Organic NZ – September 2019

Advocate • Connect September/October 2019 57

Building and technology

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SOIL & HEALTH ASSOCIATION’S

ORANGA NUKU – ORANGA KAI – ORANGA TANGATAHEALTHY SOIL – HEALTHY FOOD – HEALTHY PEOPLE

Healt hierINTERIORSHOME

moon calendar and more!Recipes, prizes,

A balance of bugs

Habitats for hoverfliesOrganic ‘pest control’

wild weeds womanJulia Sich

Organic mushroom growingFungi fervour

Electro-thermalweeding

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http://www.organicfarm.org.nz
Cooking in earth – above ground
Not far from the back door, protected from
the elements by its own roof, is what Grant
calls the umu – a wood-fired oven made of
earth – often called a pizza oven these days.
Before he got into light earth building, these
ginormous mud ovens were his thing.
“Umu are great for power cuts,” says
Grant. “They bring people together, and
you can feed a working bee.”
This oven is made of clay, sand, pulped
paper and cement. It’s decorated in a
traditional Māori carving style by Rakai,
son of Lisa Beach who, with her partner
Rob Thomson, teaches the local maara
kai course and the hemp growing course.
The maara kai course covers Level 1 and 2
horticulture, and is also run by the Eastern
Institute of Technology. They have three
rules: no herbicides, no pesticides, and no
synthetic fertilisers.
“It’s sustainable gardening: we make our
own fertilisers, seed-raising mix, compost –
all organic and traditional,” says Lisa. “We
use lots of liquid comfrey fertiliser. Seaweed
is good for kūmara, potatoes, onions and
things that grow underground.”
Other vegetables they grow include
Māori taro, hue (gourds), kamokamo,
silverbeet, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach,
cabbage and pumpkin. They save and dry
their own seeds and store them in glass
jars. Kamokamo is grown away from other
members of the cucurbit family like squash,
to keep the seed strain pure.
Rob and Lisa prepare hāngi baskets for
the umu by lining them with banana leaves,
laying out the vegetables, then covering
them with more banana leaves. They cook
kamokamo whole, with the seeds scooped
out and the hollow filled with stuffing.
Flax-roots building
The building techniques, skills, equipment
and materials that Grant employs are
accessible, low-cost and low-tech. There’s
a job for everyone, no matter your level
of skill or knowledge, and it’s a great
community-building exercise.
To make natural building even more
accessible, in addition to learning through
an institution, and community workshops,
Grant wants to see a wwoofer system for
natural builders. “I call them boofers –
builders on organic farms.”
Together, Grant and Alice have
Light earth building:
problems and solutions

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Above: Alice Kaiwai and Grant Steven

dedicated themselves to flaxroots ways for

people and communities to create at least

some of their own shelter – and to have fun

and a feast while doing it. It’s a movement

that’s gaining popularity. Find out more at

http://www.facebook.com/grant.steven.566.

Philippa Jamieson is the editor of

Organic NZ and author of The Wild

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http://www.philippajamieson.co.nz

Above: Rob, Lisa and Hinemoana with produce from the maara kai.