Growing and harvesting the rice fields was an experience I would never forget. I know at the time I hated it, with the hot heat on my back and the long dragging hours. With the hot it seems like the work is harder than it really is. There are numerous steps to growing and harvesting the rice fields. Every step in which is crucial for the grower and if it would be a successful harvest.

 

The growing and harvesting rice fields are a long process with much work to do. The land must be clear out; all tress must be cut down and burn to clear the land for the rice farming. When the land is cleared they must divide the land into many portions and dig some water streams for the flow of water for a wet rice paddy. I am not sure if each rice paddy is suppose to be at different level, but for the rice paddies my parents did, each paddy is either higher or lower than the one next to it. I am not sure what the reason behind that is, but it is some what beautiful. The land should be gently dug out so the land can be a little firm, I would guess, this is so that the grain of rice which is used for the seeds can grow? When this process is done, they use a long round stick with a very pointy edge to poke holes into the ground. Believe me this process is long and hard, I had done it before and it is hard. Each hole is randomly poke on the ground’s surface not too close and not too far from each other, either the person who is making the holes drops couple grains of rice into the hole or another person can follow right behind him to drop the grains into the hole. This process too, is long and hard, who ever is dropping the grains of rice into the hole would end up with the worst back pain ever. I was in so much pain during this process, who knows how many times I had to stop and rest. When dropping the grains of rice into the holes there should be between 5-7 grains, well you don’t actually count them. When this process is done, the farmer would slightly cover the grains of rice with soil. It is only cover so that birds will not feed onto the grains of rice, if it is covered with a thick layer of soil it may not be able to grow, and so I was told while working the fields.

 

The field is left for couple of days until the rice starts growing during that time the farmers must make sure no weed is growing, once it gets to a certain length that’s when they let the stream to cover the rice paddies with water, if it is a non-wet rice field, the farmers must work the field daily to ensure all weeds are cut off from the grounds life support. The less weed the better the rice will grow. It is nice to watch these rice fields start form a forest into a clear piece of land, and then into divided portions and then into a nice beautiful rice field.

 

Around August the rice will start to have greenish yellow pods and then by early September the pods will start to turn brown, by that time the rice are almost ready for harvest. Between the end of September and early October it is time to harvest the rice from the paddies. I believe the time in which the rice is ready to harvest depends upon the time the farmers starts the planting cycle. Each rice plant produces couple different strings of rice pods. My dad made a little blade on wood practically to cut the stems and then they are bundle up and tie together. Most rice pods are ready for harvest and some are not, so it is crucial to only cut the ones that are ready to be harvest.

 

When the rice stems are cut off my parents would lay out a big plastic cover and start hitting the rice to the round so it would fall onto the plastic cover. Whatever is left on the stems it is scraped out unit every grain had fallen from the stem. The rice then is to be fry with very little water and the aroma of the rice fills up the entire area. Believe me, the smell is extremely pleasant! Once this process is done, the rice is to be dried for couple of hours or even a day or two in the sun. I believe this process is to ensure that the rice is hard and ready.

 

Another hard process is waiting to complete the cycle. Even after all these process the rice are still in its pods. In order for the rice to get out of the pod the farmer must smash the rice in a special hand made smashing machine (not sure if there is even a name for it in English, and a manual machine so to speak, lol). This process takes more then one person to finish and it will take the strength out of the person who is working it. It’s a very hard and tiring process. When the pods are smashed the rice is free from its pods but before it is called finish, the farmers must separate the rice and the cover. After the long hard work it is so worth it. The fresh grown rice are yummy and the work is finally done.

 

For Hmong people it is very important to have a feast once the rice had been harvest. This feast is to give thanks to the ancestors and to give thanks to another wonderful crop season. The rice that had been harvest is served and only chickens as the meat no pork or beef are serves. The only exceptions are ducks. Parent’s would call all the friends and family and have this wonderful feast. It’s another reason why I love being HMONG.

 

This is the “machine” (LOL) that is used to separate the rice from it’s pod.

 

One or more people stands on one end of this long wooded stick and uses force to hit the rice inside the large hole. It takes a lot of strengh to do this. a long string is tied from the ceiling for the person to hold for support. one person sit next to the hole to make sure all the rice are inside the hole.

This was taken couple years ago when my cousin from MN came to visit. We were preparing these rice for her mom.

it takes more than one person to work this thing! Believe me, it’s pretty hard!!

the whole cycle of separating the rice from it’s pod. the person in the blue, is separating the rice and pod after it has gone through the “machine” (sorry dont knwo what to call it) two girls next to the hole to ensure all the rice are in the hole at all time, and the girls on the other end working it.

this is my aunt’s chicken coup.. I actually miss ours! I love fresh killed chicken boiled and sprinkle with black pepper and salt!