A video of us Harvesting Wild Rice

[Jim Uran]

[pushbutton]

Thats pretty cool Jim! Always have wanted to try that, does not look so fun being the dude with the push pole though......did you just sit there filming while they did all the work

[jerkin'm]

That is cool...I too have always been curious, my grandfather used to do it every year. Heard lots of stories over the years of canoe/mud/pushpole/someones in the water/ mishaps....

[DARK30]

I want some...with bacon in it mmmmmmmmm!

So how does it go from the field to the table?

[mrg]

went yesterday with my brother, got some 20 lbs. thats just the begining. next is the drying than the winnoing. shure is good when all said and done.

[leech~~]

Looks like you had a pretty nice stand and load in the boat Jim. The rice on my buddies lake looked pretty sad this year!

[DTro]

Cool! Thanks for sharing

[Jim Uran]

When we go out we typically get 250 pounds up to 500 pounds of "green" rice. It typically finishes out at around 50%....

Meaning you get 50 pounds of ready to boil rice for every 100 pounds of "green" stuff.

Pushbutton, each guy does PLENTY of work, that was me in the canoe knocking the rice into the boat!!! lol I'd like to poll you around just to see how long you last It's all in the preference, if you don't know how to knock rice, you pole! I happen to be a pretty good knocker!

[pushbutton]

Does not look like I would last long at all Seriously though, what happens next? How do you get it from the canoe to the table?

[Jim Uran]

I drop it off at the processors.... lol seriously. They charge me $1 a pound (finished product)

There are quite a few people that process wild rice around the state. Otherwise I sell it green right off of the lake for 1.50 a pound. that's what I did this year, sold my green rice. I typically go out later in the season to get my own personal rice. It finishes off at a higher percentage, because it is riper!

[Rick G]

Very cool video thanks for sharing it Jim!

[pushbutton]

I drop it off at the processors.... lol seriously.

That is seriously funny!

[laportian]

Jim have you ever riced Upper Rice? I tried a few years in a row early and it was always too green. I have seen a few Rice Lakers over there checking it out too. I usually buy a state license each year and have always planned on going over there late in the season to check it out. You da knocker huh? I'm a poler. Knocked twice this year though cause my usual partner had to take a couple days off. First time I knocked in 5 years, I loved it. Way easier than poling. Just sayin.

[Jim Uran]

Way easier than poling... hahah! Yeah I feel guilty for the poler half of the time! But if my partner could knock better than I could, I'd jump in the back of the boat

And I've never riced Upper, I heard it was pretty green before Lower opended up, and once lower opens I get my rice there and retire for the year!

[pikestabber]

Looked like pretty tough polling...get to the end of your poll and the boat stops... Makes for a long day. Nice when you can poll, glide, and poll again with a continuous flow of the canoe, but it's not always that way, is it?

As a kid, ricing was how my brother and I paid for school clothes from 12 years old on...it was like a rite of passage in our family to go out with our grandfather. I remember when he brought me out the first time... The water was so low it was like polling in a hay field. I was plum wore out after that day. Not a big harvest that first time, either, and I fell in the drink to top it all off! That's the only time ever in over 20 years of picking now that I went rear over tea kettle. I remember vividly grandpa saying "you see those yellow flowers right there?" I started to answer about the time I ran straight into them and "sploosh" I went! He didn't have time to explain that those "yellow flowers" actually meant "clumps of hard earth to avoid with the canoe." He had a good chuckle and I learned a good lesson.

I haven't been able to rice in two years now and this video brings back so many vivid and good memories. Thanks for sharing, Jim!

[DARK30]

Wild rice for dinner tonight (store bought) ...with bacon in it!