THE WILD RICE BEDS

These five canoes were being pulled by a motor boat to the rice bed, each canoe had two people, one to move the canoe along and the other to glean the grain.

This couple is harvesting rice in a canoe, while he moves the canoe with a long pole, she was using short sticks to bend the stalks into the boat and 'thresh' the grain into the canoe

Wild rice grows in Northern Minnesota lakes, marshes, and streams. The water may be as shallow as six inches or as great as ten feet by early July. It first grows above the water surface where the tapered leaves float on the surface during late spring and early summer. Later, it becomes like a stalk with the rice on the tips. Harvesting this year has been in late August with the process continuing as Old Trunks writes.

Wild rice has a higher protein content than most cereal grains, making it a good food for wildlife and humans. Wild rice attracts many wild birds, especially waterfowl and red-winged blackbirds, and it also provides nesting cover for waterfowl.

Have you ever eaten it?

Would you?

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