Te Pae Maharahara (Garden of Remembrance)
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Tupoho - Castlecliff, Whanganui, New Zealand
Te Pae Maharahara is a garden to remember all the whānau who established and continue to contribute to the kura. A space for healing and connecting to the taiao (environment). Native rongoā (medicinal) trees are planted on the perimeter, and gully, and will provide much needed tree canopy and habitat for biodiversity. Nitrogen fixing nurse trees help to establish the more sensitive plantings in what are predominantly sand dunes..
Thank you to our generous funders especially:
Matariki Tu Rākau- Ministry of Primary Industries - One Billion Trees Project.
The Indigenous Biodiversity Fund - Horizons Regional Council 2021, and again in 2022. The Ministry Of Education Discretionary Fund 2022, and Heritage Crops Research Trust, for donations of Fruit and Nut trees, vegetables and seeds,
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Tupoho Board of Trustees and Kura kaiako, kaimahi and whānau for their ongoing support. Kia ora Tumuaki Matua Tim Tukapua for his encouragement and passion for the taiao, and to Piwakawaka Farm and Murray Jones, and to everyone who has given their time and support to this project. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.
Works
"E tu te Poho ki te ruku o te Kawau kura”
The original site was a paddock of sand dunes covered in kikuyu grass. Cutting the slope to create 3 broad terraces with mounds (or swale’s) to slow, soak and store water. Cardboard and tree mulch are added to build organic matter, holding moisture in the soil, and encouraging funghi, micro-organisms and worms. Compost is used when planting to establish trees and plants.
Awesome whānau planting day in late September 2021, with our first 150 trees planted into beautiful compost, and mulched.
Tino pai oū tātou mahi! Ngā tauira, ngā kaiako, ngā manuhiri.. Ngā mihi nui tātou kātoa!
By diverting the overflows of two rainwater tanks into the gully we could return much needed water into the system. Summer months are high wind and evaporation.
Students dug the trench for a tap to water the top terraces. The lower two terraces are a mix of native and fruit/nut trees.
Pūanga and the Matariki constellation rise at dawn in mid winter (late June) to mark the Māori New Year. This is a time to remember loved ones who have passed in the previous year. This is also the best time to plant trees.
To prepare sandy soil we first lay cardboard, then tree mulch to suppress weeds. We recycled old fencing to construct seating areas.
A mauri stone was installed and the māra was opened with a blessing and given it’s name Te Pae Maharahara.
Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.
Into the second summer the māra is now creating it’s own microclimate with birdlife and first fruits arriving. The outdoor learning/seating area was constructed with students from donated trees.
