Anyone growing (or thinking about growing) this? Any ideas for polycultures? Wapato seems like a potential pairing, but I don't know if they would complement one another or compete, some kind of fish seems like an obvious choice, probably an algae eater, and/or possibly fresh water prawns, which seem to like to have lots of places to cling? I'm just throwing out ideas, cant wait for your experiance and ideas.

I just planted this seed a week ago: http://www.hancockseed.com/seed-varieties-241/rice-seed-561/wells-rice-seed-10-lb-bag-food-plot-seed-548.html

It was the quickest and most economical that I could find. I have an area of my land that stays pretty wet all the time so I thought it would be a good spot to experiment. I'm trying to grow alternative grains for my chickens. I soaked the seeds for about 24 hours and then I broadcast and tamped down the seeds in the wet, muddy areas. I also have a part of my pond that is very shallow - about 2-6" deep. I put some rice seed after the same soaking process into this part of my pond.

So far I can't find any evidence that I planted anything in the muddy areas. I guess my free ranging chickens and maybe some wild birds gobbled it up. I did try to camouflage it with some scythed grass laid on top but I'm not sure it worked. The rice in the shallow water seems to be sprouting and growing. I didn't give any thought to a guild for it but figured it would grow along with what is there. The pond has tadpoles and minnows and algae growing in it already. I'll try to take some pictures and update you on it soon.

Matt

I'll be interested in hearing how it works out in your pond. You probably don't want to invest this much effort, but it might be worthwhile to turn the wetspot into a propper paddy. Or just find a more effective camoflauge.

Wanted to plant wild rice in some natural wetland areas on my land but wasn't able to obtain viable seed. I bought some this spring by mail from someone but the seed was simply processed wild rice and not viable. Will continue my quest this autumn. My goal was more for waterfowl food with the harvestable yield being ducks, mallards, pintails and teal, all esteemed family foods.

My father and I planted some wild rice in our central Minnesota lake. We put a few grains in a ball of clay and tossed them in.
They all came up great and lived all summer. Only a couple came up the next year and then none. I think that moving water
is essential for the wild rice. I was thinking about doing this myself but with some sort of vertical axis wind powered water pump
to keep water moving past the plants.