Kia ora! I am not tangata whenua but I have been living on this land of Aotearoa all my life (well, aside from a couple of O.E’s), I have been gardening on this land for over half of that and the moon has been here for the whole journey.
Maramataka Māori is a way of living where in the days of old the moon cycles represented and advised how and when was the best time to do anything- from putting in a business proposal, spending time with whānau, to planting your kūmara.
My main focus is on, surprise surprise, the gardening aspect of Maramataka Māori (to be completely and utterly honest, I didn’t actually realise until recently, that Maramataka was used for more than just gardening). I have been playing around with moon gardening for a good few years now and the results that I get tell me that it’s worth waiting a day or so if need be for the right moon phase to do a particular job. If nothing else it’s a good reminder of what needs to be done.
So, each new moon (Whiro) I will give you a rundown on what jobs need to be looked at in your māra (garden) and when is the best time to do them. Of course, all weather permitting- there’s no point in foliar feeding your trees when its pissing down with rain!
All tribes (iwi) have slight variations from each other of what nights are called what. I follow the Ātiawa version.
