Growing Rice in New England For Sustainable Community Life
Rice is one of the seven sacred grains of antiquity. It is the staple food for over half the world’s population, and, until now, the least likely grain to be grown in New England, and yet one of the most promising.
Join us for a special presentation on Growing Rice in New England and learn how rice can play a role in sustainable community life and culture on New England soil.
Our speaker, Christian Elwell, owner of South River Miso Company, has been growing rice in Conway, MA, for nearly 40 years! He is probably the first person to have grown rice in New England and certainly the first in New England to have grown rice for such an extended length of time. Beginning with an heirloom variety of rice from Ukraine, Christian has selected and saved seed to develop a hardy variety fully adapted to the Pioneer Valley region. It can be grown in both paddy and dryland culture.
Want to grow your own rice? Come and find out how it’s done. Christian will guide us towards finding our own deeper connection with rice in his presentation covering the seven life stages of rice, from seed to harvest. In addition to having rice available to taste, he’ll also have seeds on hand to share with anyone who wants to grow rice in their gardens this year.
Develop a deeper relationship with your food by taking an active role in growing it for yourself, your family, and the community that surrounds you. There is no better time to learn about the food we eat and the important role it plays in our life. The very act of growing what you eat will transform how you think about food and it all starts with a seed.
Speaker Bio:
Christian Elwell was born on Martha’s Vineyard where his parents founded Arrowhead Farm after WWII, growing vegetables for ‘the summer folk’. He grew up outside of Boston where his father established a successful nursery and garden center, Arrowhead Gardens, in Wayland. Christian graduated from Cornell in 1969 with a degree in Horticulture and Landscape Design. He served in the Peace Corps in Iran from 1969-1971. In 1982, with his wife, Gaella, he founded South River Miso Company at South River Farm in Conway, where they also raised two children who now have families of their own in Brooklyn, NY, and Albuquerque, NM. South River Farm is also home to Natural Roots, a horse powered vegetable farm CSA.