Kumara
The best guide for growing Kumara in a cold european climate.
Kumara in Europe
Firstly I would like a settle the spelling Kumera and Kumara are both correct. You can use what you wish but Kumara is probably the more commonly used.
Kumara in Europe
This vegetable is my number one favorite, living away from New Zealand I’ve tried a number of different sweet potato varieties but nothing comes close to the Kumara.
Thoughts of the sunday night lamb with roast Kumara linger as the best of the best.
Many varieties are either too sweet, and don’t have that unique flavour that comes from a crispy roasted Kumara. The texture is slightly waxy but soft and they are just Yum!!!!
Visiting New Zealand and tasting Kumara chips which has spread throughout the nation is just as good.
Word of warning they are filling, the richest of Kumara certainly makes your eyes outpace your stomach with the urge of “Just one More”
With all the desire of growing this vegetable in France and health benefits of Kumara vs Potato has lead me to get the word out. It is possible to grow Kumara in a cold climate.
Starting Kumara Slips
Starting Kumara Slips
While the method of placing a Kumara saved from the previous year into a glass of water suspended by toothpicks will work there is a much more productive method.
When to start your sandbox
This has taken a few seasons to master, and it depends on your climate and where you are going to grow your Kumara.
Preparing the Soil and Location
Kumara plants spread some distance, and can get to a length over 3m. Some thought needs to be made on location and having a good sized Kumara patch.
Starting your baby Kumara Plants
Harvesting the Slips
Slips will growing amazingly fast and harvesting can be done a couple of times per week.
Growing On Slips
These harvested slips need a good chance in life, and planting them out in this state will see some losses.
Planting Out
A good slip will have multiple sites of root growth along its stem, and it is recommended to get this as deep as possible so only the growth tip is showing above the soil.
Growth of Plants
Looking After the Plants
The biggest task until the plants mature is weed control, once a total blanket of vines form this task can be reduced.
When to Harvest
Kumara are like potato, the tuber bulking stage is later in the growing cycle and harvesting too early will reduce yield.
Looking after your crop
Storage
Kumara don’t like being stored below 10 degrees C which is a bit of a problem in france.
What to keep for next season
The choice of tubers for slip production should not be too small, these tend to dry out and die.
Kumara in Europe
Sharing our learning hopefully you won’t make the same mistakes that I have experienced. We had two poor seasons and had just enough to to save for the next season. The New Zealand Maori had Kumara pits for storage and they too learnt how to adapt to the climate.
The “Haka” originated from a Kumara pit so it has special meaning to New Zealanders.
I hope this has inspired some interest and if it seems too time intensive we may have surplus come October. Kumara part of being a Kiwi.