Growing rice in your backyard or on your porch is a fun project with kids to show them what’s involved in getting a bowl of rice on the dinner table. After growing rice yourself, you’ll better understand the Chinese proverb, “Every grain of rice in your bowl is won by the sweat of the farmer’s brow.” To grow your own rice, upland rice is usually the better choice. One upland variety recommended for home growing is Duborskian rice, which matures in 115 days from transplanting. It is also cold-hardy and can survive a light frost, which makes it more suitable for cooler climates. White rice from the grocery store won’t work for growing rice, but you can give it a try by using organically-grown brown rice as seed. If you don’t want to take a gamble, start with rice seed from a seed company that will specify the planting method in its catalog.
Starting Rice Indoors
Unless you live in a warm climate zone, you need to start your rice plants indoors about six to eight weeks before your last average frost date, which is around the same time you would start tomato seedlings indoors. In USDA zones 10 to 12, where you can count on five months of frost-free days, rice can be directly sown.
Soaking the Seeds for Germination
Rice seeds need to be soaked in untreated (non-chlorinated) water for up to 36 hours. During that time, the rice seeds must be fully immersed in water and rinsed at least once. The formation of a tiny rootlet from the seed indicates that germination has started. Take the seeds out of the water and let them dry for 24 hours.
Growing Rice in Buckets
Once the rice seeds have germinated, transfer them to a place where you can flood them, such as in food-grade, sanitized five-gallon buckets, or in a kiddie pool. Use fertilizer-rich potting mix. Plant the germinated rice seeds about a half-inch deep. Very slowly saturate the soil with water until the water level almost reaches the rim. If you add the water too fast, it will wash out the seeds. Place the bucket in a sunny location. If nights are chilly, move the bucket to a warm, protected location. The most important thing is to maintain the water level constant, so check it at least twice daily. The rice stalk will continue to grow and develop seed heads around July in most areas, at which point the stalks stop growing. As the soil dries out over the next month, the seed heads will dry, and the seeds turn brown.
Growing Upland Rice
Upland rice also requires soaking and drying as described for paddy rice above. When the seeds have developed a small leaf shoot, plant them in flats filled with rich potting soil, with the leaf shoot up and the tiny root down. Keep the soil moist but not saturated. After all danger of frost is past, the seedlings can be transplanted into garden soil rich in organic matter. Make sure to water regularly in the absence of rain. In warmer climates, upland rice can be direct sown. Rice does not compete well with weeds, so keeping the rice patch weed-free is important.
Harvesting Rice
When the seed heads have dried and turned brown, cut down the entire stalks. Bunch them together and hang to dry for three to four weeks in a dry, well-ventilated place. The next three steps—threshing, winnowing, and hulling the rice—are very tedious to do manually and require specialized tools. If you get serious about growing your own rice, it’s worth investing in a small scale threshing machine.
