Kai Kollective & Kai Access – Mana in manaakitanga
Māoriland Maara Raumati 2025
Kai Kollective & Kai Access – Mana in manaakitanga
It has been a big year of kai out on the Toi Matarau streetfront. We bring kai to this space weekly. From second harvest veggies to Krispy Kreme doughnuts! We have up to 150 people come along each week. There are people mindfully distributing to others, individuals, and some representing large households, all getting extra at no cost. The feedback is that more food, easily available, is helpful, and some people are actually noticing health benefits from having more healthy kai without cost.
Thanks to Te Puna Oranga, Tania and I enjoyed meeting other people working to help whānau get enough to eat in Ōtaki. It was certainly evident that our entire community needs to celebrate Kaibosh! This para kore (zero-waste) initiative is conserving and diverting tonnes of kai, making an environmental problem a social solution. Several local groups are bringing Kaibosh food rescue kai to our community throughout the week.
If you would like to know more about kaibosh check them out here:
We are excited to collaborate with Ngā Hapu o Ōtaki and have our beautiful local kaumātua visit the maara for a morning tea in the new year.
Māoriland Maara – at the wet end of spring the maara was seeding like a wild thing, a source of joy and consternation! Thankfully, our delightful community has some generous people who have given time and energy, and collectively we are wrangling it!
Wednesday and Friday mornings, 9:30am – 11:30am are timeslots where you can come and join the mahi maara as a working bee if you would like to.
Kumara tipu are ready to go in, pumpkins and zucchinis are flowering, and dwarf beans and kamo kamo are all-go. As far as putiputi go, I am currently celebrating the flamboyant Hollyhocks, the drag queens of the maara!
One of the things I do in my week is donate time to get Kāpiti Fruit & Vege Co-op orders to town. This co-op is a regional initiative that enables buyers and growers to get the best deal through collaboration. If your priority is a general pack of fruit that you can order online, without having to commit to every week – this is a great way to get fresh produce at $15 a big bag. I bring the orders to Ōtaki on Thursday afternoons, you can pick up from me between 2:00pm – 3:00pm at 11 Raukawa street, or later at your convenience. The co-op has a short shutdown over Christmas but will be back again mid-January.
If Ōtaki-grown, sustainable organic is your priority I recommend local growers Crooked Vege if you can join their CSA community-sponsored agriculture model and commit to a weekly sum. Thanks to Jonathan Mines of Crooked Vege for donating excess tomato plants and the beautiful lettuce and pak choi to Māoriland Maara – all are thriving!
Out in te maara kai, we have been experimenting with biochar. Long story short, it revolutionises the compost!
Biochar uses pyrolysis to remove carbon from the atmosphere. It is an awesome solution for forestry waste. Biomass from your backyard can be used (e.g. pruning sticks). It’s not complicated, pyrolysis is the change brought about through fire.
Biochar is like a black sponge, it holds water, oxygen and nutrients and creates habitat for microorganisms. Mix biochar with water and nutrients and watch your maara boom! Established growers are using it to reduce fertiliser bills, water retention and oxygenation, and mulch. As if that wasn’t enough…art! Another option is to sketch with your carbon!
Biochar is an ancient gardening tool people forgot. Join the revival! Environmental and economic value (could include carbon credits) are real. In the Māoriland maara we are sending carbon back into the soil, while learning more about this free black gold! Thanks to John Wraight, Paekakariki Biochar legend, for his support of our journey.
Check out biochar
Māoriland Film Festival is coming late March – we run an organised and effective program to minimise waste at Māoriland festivals, and we are going to need some volunteers to help with our mahi para kore (waste minimisation work). Please email [email protected] if you think you might be able to assist, e.g. even just a rostered hour or two on dishes would help!
For those who really step up, free films and the red carpet party are available! I look forward to hearing from lots of people ready to assist with the film festival for the love of Papatūānuku and film!
Kia pai tō Raumati!
Elishka
