Posting a last update for the Rice Growing Project 2009.
You know how things you plan to do don't always turn out that way? Well, I didn't get to plant barley last fall because it turned out that they don't overwinter in my area, and I didn't do the rice seed clay balls back in December OR in early spring. I DID scatter clover seeds last fall and early spring, but it turns out that the paddy gets too flooded and the clover failed to grow.
I also didn't scatter the rice straw, and I'll tell you why: The bundles of rice hung in the doorway to the Playroom, unprocessed, ALL WINTER LONG.
Most annoying for the kids who had to duck under it every time they went by. (Bad Mommy!
)
Well, the onset of spring has renewed my interest
and the arrival of the latest possible seed planting time has forced me to finally cut off the seed heads and weigh them.
KOSHIHIKARI RICE: Total unthreshed weight = approx. 1.5 LBS. or 680 g.
CAROLINA GOLD RICE: Total unthreshed weight = just short of 1 LBS. or 430 g.
I don't know what the threshed weight would be -- there's probably some % rule of thumb. Not bad, considering (I think there were something like 15 plants of Koshihikari and 10 plants of Carolina Gold altogether), and plenty for seed grain if I had the space and inclination to actually plant whole fields/paddies of the stuff for family consumption, etc.
Alas, I don't have room to expand my little paddies much more, though I might whittle out another couple of square feet in each. Now I that I've successfully grown them once, I can concentrate more on implementing Fukuoka Sensei's methods. I'll start a [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24875]new thread for Rice Growing Project 2010[/url] later.