Rice Harvest 2009 (Video)

Integrated Rice/Duck Farming Part I

We spent the last couple months raising ducks in our rice fields, which is an odd thing to do around here, as ducks are widely considered to be pests in rice fields. Wild ducks eat the seeds of newly planted rice and tramp the seedlings into the mud. This creates open patches of water, which draw more ducks, and pretty soon you have a big problem. So what were we thinking?

Well, several years ago I was turned on to the idea of integrating ducks into rice farming by a unique book called, "The Power of Duck" by Takao Furuno. Mr. Furuno is a rice farmer in Japan who had been struggling with his fight against weeds in his organic fields. Recognizing his problem as an opportunity, he started thinking of the weeds, bugs and snails in his fields as duck food, turning his problems into tasty duck meat.

The key to his system is releasing small ducklings into the paddy fields at the right time. Ducklings do not harm young rice plants as adult ducks would, but they do eat weeds and bugs. They also help fertilize the rice. Once the grains start to form on the rice, he harvests the ducks for meat. This is critical, as the ducks have now become large, and love to eat the developing grains of rice.

This idea is a very elegant agro-ecological production system. It has been something of a boon to small rice farmers in Asia, who used to toil many hours weeding their rice by hand. The system has also been extended to include small fish raised concurrently with the rice and ducks.

I've been wanting to try this system ever since I first read the book, but never seemed to have the time to do it. This year presented an opportunity, and we finally just decided to go for it on an experimental basis. We ordered 120 pekin ducks, which are the standard large, white meat duck that most people are used to. We chose pekins more for this reason than for any other characteristics of the breed, such as foragaing ability.

This post to be continued...

Almond Harvest Preparation

Almond harvest starts in a day or two, so we're cleaning up the orchard one last time. Here, John is flaming the weeds in the tree rows with our industrial size flamer--we upgraded from what we now call the "homeowner" version a couple months ago. Here's a video of the homeowner flamer. The new flamer is at least 4 times faster, way more effective, and sounds like a jet roaring through the orchard. These flamers burn liquid propane.

Arugula Pesto Wheat Berries

Wondering what to do with wheat berries? Here's a nice recipe (and plug for Massa Organics) from 101 Cookbooks. Thanks Heidi! http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/arugula-pesto-wheat-berries-recipe.html

Summer Rice Salad Ideas

Summer is the perfect time for a rice salad. Here are a few ideas taken and modified from a recent New York Times article:

1. Mix leftover Massa Organics brown rice with lemon or lime juice, soy sauce and a combination of sesame and peanut oils. Microwave if necessary to soften the rice, then serve at room temperature, tossed with sprouts, shredded radishes, chopped scallions, bits of cooked meat or fish if you like and more soy sauce.

2. Cook and cool Massa Organics brown rice. Toss with olive oil, loads of lemon juice, tons of parsley, some chopped tomatoes and, if you like, toasted pine nuts.

3. Mix cooked Massa Organics brown rice with orange zest and juice, olive oil, maybe honey, sliced oranges, raisins or dried cranberries, chopped red onion and chopped almonds. Serve over greens, or not.

4. Cook Massa Organics brown rice in watered-down coconut milk (be careful that it doesn’t burn) and a few cardamom pods. While warm, toss with peas (they can be raw if they’re fresh and tender), chopped cashews or pistachios, a pinch of chili flakes and chopped raw spinach.

5. Toss cooked, cooled farro, wheat berries, barley or other chewy grain with chopped-up grapes. Add olive oil, lemon juice and thinly sliced romaine lettuce; toss again, with ricotta salata or feta if you want. (OK this isn't a rice salad, but we sell wheat berries too!)

6. Toss cooked Massa Organics brown rice with fresh sliced apricots, cherries, pecans, and enough lemon and black pepper to make the whole thing savory.

71. Cook a pot of Massa Organics brown rice. While it’s still hot, toss with raw grated zucchini, fermented black beans, sriracha, sesame oil, sake and a touch of rice vinegar. Add bits of leftover roast chicken or pork if you have it, and pass soy sauce at the table.

Finally, don't forget the other rice salads we've posted on our blog in the past:

Cranberry Pecan Rice Salad

Summer Fiesta Salad

Ensalada de Tricia

Enjoy!

Chaffin Orchards Delivery

We've formed an informal partnership with Chaffin Orchards, a neighbor of ours who raises some amazing grass fed and finished beef (we have a freezer full!), as well as pastured poultry and eggs, award-winning olive oil, and some of the best heirloom peaches you've ever had. They have a very integrated and diversified production system, and are as sustainable a farm as you are likely to find. They don't do any San Francisco Bay Area farmers markets, but do make deliveries to their customers there on an regular basis. As a added bonus, they are now offering our rice!

Chris is planning a delivery trip to San Francisco next Wednesday, with an additional stop in Sacramento. I highly recommend their products! It's also a great opportunity to pick up some of our rice without having to fight the crowds at the farmers market or pay for shipping. Here is a list of what Chris will have on the truck next week:

Grassfed beef

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 375 ml bottle $8

Pastured Free Range Eggs: $6.50/dozen

Organically farmed Heirloom Peaches at $1/lb!!!!

Pet Food made from their grassfed beef.

Massa Organics Brown Rice $4/2-lb bag or $30/20-lb bag

If you'd like more information about this, please email me (greg(at)massaorganics(dot)com)and I'll forward the details. Chris needs the orders by Monday at 6pm so that he can get everything ready for delivery.

Don't miss out!

Stacking hay

This week we picked up our baled organic hay crop. Below is a series of photos showing how that gets done. The first shot is of my two younger sons, Mit and Mason, standing on a bale watching Stacia pick up the bales. We hired our neighbor to do all of the baling and stacking because we don't have any of this specialized equipment. This machine, known as a harrow bed, is really amazing. It picks up 1200 lb bales on the go, and stacks them automatically. Very cool!