rice growing in Putney, Vermont

There are many crops that might be grown in VT and NH that are not available commercially: Sylvia Davatz of Hartland has grown peanuts, Kye Cochran of West Hartford has grown Styrian pumpkins (prized for pumpkin oil), the Beidlers of Randolph have grown camelina for cooking/salad oil. We can grow sunflowers, but sunflower oil and seeds are not widely available; oats are grown locally, but little is available for human consumption. Wheat-growing is attempted, but crops often fail when infected with fusarium (our wet weather fosters growth of fusarium.) Farmers have begun to experiment with new crops, pushing the edges on local limitations. There are wheat hybridization experiments to create a hardier wheat. More farmers are trying sweet potatoes, peaches, plums, popping corn, etc. And, given our wet weather, how about rice?

Last May, Linda and Takeshi Akaogi of Akaogi Farm in Putney, VT, hosted a Rice Growing Workshop, funded by Northeast SARE. This was the third year of their experiment in growing rice in Vermont. (The first year, the crop failed; the rice did not have sufficient time to develop. In year #2, the Akagois started the rice earlier in the season, in a hoop greenhouse, and the rice growing was successful.) Workshop participants were given rice plants to take home, plant in 5-gallon buckets, and document the growing conditions and development of their plants. The accompanying photo documents the success of my rice plant! I estimate that the yield is likely to be no more than half a cup of uncooked rice . . . which gives one an inkling as to why agriculture turned to large scale farming and economies of scale.

Can rice growing in our region ever become commercially viable? Time will tell. (There were growers at the workshop who had wet land that might be useful for growing rice. ) My plan is to save some of the kernels to share with friends for growing more next year. And I will have to come up with a very special recipe for using the remaining grains of rice!