treasures, just start somewhere, anywhere. I am thankful we have one to learn in at our kura.