Recipe of the month
From field to plate
The First Crop Introduced
Many think of kumara as an indigenous NZ vegetable, in fact it is an introduced crop. Maori, when they migrated to NZ, brought it with them. As a crop to introduce it was an excellent choice. The kumara roots remained alive and healthy for the duration of the long sea voyage to be planted and produce a crop on arrival.
The natural long life of kumara also made it an excellent choice as a staple food because once harvested, if cared for properly, it would last at least a year. As importantly, as a food packed with key vitamins and nutrients, very little more was needed in Maori diet to maintain complete good health.
Maori planted kumara right across the semi-tropical regions of the North Island with flat alluvial plains providing the best growing conditions for the red variety. Working to a six month growing cycle with seed stocks were cultivated under carefully controlled conditions and planting beds meticulously prepared to avoid any risk of disease of pest carry-over from a previous crop.
Today Delta’s quality control extends to gaining GAP Certification for our growers which means that they remain environmentally responsible in their growing methods and processes.
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