Easy to grow, easy to cook and adaptable to almost any warm environment, rice is the second-most produced grain in the world according to the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization. China alone harvests hundreds of millions of acres of rice every year, but you don't need that much space to grow your own rice. With simple household materials, a lot of water and some good old fashioned TLC, you can fashion a "rice paddy" in your own backyard. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Fill the bucket with 6 inches of the dirt or potting soil.
2. Flood the container with water until the dirt is submerged with 2 inches of water above the soil.
3. Drop a small handful of brown rice or rice seed into the container. It will sink below the water and come to rest atop the soil.
4. Set the container in a warm place (at least 75 degrees) that does not cool significantly at night. Rice grows best in a warm climate and should be kept in such 24 hours a day.
5. Monitor the bucket's water levels to ensure the level remains at 2 inches above the soil.
6. Increase the water level to 4 inches above the soil after the rice plant has grown to about 5 or 6 inches tall. This growth could take anywhere from three to six months, depending on climate conditions.
7. Let the container's water level slowly decrease over a period of days, until the plant is submerged in less than an inch of water right around the time it is ready to harvest.
8. Harvest the rice when it turns from green to gold by cutting the stalks and letting them dry in a warm place, wrapped in paper.
Tags: above soil, inches above, inches above soil, warm place, water level