For centuries Native Americans in Southern Canada and the Northern Central United States have been harvesting wild rice along streams and lakes in canoes, bending the long stalks over the canoe and either shaking off the grain or gathering bunches of stalks and hitting them with a ceremonial long stick and knocking the rice into their canoe. For some of the tribal groups this wild rice has cultural, spiritual and economic aspects to it.
To most of those of you who know about wild rice, that knowledge is confined to the fact that it is an item on the supermarket shelf whose nutty flavor goes well with many main dishes. It is also very nutritious, has no fat, cholestrol or sodium. It is high in fiber and vitamin B. Compared to white rice it has twice the protein and triple the fiber.
This is actually not rice at all but a tall aquatic grass of North America (Zizania Aquatica L.), with a grain, two or more times the length of the long grain rice of Asia, and the grains are typically a brown-black color when it is a cultivated crop.
Yes, Virginia, wild rice is also grown in Lake County. In fact, there are two growers here. Steve Jones, of Upper Lake has an annual crop planting of almost 800 acres and has been growing wild rice since 1981. He plants about 350 acres in the Rodman Slough/Bloody Island area, and the remaining 450 acres are in the Tule Lake area, west of Upper Lake and Highway 29.
Steve said that when he first started growing wild rice, he was preparing the soil in the early spring with special equipment that does not get bogged down in the mud, because wild rice needs a slightly flooded area to grow in. The preparation process took almost two months to complete.
He then used a small plane to sow the seeds over the crop area. This method created a problem because of the late planting and the fact that the crop in both areas ripened at the same time. Today, Steve does his soil preparation in the fall and uses mechanical planting and harvesting devices. Now that the soil is ready earlier, Steve says that he can stagger his planting times, starting in the Bloody Island area in early March and finishing up in the Tule Lake area in early June.
Virtually no pesticides or herbicides are used by Steve in the growing process. Pest-resistant seed is used that has been selected for its ability to stay on the plant, and not “shatter” as it ripens, and fall into the water. This shattering is the major problem faced in growing wild rice because wind, animals, birds and even disturbed water can cause the ripening grains of rice to fall off of the stem.
Steve went on to say that he does apply a commercial fertilizer to enrich the swampy soil and to bolster his crop. He applies it with a small plane to disperse the fertilizer onto the growing area.
During the growing period, the level of water in the crop area has to be maintained to insure that an adequate amount covers the plant roots.
His biggest pest problems are ducks, that like to feast on the succulent young rice seedlings as they are coming up, and blackbirds, that enjoy a rice-rich diet as the crop ripens and matures. Steve said that he controls both varieties of birds by using physical and mechanical means of shooing them away, which takes much time and labor since the birds cannot seem to understand why they are not free to partake of this rich smorgasbord of delectable goodies without interference.
Harvesting begins in the Bloody Island area in the middle of July and in Tule Lake in mid-September. The crop is harvested with a “grain combine,” that separates the rice from the stalk. Steve says now that he has a stable seed, he saves out his own seed stock when he harvests for planting the next spring.
Next, the harvested rice is transported by grain hopper trucks to Colusa where it is dried, processed and packaged for the buyer. Steve went on to say that he markets most of his crop to Uncle Ben's in Houston, Texas and that the wild rice is usually mixed with other varieties since 100% wild rice is very expensive. He said that the packaged products are available on many of the shelves here in Lake County.
Steve said that, “Lake County provides the best climate and yield,” for his crop. Steve added that in addition to California, “...wild rice is also grown in Minnesota and Canada.”
The other grower, also in the Upper Lake area, is a partnership of Larry O'Bryant and Bob Neilson who have about 100 acres of crop within the Robinson Slough/Bloody Island area adjacent to the Nice/Lucerne Cut-off.
Larry said that they had been growing wild rice since about 1983. He started with seed stock from Deer Creek Wild Rice and now holds out enough of his crop each year for reseeding the next crop.
Their planting methods differ in that they pump out their plots of land beginning in March or April and let them dry. Beginning in May they till and fertilize the soil then re-flood the land and plant the rice seeds by broadcasting them using a tractor-pulled spreader.
They use propane “sonic” devices built within tubes to create an echo that causes a noise similar to a shotgun blast to keep the ducks from eating all of their crop before it sprouts.
Larry went on to say that, “The rice sprouts within 10 days to two weeks and within three weeks the seedlings are peeking up over the water.”
The 90-days after planting are occupied keeping a close eye on the water level in the planting areas to assure that the crop has 6-8 inches of water for optimum growth.
Blackbirds begin to be a problem when the rice is ripening and Larry says that they have somewhat solved this problem by, “... harvesting a greener crop.” This, “Also solves a lot of the shatter-loss problems.” It does, he adds, “Create an 'optimum time' gamble to get the rice ripe enough for a good yield at the processor, while still green enough not to attract the birds. Ideally an 80% yield is a good result.”
The rice is harvested using a “grain combine” while the fields are still flooded and the grain is then shipped by truck to the Wild Rice Exchange near Yuba City where the crop is processed using a number of complex procedures that include adding moisture and roasting, which removes most of the hulls and “scarifying” the rice to achieve a lighter colored grain. Larry went on to say that their crop is usually acquired by buyer John Hasbrook for Sun West Foods.
Bob Neilson said that the recent flooding had breached 200 feet of the levee in their major crop area and they would probably not be able to plant a crop this year because of the inundation. This, Larry added, will also result in a loss of the seeds for next-years crop since the shelf life for the seeds is one year.
Larry said that due to a recent decline in prices, the poor management of the levee system, the loss of the seeds this year and the advent of the Middle Creek Marsh Restoration Project [MCMRP], that their partnership may have seen their last crop of wild rice.
The principal problems for both of the wild rice operations in the foreseeable future are the MCMRP [also known also as the Robinson Lake project] being proposed by Lake County and the lack of routine maintenance of the levee system by any level of government, County, State or Federal due to “budgetary constraints.” This is despite the fact, Larry said, that these same bureaucrats spent almost a million dollars recently to conduct a “feasibility study,” on whether or not it is practical to repair the entire levee system. One estimate of the cost of this levee restoration and repairing the main pump is in excess of six million dollars according to documents provided by Thomas Smythe, of the Lake County Department of Public Works.
Refer to the front-page of the Record-Bee April 8th-11th for recent reportage of the MCMRP and its impact on the north-end of Clear Lake agriculture, Clear Lake clarity, the tourist business, and the eighteen homeowners in the proposed project area.
For the complete details of the scope of the MCMRP project with additional detailing of the benefits and impacts along with maps of the three alternative plans, contact Thomas Smythe at the Lake County Department of Public Works for details on how to obtain a copy of the OVERVIEW OF MIDDLE CREEK MARSH RESTORATION PROJECT.
SIDEBAR: Sausage and Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients
1 cup wild rice
2 quarts water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup converted long grain rice
1 pound bulk pork sausage
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
In a large sieve, rinse wild rice under running water for two minutes, drain thoroughly. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, bring water and salt to boil. Add wild and converted rice. Cover and simmer for 30-minutes. Drain rice in sieve. Meanwhile, brown sausage in skillet until crumbly. Pour off fat and set sausage aside. In same skillet, melt butter and saute onion, celery, pepper and mushrooms until tender. In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked rice mixture, browned sausage, sauteed vegetables and soup, stir gently. Pour mixture into buttered 2-1/2 or 3 quart casserole. Cover and bake in pre-heated oven for 60 minutes.
Source: 1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook. (http://www.virtualcities.com)
SIDEBAR: Cooking Wild Rice
Using the Stovetop Method:
Wash one cup of uncooked wild rice thoroughly. Add to three cups boiling water, salted to taste, in a heavy saucepan. Return water to boil and stir. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 50-60 minutes or just until kernels puff open. Uncover and fluff with table fork. Simmer five additional minutes. Drain any excess liquid. For chewier texture cook less time.
Using the Oven Method:
Wash one cup uncooked wild rice thoroughly. Combine with two cups water in a covered two-quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350 F for one hour. Check wild rice. Add more water, if needed, and fluff with a fork. Continue baking for one-half hour. Wild rice should be moist, not dry.
Using the Microwave Method:
Wash one cup uncooked wild rice thoroughly. Combine with three cups water in a covered two-quart glass casserole. Microwave on HIGH for five minutes. Microwave on MEDIUM (50 percent power) for 30 minutes. Let stand ten-fifteen minutes, drain.
All three methods result in three-four cups of cooked wild rice. For additional flavor in all three methods, try cooking the rice in beef or chicken broth.
[This article, with editorial changes, appeared in the Lake County Record-Bee and the Clear Lake Observer, in an annual special agricultural insert on Saturday, May 9, 1998]
Written by Dale E. Malone, Did
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