Rice, Rice, Baby!

Let’s talk about rice! And I don’t mean the acronym Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate!

Rice is a staple in Korean dining. Rice is a main dish accompanied by sides, used in noodles, and even multiple styles of rice cakes and cookies.
Rice has 3 names in Korean:

• Sal (쌀) grains of rice
• Bap (밥) cooked rice, and also “meal”
• Tteok (떡) rice cake

During my afternoon strolls in May, I would see many fields terraced and flooded, but no plants. Water would trickle from higher fields, down into the lower fields. The water reflected wavy mirrored images of the mountains and trees above. As beautiful as the scene was, it was very perplexing for a small town girl, used to seeing large fields of cotton, tobacco and hay. I asked around and was told this was common for rice fields.

The flooded fields were previously leveled, and tilled to welcome the transplanted rice, which was planted sometime in late May and early June. This is just before monsoon season hits the summer months.

Rice is a thirsty plant, and flooded fields provide an easier way to manage its health maturation. Its gestation period lasts between 100-150 days. The rice near my neighborhood appeared to grow to my knee before it was harvested.

I started noticing the harvested rice during my sporadic walks in September, and more so in October.

Unfortunately, I always miss the harvesting process, and only see the half cut fields, and bundled plants during my afternoon walks.

As I was leaving the school 3 weeks ago, I almost stepped on a sidewalk covered in tarp and freshly harvested rice grains.

I hope to observe, or even participate in, the rice harvesting process in the upcoming 2021 season. Until then, I can only do some research, and take pictures of the aftermath. I found a brief blog article regarding rice farming in Korea during the mid 1970’s. The author does not go into detail as to why he was in Korea, only that he would take photos whenever he had a chance. Please take a look at these snapshots into the not so distant past! Korean Rice Farming

Thanks for joining me in learning about the rice harvesting process! I’ll share more, if I learn anything.