Well the rice is basically all planted now and the farmers get a bit of a rest. Over the next week or so I should probably hear them complaining about their sore backs. I asked my friend Ryoko what they do once the rice is planted and if they rest for a while. She told me that it is very important to watch the water levels in the paddies. So every morning her husband gets up at about 4:30am and goes out to turn on the water, and let it flood their fields. There is an overflow drain at the opposite corner from where the water comes in (kind of like the hole in sinks) and this can be set for the height of the water. Then about 10am Ryoko goes out and turns the water off. They will repeat this process until about the middle of June. And it is true. Whenever I am out walking the dog in the mornings, the water is running into the fields and when I take him out at night, the water is silent.

Some of the farmers are out with their "vacuum cleaners" again, blowing a granular chemical over their crops. When I asked what it was, I was told that it a herbicide to kill specific weeds. I guess they will be doing the pesticides in the near future as well. Of cours, not only rice is susceptible to weeds and bugs. Other crops need to be tended to as well. Kamishii village is well-known as a garlic-producing center in the hokuriku district. Have you ever smelled fresh garlic in the wind? It really is quite delicious. Every time I walk past the fields I think of Italian food, especially pasta with a heavy garlic sauce.

I saw our friends mom and dad out in their rice field doing the "fixing thing" again. It is interesting to note that in most cases the women still wear the same covering layers that they wore generations past. A bonnet covers the head, face and neck. The plastic jacket and pants are usually of some common flower print pattern and they wear what we westerners would associate with "ninja" over their forearms and the backs of their hands. The waists are usually tied with rope and on the feet they wear split-toe, soft boots. This happens every year and the people all wear the same "uniform". It really is amazing that so many people will wear the same stuff. I really don't find any of it all that attractive.

It has been really silent in the rice paddies over the past two weeks. The planting is all done, the rice has been straightened, the farmers have gotten into their routine, turning the water on and off every day. There is now a fine algae that is starting to form on the top of the water that constantly sits in the paddies. This seems to be the time of rest for the creators of the white gold. Some of the fields that were not tilled back in April are being prepared now for the second batch of rice. The rice that was planted first is the more popular "Koshi hikari" variety. It has a growing season of 160days. The plants are taller and weaker, therefore tend to collapse later in the season. The Hana Echizen is the cheaper of the two. It is shorter, stockier, hardier, more resistant to disease but not quite as tasty. It has a growing season of 140 days. Most farmers like to grow koshi hikari as it tastes better and gives a better return but since everyone is growing it, during harvest season the lineups for having the rice hulled (stripping the shell from the rice) by the commercial hullers are unbelievably long and the farmers have to wait for hours just to have their rice hulled and stored in the elevators. Hence, some like to do the Hana Echizen because it is less trouble overall to maintain and much faster to have prepared when the harvest is over.

There actually is one other main grain crop that will be planted last of all. I think this is because the growing season is so short: buckwheat or "soba". This, when harvested, will be used to make the food known as soba. It is prepared from a powder, rolled and pressed into long noodles, cooked and then served either on a strainer plate (zaru soba) with a side bowl of broth to dip the noodles into or in the broth itself. Soba is often eaten with a side dish of pickled vegetables and a cup of tea (or bottle of beer). It is very tasty in the broth, and filling. Some people, however, (like me) are allergic to soba. They get stomach aches from the noodles. When I first came to Japan I was fine but after a while developed a sensitivity so that I can no longer eat soba without feeling uncomfortable afterward. Many people, young and old alike, like to eat soba for a noon meal when they are out on a weekend drive.

Soon, we should be seeing the farmers out again in their fields; this time spraying pesticides and the like through long tubes that they pass over the plots. I wonder if this stuff has any adverse effects on the respiratory system or any other part of the body.

The June/July Edition of The Rice Cycle