I'm sorry if I missed a thread on growing rice in zone 6b in the mountains, but I didn't see it so I'm starting a thread on it.
I have read everything I can get my hands on on this and I'm thinking now of articulated plans.
I plan to grow Akamuro Red Rice from Hokkaido (where it is grown in zones 4 and 5 mostly), and Black Hull-less Barley on the lower portions of my terraces, below the tea plantation so I can flood the paddies from the pond on the ridge. I don't have long enough season to grow green manure as well, but can lay
compost and nitrogen sources like manure after harvest and let it overwinter. Growing 2 crops a year with paddy rice and barley seeded over the growing rice after draining the paddy like Fukuoka. I know machines are poo-pooed, but I'm considering getting a 450~ lb walk behind small grains combine. I don't imagine it would compact the soil what with the weight on each of the wheels being less than the weight on an average human foot. I do have a rice sickle, but should I fall ill (as I tend to periodically due to chronic illness), my family needs to be able to harvest it themselves.
Combine
http://www.harvestermachine.com/product/Rice_Wheat_Harvester/Walking-Type-Small-Rice/Wheat-Combine-Ha.html