RichJ207 Loc: Sammamish, WA

Does anyone have pictures of manual wild rice harvesting in the great lakes area of the country? I understand that people slide the rice grains off of their stalks into their boats and would hope to find images or videos of the process. Thanks for any information.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

RichJ207 Loc: Sammamish, WA

Thanks PixelStan77! I had heard a story second hand from a Native American about how they harvested wild rice and the information in your response is perfect.

Ollieboy

I read somewhere that wild rice is not a rice at all. It's a grass. For what it's worth.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Rice and almost all grains are forms of grass - including corn/maize.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Google "wild rice harvesting images"

https://www.google.com/search?q=wild+rice+harvesting+images&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS927US927&sxsrf=ALeKk01AiNSX_6SDoUtE62ESWprDeKvKsA:1605737255235&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiCm821jY3tAhXpIDQIHbOHBCgQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=2048&bih=1049

RichJ207 Loc: Sammamish, WA

Thanks. Has any member been personally involved in the harvesting?

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

Grown rice, yes. Wild rice, no idea.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

robertjerl photo reference is interesting.
Yes, Gasman57. you are right and I just recently learned that. I traditionally cook 50 50 dark rice and brown rice, dark/wild rice was expensive so that is the reason for a split. Walmart near me does not carry it anymore; Amazon here I come. Then I am confronted with Black Rice and Wild Rice... what? My faith in wild rice shattered, it is grass, not rice. The cost per pound of wild rice on Amazon was about half that at Wmt. Black rice very reasonable buying a 4# bag... 4# is about a half of a gallon... a lot of rice. The blackness is are compounds that are rich in antioxidants, healthy.

I just looked it up, the 4# was $18, but another brand 5# for $18. AND! there is also Red Rice.
"Sciencedaily" says "Research analyzing 235 types of rice from around the world has found its glycemic index varies from one type of rice to another with most varieties scoring a low to medium GI." The lower the index the better for you; slower to digest and thus better blood sugar regulation and slower to hunger.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120709102722.htm

Rice Polish is the material removed to make White-Rice
"White rice is milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the rice and helps prevent spoilage and extend its storage life. After milling, the rice is polished, resulting in a seed with a bright, white, shiny appearance. The milling and polishing processes both remove nutrients. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_rice

Live, Learn, eat healthy dark rice, and live longer.

Ollieboy

Respectfully disagree. White rice is a grain and wild rice a grass seed. Not related. Many references on line to confirm this. 🤔

Ollieboy

As a diabetic myself, I only eat Basmati rice. It has the lowest Glycemic Index of all white rices. Jasmine (Chinese restaurant) rice has the highest. Basmati smells like popcorn when cooking and tastes the best too.

Ollieboy

Upon further research I now agree. Seeds of the grass can be a rice. Apologies to you.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

In the case of many forms of grain they even know what wild "grass" it was developed/breed from over the 1000's of years farming has been around. It is was fairly easy for the paleobotanists to figure out if they know where each grain was first cultivated since almost all of those wild grasses still grow there.

Now most paleobotanists study fossil plants, but some specialize in the ancient plants/seeds found by archeologists, esp in tombs/graves. In the area where a grain came from if they have a variety of tombs/graves of different ages they can trace grains in the oldest burials that are or are "almost" the wild seeds up through the years as the farmers breed the plant to near its present form.

Just to help clarify, I am a retired History/Geography/Government teacher who has been a READER since elementary school and interested in many different things over the years. I did a summer's field school in SW Mexico with a Geography Professor whose specialty/PhD work was on resource utilization and in particular plants. While there we actually got to see some sites and in one of Mexico's finest museums they had an exhibit of seeds etc of corn/maize from the wild grass to modern maize as grown by the various Native tribal farmers.

In the case of maize it was relatively easy since one of the main ancestor grasses is not only still in the wild but farmed as animal feed and sort of a fad in the health food market. It is named "teosinte". This is a Smithsonian article on it: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rethinking-corny-history-maize-180971038/

If you Google "teosinte images" you will see many pictures of the plant, cobs and comparisons of the cobs at different stages of the domestication and development process over thousands of years. One article I read long ago the author and other field workers ate some of it and said it was barely edible - if you were hungry enough. Otherwise feed it to the farm animals.