Rua kūmara (storage pits) were used to store kūmara for food and for planting the next season. They were sealed with a wooden door or lid. The pits were dug into the side of a slope (1), or dug out in a bell shape (2). They often had drainage channels (3 and 4). …

This rua kūmara (kūmara storage pit) is rectangular, and protected by a thatched roof. Pits were dug in the ground to store kūmara and keep it warm and moist. Rain ran from the roof into the external drain (right). Some pits also had internal drains.

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These three rua kūmara (kūmara storage pits) were still in use when this photo was taken in 1930. They were dug into the side of earth banks at Ruatāhuna, Urewera, with wooden doorways and reinforcing added.

Apr 29, 2021 · Researchers believe rua kumara were stored there due to the discovery of microscopic starch granules with distinctive kumara characteristics from secure deposits at the base of the pits.

Dec 1, 2013 · the old rua kumara When I was a youngster growing up in Muriwai… everyone was still using the old rua-kumara system to store their potato and kumara crops through winter… so simple a child could do it… and I should know…

Jul 7, 2021 · As a tuber or root crop though, kūmara stores really well, and our ancestors adapted to winter scarcity by building special reinforced, covered storage pits (rua), dug in the ground or into a hillside, where the tubers could be kept cool, pest-free, and out of the light.

A Rua Kumara – store pit for kumara, East Coast. Image 2 shows a more traditional design excavated into a bank, then recovered with soil to control the internal environment (and thieves). ‘Te Pànui Tips’ are simple fact sheets that cover topics designing organic crop production systems on the East Coast.

Apr 28, 2021 · Researchers believe rua kumara were stored there due to the discovery of microscopic starch granules with distinctive kumara characteristics from secure deposits at the base of the pits.

The remains of kūmara storage pits, or rua kūmara, are still found around the country. Many types of pit were developed, and there is some evidence that different tribes preferred particular types.