Hayayuki is our main rice crop. Very reliable, consistent, and easy to grow. Hayayuki is a short-grained rice, originally from Hokkaido, Japan. Generally translated to mean "First Snow," Hayayuki was developed to be tolerant of cold and a short growing season (105 days to maturity from transplant). We grow our seed out every other year to keep it viable and have been growing Hayayuki rice since 2018. This seed is from the 2022 harvest and, by now, can be considered a "land race" - especially adapted to our local environment. Price is for 3 grams of seed, approximately 100 seeds.
(Oryza sativa) Hayayuki rice seed
In our Zone 6 climate, rice seed is started indoors in early April by soaking it in a solution of EM* and water (1:1000); rinsing and refreshing the solution daily. When the seed germinates (5-10 days), it is sown 1-2 grains per plug in trays that sit in shallow, warm water. Early fertility is provided in the seed-starting mix, and supplemented during the early growth stage with a mixture of alfalfa tea and EM.
In early June, seedlings are transplanted about 30 cm (1 ft) apart into paddies of rich mud topped with 10-15cm (4-6 in) of sun-warmed water. At this time they receive a good dose of nitrogen. (We use Nutriwave, an organic, pelletized chicken manure, at 30 kg/acre.) Plants expand quickly and begin to develop seed heads by late July, at which time they receive another dose of nitrogen. When the seed heads droop with the weight of ripened seeds and the stalks have turned yellow, the plants are ready to harvest.
For a more detailed description of the rice growing procedure, see the source of our initial knowledge "Rice Growing Manual for the Northeast USA" by Takeshi & Linda Akaogi (https://www.uvm.edu/~lhill/ricegrowingmanual copy.pdf) and follow our 2023 serial blog "Growing Paddy Rice in Nova Scotia."
*EM (Effective Micro-organisms) are explained and made available in the Plant Health Category.
