Ringa Raupā Project

16/02/2026

An amazing opportunity for someone - share around so that it finds the right person!!!

11/02/2026

I've picked 5kg of tomatoes so far this week.
5kg = 4.5 ltr bottled tomatoes.

Being mid-week,I didn't have time to do anything fancy. I scored the bottom of the tomatoes, blanched them for 15 seconds in boiling water, ran them under cold water (better with iced water but I don't have a freezer), peeled and rough diced, followed by a hand smoosh, then bottled them up and heat sterilized them by boiling in a pot of water on a tea towel for 15 minutes. I could have left them to ripen on the bench for longer, that would have been better for flavour. But I didn't know if I'd find the time in a few days to process them, plus, there will be more by the time the weekend comes around!

Honestly, while I was bottling them, I was thinking about how cheap crushed tomatoes are at the supermarket. Don't judge me - it was late at night and I was tired!

They are able to be cheap because of all of the machines involved that increase efficiency. But then, when they are cheap and you didn't put in the work, it follows that it's easier to take them for granted. Also, I know these tomatoes weren't grown with chemicals (though you can buy canned organic tomatoes too), they were picked by me and my children. We will savour them. Also, I remembered Haana Wilcox talking about organising bottling days at our marae, because 'no one used to bottle fruit on their own, we did it together'. This is part of the rongoā that reconnecting with kai does... facilitates connection and appreciation... The antidote to much of our troubles these days.

And of course, reusable jars means less steel cans = less mining of our iron sand beaches such as at Taranaki.

Alas, I shall continue growing and preserving tomatoes. I will grow twice as many, but plant them closer to my house. I will have all my bottles and jars ready. I will have my favourite recipes for relish, tomato sauce and a pasatta machine and recipe and I will get all the ingredients ahead of time. Over the harvesting season (Feb/March) I will allocate Sundays to processing them and will lure people for Sunday lunch to help!

And this is all transferrable to our marae. Maybe lots of planning Hui over Feb/March while processing tomatoes, nē?!

10/02/2026

I'm back in the maara, and want to re-centre back into the kaupapa.

What I'm doing in the maara kai, is focussing on staple crops that store well, either as produce (such as potatoes, onions, kanga mā, dried beans) or as preserves (such as bottled tomatoes, bread and butter pickles, beetroot etc). The thinking behind those crops is that they may work well in our unique marae settings where you don't know when there will be a kaupapa on, or how many people will be there, and where you may have different caterers, with different recipes needing different ingredients.

Imagine a pataka kai that is full of colourful, produce and preserves, herb blends and rongoā. Home made tomato sauce to accompany meals, Aunty's famous kamokamo relish, poached fruit for parakuihi.

At my Mums tangi in November, our marae Mataweka Marae, was an exemplar of this. I was so proud and chuffed and grateful.

Now, I have had some real successes in the maara, and some bummages, and duhhh moments. I am going to share all of it. I reckon it's all helpful (even if it just helps you feel like less of a disaster than me!).

It is a lovely aspiration, growing your own kai. A very important one too, on so many levels. But it's also hard keeping up with all of the things expected of us nowadays. A maara is alive, and has its own time. Produce spoils while you are trying to get the vinegar and spices, and jars with matching lids, and keeping the kids occupied. The weather does what it does... i te mea i te mea.

This week I will update you all on the maara, my wins, my fails and my learnings.

07/02/2026

08/01/2026

Maara Update for 2026!

08/01/2026

05/12/2025