No Paddies Needed For Upland Rice

No Paddies Needed For Upland Rice CROPS New Techniques The number of varieties of upland rice grown on dry land is exploding John Sherck has been growing rice for around eight years He started growing only two or three varieties and selling them as seed That grew to 54 varieties at its peak “A lot of my seed came from the USDA ” says Sherck “They have 800 to 900 upland rice varieties and most of them are never grown Others came from growers in other countries including India the Czech Republic and Italy as well as here in the U S Some come from people who find me on Facebook or find my website ” Sherck may get only a few ounces of seed from his sources He then grows it out to build up his stock “If I have a pound and a half of a grain that’s a good supply ” he says “Depending on the variety and the season a 7-gram package may produce from 5 to 15 lbs ” Sherck operates Sherck Seeds from his small farm in north-central Indiana A truck gardener growing mostly tomatoes in the 1990’s and early 2000’s he shifted his focus to producing his own staple crops As he explored more seeds he began selling seedlings and seed locally and eventually online Sherck got to the point where he offered a wide variety of staple crops including 28 varieties of barley and 19 of dry beans All were raised harvested and processed for sale on his farm They included both conventional and novel crops for his area like sugar cane multiple varieties of peanuts and a corn variety that matures in only 54 days His seed proved popular with people in growing zone 4 and even zone 3 far beyond northeastern Indiana “I’ve sent quite a bit to people in Europe and Canada and even to southern Norway ” says Sherck Sherck intended to quit selling seed altogether this past year However at the end of the year he announced he would continue to offer rice due to the demand This year he’s offering 55 rice varieties for sale in 7-gram packets “Last year I grew close to 20 varieties of upland rice ” says Sherck “This year I’ll cut back to around 15 including some older varieties ” Sherck starts his rice crop about 22 to 24 days before he intends to plant He soaks the seeds for 24 hours before planting them in plug flats Most start germinating in about four days His goal is to get them transplanted before they get rootbound “In my area I can’t direct seed until late May or early June and that’s when weeds are germinating ” says Sherck By transplanting he gets a head start on the weeds noting that weed control is one reason paddy rice is flooded That’s not an option with upland rice However paddy rice can often be grown without flooding “About half of the varieties I grow as upland rice are paddy rice ” says Sherck “I chose them because they’re early enough for my season ” While many rice varieties require as much as 160 to 170 days to mature Sherck has identified earlier maturing landraces like Mizukuchiine While it originated in Japan Sylvia Davatz a Vermont grower gave Sherck his original seed Landraces exhibit greater genetic expression than varieties allowing Sherck to select lines for replanting “When I started with it the earliest panicles I found were 110 days to maturity ” he says “Since then I’ve come across a few in the upper 80’s and 90’s This past year the first harvest of the early panicles was 84 days after transplanting ” Sherck says the rice yielded about 6 lbs from a 100-sq ft bed He describes the cooked Mizukuchiine as firm and a bit chewy with a nutty and buttery flavor Sherck sells his rice varieties While he no longer offers the hundreds of other edible crops he once did they can be viewed with descriptions on the archive page at his website He also has blog entries going back to November 2013 covering his experience growing out staple crops He lists a wide variety of references and unique tools for home use Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Sherck 56549 State Road 15 Bristol Ind ph 574-848-4625; john@sherckseeds com; www sherckseeds com; https://www facebook com/sherckseeds

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