Last year we decided to try something brand new for us on The North Grove community farm. We grew rice!
Farm & Youth Facilitator, Rose, grew up surrounded by flooded rice fields in the Philippines and with her encouragement, we decided to give it a try.
There are two main types of rice crops: lowland rice, a warm weather crop characterized by flooded paddy fields; and upland rice, which doesn’t require flooding and can handle cooler temperatures.
We chose a variety of rice called Hayayuki Rice, purchased from local seed company, Annapolis Seeds. Hayayuki Rice is an upland variety that originated in Hokkaido, Japan - an area with a similar latitude and climate to Nova Scotia.
The process
We started our seedlings indoors under grow lights in April. They germinated very well and grew to more than eight inches tall before we planted them outside!
We planted the rice outside in June. One of our volunteers, also from the Philippines, sang us a rice planting song that farm workers would sing while they were planting. Watch our June Community Farm Tour to hear it!
From there, the rice grew steadily. We made sure to keep the rice extra moist. In addition to the irrigation line, we watered the rice by hand several times a week. However, we struggled with weeding the rice patch because the rice plants looked so similar to the crab grass and other weeds that grew alongside it. The similarity to grass is not surprising given that rice is a type of grass.
The rice grains that form on the plants are not only one of the most vital food sources for the planet - but also the plant’s seeds. So, when we are eating delicious sushi, we are really eating a mouthful of grass seeds!
Next, the rice grains began to form! Each plant put out several stalks ladened with rice grains which started out green and gradually became a golden yellow as the rice matured.
Depending on the variety, a single rice plant can produce about 1000-1500 grains of rice or about a quarter cup of uncooked rice. Given that we had about 30 rice plants, we were hoping for a yield that we would be able to share.
Unfortunately, the day we were set to harvest our rice and start the processing, we realized that all the mature ready-to-harvest grains were missing. Something ate our rice, but it wasn’t us! We had hoped that we wouldn’t have trouble with mice or birds because rice is not commonly grown in the area, but we were wrong – they knew a good thing when they saw it.
Our rice journey ended abruptly this year, but we did manage to use some of the empty stalks for our fall floral arrangements!
Despite the lack of harvest, our rice growing was a huge success in other important ways thanks to the interest and engagement shown by our community. Many people were fascinated to see rice growing – some, like many of us, had never thought about where rice grows! Other folks told us stories of growing up in other parts of the world and seeing rice growing as part of their day-to-day lives. Almost everyone was surprised and delighted to find out that rice can be grown right here in Nova Scotia.
As for us at The North Grove, we will definitely be growing Hayayuki rice again next year. But this time, we will invest in some bird netting!
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