A source for you.

Violet,

The site you linked is selling WILD rice, which is a totally different grain from regular rice, which I assume kabuti is seeking.

Jim

Ah yes Jim, an assumption. But in this case (and with the lack of additional sources provided to date) any rice is better than none.

But I'll provide additional sources anyway *wink*:

Kitazawa Seed Company
Call (510) 595-1188

Garrett Farms
Call (979) 922-8405

Kabuki, if you are anywhere close to Sacramento or northward, you should be able to find it locally at a feed store (although possibly in 50# bags!)

UC Davis (as usual) has some nice Ag info, although geared toward commercial growers (as usual).

Here is a link that might be useful: UC Rice Project

If you're planning to grow it, you may consider some of the more traditional, organic methods: pairing it with ducklings (optimally, the semi-wild aigamo -- 1 per every 50 square meters, plus shelter for them and fence to protect them from predators), optionally fish (optimally, roach), and optionally a fern, azolla (duckweed). It's often called the "aigamo method" farming because of the ducks. I read about this a while back, and found it really interesting; it's starting to take off in Japan; there have been a number of studies that found it at least as effective as hand-weeding and applying pesticides/fertilizers.

Neither fish nor ducks hurt the growing rice (but they will go after weeds); they both eat pests (esp. the ducks), they both add fertilizer; the azolla is a nitrogen fixer and trap crop (as well as duck fodder); the ducks tend not to eat too many of the fish because the cloudy water and the azola makes them hard to find; and the ducks' hunting for weeds and weed seeds helps aerate the soil. Depending on whether you want to or not, you can also harvest fish, animal feed from the azolla, duck eggs, and duck meat, all from the same paddy. You leave the ducks as free-range until the rice starts to mature (if you don't take them in then, they'll eat the rice). If you want meat from the ducks, they need to be grainfed for a bit after you take them in, but the early rearing is entirely accomplished by their eating of weeds and pests.

I must disagree here about the ducks, at least ducks in Argentina. The rice farmers hate ducks to the point that they give duck hunters free range in their paddies. It seems that the ducks pull up the young seedlings and are considered a great pest there. I have had some super duck shoots from the dikes of rice fields.

They are so nice with a little orange glaze.

Mix a good amount of curry powder with honey and coat the duck with that before roasting. It's an aromatic and delicious recipe from James Beard.

Hmm... Maybe this is OT in a vegetable thread. Oh, well.

Jim