Harvesting Wild Rice Today,,,

[Haggis]

I was out with some friends today, having a go at gathering wild rice. There were lots of ricers and lots of rice on Wolf Lake, somewhere between Duluth Minnesota and the Iron Range. It was a great day to be on the water and amongst friends,,,

My buddies Mike and Tony,,,


It doesn't look like much now in my old Alumacraft, but once it's dried and clean, it will make for fine eating,,,

 

[Everything Mac]

Cool post mate. You don't see that kind of thing over here. I bet it tastes lovely!
All the best
Andy

 

[Goatboy]

Lovely stuff Haggis, as Andy says it's not something we get to see here, only the odd snippet in Ray Mears programs. Looks like a decent haul to me. How do you process it after collection?

 

[Haggis]

There is no hurried pace on the processing, and some of the locals who process the wild rice will only accept a minimum of 400 pounds. So it is collected, and when the season is done the rice must be dried over heat. When the kernels are dry enough to "snap" when broken, then the rice must be threshed and winnowed of its husks. Some folk process their own rice in flat bottomed metal pans, over slow fires in their backyards, then thresh and winnow it by what ever means works for them. The Native Americans here "walked" their dried rice, (much as one would stomp grapes for wine making), to loosen the husks, and then using baskets, toss it in the air on windy days to winnow it; a method not so foreign to peasant folk the world over. On a good day, and in a good stand of ripe rice, two experienced ricers might easily gather 100 pounds or far more. When dried and threshed 100 pounds of wet rice will net perhaps 50 pounds of clean dry rice. It is all hand labor. In the rear of the canoe a poler/punter pushes the canoe slowly along while watching ahead for the best stands of rice. In the bottom of the canoe the rice "knocker", holding two slender sticks, each 30" or less and weighing less than 1 pound each, bends the stalks of rice into the canoe, and soundly whacks the heads of rice. The rice flies everywhere, and most ends up back in the water, but some lands in the canoe; I've heard it said that only 20% of knocked rice will land in the canoe. The rice on a stalk doesn't all ripen at once, so sometimes it will all come off, sometimes a grain or two, and sometimes none. Ricing is a guessing game; start too early, and get little or no rice for your effort, start too late, and it will fall into the lake when the canoe brushes against it.

 

[Goatboy]

Interesting stuff, labour intensive but no doubt worth it. About the only similar thing I've seen over here is collecting reedmace pollen. Do you find it tastier than most bought rices? I imagine that due to the hand winowing that it has a higher calorific and fiber content than white rice. Have bought wild rice like it in health food shops - horrifically expensive, though with the hand gathering the cost is bound to be higher.
Great pics by the way, the group shot really shows the fun you all had collecting it.

 

[Haggis]

I prefer wild rice above other rices, but strictly speaking, wild rice isn't rice at all. It is a grass seed. It takes bout 45 minutes to get it thoroughly cooked, but I think it is worth it, and I've seen it on one of the many "10 Healthiest Foods" lists. I was once invited to a Native American gathering where they served wild rice a number of ways, but my favorite was wild rice well sweetened with maple syrup, and sprinkled with fresh blueberries. (Blueberries and maple syrup were also on the list of healthiest foods.) I think, in general, wild foods are certainly healthier than commercially raised foods, plus, there is something primal, (bushcrafty if you will), in continuing to feed the hunter/gatherer gene running through the veins of the human race.

 

[Coldfeet]

Thanks for sharing, I have never seen anything like that before - always good to learn.

 

[santaman2000]

I prefer wild rice above other rices, but strictly speaking, wild rice isn't rice at all. It is a grass seed.....

All rice is a grass seed. Rice is a grass. So is corn (maize) and wheat, and oats. That's why they're called "grain."

 

[santaman2000]

.....Do you find it tastier than most bought rices? I imagine that due to the hand winowing that it has a higher calorific and fiber content than white rice....

"White" rice isn't really white. It's brown. It becomes white when they remove the inner husk, and yes, that also removes fiber. And yes, wild rice has higher fiber, but lower calorie content when compared to white rice. Tatse is obviously a personal thing, but I like wild rice (although it doesn't grow this far south)

 

[santaman2000]

There is no hurried pace on the processing, and some of the locals who process the wild rice will only accept a minimum of 400 pounds. So it is collected, and when the season is done the rice must be dried over heat. When the kernels are dry enough to "snap" when broken, then the rice must be threshed and winnowed of its husks. Some folk process their own rice in flat bottomed metal pans, over slow fires in their backyards, then thresh and winnow it by what ever means works for them. The Native Americans here "walked" their dried rice, (much as one would stomp grapes for wine making), to loosen the husks, and then using baskets, toss it in the air on windy days to winnow it; a method not so foreign to peasant folk the world over. On a good day, and in a good stand of ripe rice, two experienced ricers might easily gather 100 pounds or far more. When dried and threshed 100 pounds of wet rice will net perhaps 50 pounds of clean dry rice. It is all hand labor. In the rear of the canoe a poler/punter pushes the canoe slowly along while watching ahead for the best stands of rice. In the bottom of the canoe the rice "knocker", holding two slender sticks, each 30" or less and weighing less than 1 pound each, bends the stalks of rice into the canoe, and soundly whacks the heads of rice. The rice flies everywhere, and most ends up back in the water, but some lands in the canoe; I've heard it said that only 20% of knocked rice will land in the canoe. The rice on a stalk doesn't all ripen at once, so sometimes it will all come off, sometimes a grain or two, and sometimes none. Ricing is a guessing game; start too early, and get little or no rice for your effort, start too late, and it will fall into the lake when the canoe brushes against it.

Thanks for posting this. It's very interesting. A lot different from the commercial rice plantations around Louisiana where they drain the paddies and harvest with a combine.

 

[Freelander]

Great post, seeing it like that, I have had from Waitrose as a treat before but it is really expensive. I had some buffalo meat so thought the wild rice would be more in keeping. It is really filling and so much more tasty than normal rice.

You are very lucky and love the two beards in the background, super shot of friendship IMHO.

Thanks.