July – Celebrating Matariki
As the Matariki star cluster comes rising up for the first time in the Eastern sky we celebrate the Maori New Year – this year it was during July. It is a time to come together with whānau (family) and friends to think about the year that has passed and to plan for the future. The stars of Matariki are family too. The mother – Whaea Matariki – is surrounded by her daughters. This month we learnt all about Tupu-ā-nuku, who spends her time with Papatūānuku (Earth Mother) tending to all the beautiful growing plants. She cares for them making sure they have everything they need to grow healthy and strong so they can produce kai/food, rongoā/medicine and kākahu/clothing materials.
To celebrate Matariki this year, we learnt a new skill – weaving. We learnt how to weave using a plant called harakeke (flax). Harakeke was a very important fibre plant to Māori and was often used to make baskets, clothing, mats, plates, ropes, bird snares, lashings, fishing lines and nets. Today we leant how to weave a putiputi (flower). We learnt all about the Tikanga (Māori protocols) surrounding the plant and how to respectfully harvest and weave. We also learnt how the plant is a great way to explore the idea of whakapapa. At the centre is the rito (children) and the leaves surrounding represent the mātua (parents) and tupuna (grandparents) all protecting one another. Some children picked up the new skill easily and others found it more difficult. I was impressed that everyone persisted and everyone successfully weaved a putiputi.
Alongside this, we also learnt about directly sowing seeds into the ground and why it is beneficial. Did you know that some seeds don’t like to be disturbed? That’s because you can damage the roots as you transplant them from the seedling pot. These are seeds like rocket, radish, carrots and turnips – mostly plants where the root actually becomes the food we eat. We all had turns at deciding where to put the row, moving the mulch to the side, digging a shallow trench, sprinkling the seeds in aiming for a 1cm spacing and finally tucking our seeds very gently into bed.
We also planted out some of our spare seedlings that were ready to soak up all the rain outside and added worm wees and castings. Unfortunately, our entire worm bin fell through the bottom! Luckily, we had three amazing girls gently put all the worms back in their home and gave them some good food – well done girls!
Next month we are very excited to start preparing for our spring garden and all the beautiful delicious plants we can grow in all our new space!
