Free 11×17 poster available for download on wild rice. A quick, easy read with pictures, based on the six word project. Please credit SORA, www.saveourrice.org Feedback appreciated!
New Ojibwe Language web site
Please check this out at ojibwe.lib.umn.edu
Very interesting and relevant pictures, language and stories of wild rice.
Migwetch!
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SORA Website up and running
Hi all - thanks to some help from my host, Bluehost, SORA is back on-line. Look for updates in early April, both on the site and with the organization!
Until then, enjoy the warm weather…but wondering what it will mean to the wild rice….
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March 6, 2012–Sulfate Standard for Wild Rice Update
- The MPCA will be holding a Tribal Consultation with Minnesota Tribes on Monday, March 12. The Tribes and the MPCA will be discussing the definition of “water used for production of wild rice,” which the MPCA is planning to clarify as part of its current effort to update Minnesota’s water quality standards.
- Wild Rice Standards Study: The MPCA is continuing contract negotiations with selected contractor(s) who responded to the December 2011 Request for Proposal (RFP) to design and conduct scientific research and collect field data to assess the impacts of sulfate and other substances on the growth of wild rice. Once the contract(s) are executed, the MPCA will be developing work plans to get the initial work started. The work will be funded by a Clean Water Fund appropriation in the Legacy Amendment Bill that was passed during the 2011 Special Session of the Legislature.
- The MPCA has received draft reports from researchers who conducted the preliminary field surveys of Wild Rice Waters in August-September of 2011. Please note that these are draft reports with preliminary information that will be revised before the final report due date of June 30, 2012, and the draft reports do not include all of the final results. The reports are available upon request from Edward Swain atedward.swain@state.mn.us.
- The next meeting of the Wild Rice Standards Study Advisory Committee will be held Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at 1 p.m. in Training Room 2 in the lower level of the MPCA’s St. Paul offices. Topics will include information from the MPCA on “water used for production of wild rice” and a discussion of an overall wild rice research study plan.
Website for SORA down
Hi all -
I am sorry for the inconvenience, but the SORA website at www.saveourrice.org is temporarily down. I will try to get it back up and running shortly (week, not days).
Meanwhile, there will be a court hearing on the Wild Rice Standard, Thursday March 1 at 9:30 a.m. The case will be heard by Judge Margaret Marrinan in the Ramsey County Courthouse, 15 West Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, Minnesota 55102. For more information go to www.justchangelaw.com
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Wild rice gathering..
Thanks for the comment Jerry – I like the idea of a gathering to discuss Wild Rice. We missed doing our ‘annual’ meeting last year…so would like to get something on the ground. One location that really hasn’t received much attention from SORA yet is the Grand Rapids area. Anybody read this from that area? Send me your ideas, topics, interest and I’ll see what we can pull off for a meeting this spring. Hard to say what this year will be like. Drought is looking likely in most of the state…better for the wild rice? Harder to harvest..
What’s your projection?
Wild rice musings on a snowy day…
So I realized that I hadn’t posted since November. It’s not that I haven’t been here, I have. Its that it is hard to think about wild rice when the lakes are frozen over and covered, somewhat, with snow. I do think about rice quite often, as I eat it several times a week. But that’s not the point.
As most of you know there is an organization called S.O.R.A. (Save Our Rice Alliance) that has been rather stagnant lately. I can say that. I’m the reason. However – I’m not giving up, I’m just waiting for a warmer climate, and more time. I am interested in hearing about peoples “how-to’s” on ricing. Or maybe an easier challenge is the “what NOT to do” while harvesting wild rice. I learned one – Never look up (at a bird flying overhead, an airplane, a cloud that looks like an elephant). What happens? You get wet. You fall into the water. Hopefully you’re good enough to jump so you don’t tip the canoe. Keeping your partner happy, and dry, is important. Just ask the first guy I said I would introduce to ricing. I wasn’t very good at jumping. We both got wet. I would add to that – never harvest in a kevlar canoe. Seriously! If you have done this successfully – I want to know!
Okay, gotta run. I’m hoping to be on here a bit more regularly…..stay warm!
Wild rice ‘hotdish’
So, in honor of Thanksgiving Day, here is my favorite recipe for wild rice.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice (hand-harvested)
Just cooked rice...not a picture of this dish...sorry!
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1/2 green pepper, diced
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- garlic (as much or as little as you’d like)
- slivered almonds (I use a small package)
- one stick of butter (1/2 cup)
- add later…one can chicken broth ~(14 oz)
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add all ingredients. Saute over med/high heat until onions are yellow, about 10 minutes. Place ingredients into a casserole dish and add one can of chicken broth. Bake covered in a 350 degree oven for one hour. Eat and enjoy!
Sorry that I don’t have any cool pictures – not making this for Thanksgiving, experimenting with a wild rice stuffing instead. BTW – you can vary the vegetables and the amounts to suit your taste. I did.
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Wild Rice Sulfate Standards Study Meeting
For those of you following the wild rice and sulfate standards study, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will hold the second meeting of the Wild Rice Standards Study Advisory Committee on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 from 1-3:30 p.m. at the MPCA’s Duluth Regional Office. Visit the MPCA website here to see a list of the advisory committee members and a copy of the Final Protocol.
Wild Rice - Male flowers
Wild rice and sulfates
Next week this issue will once again be discussed – this time at the 26th Annual Conference on the Environment being held Wed. Nov. 9th, 2011 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center, MN. Click here for the link. A session on “Emerging Wastewater Issue: Wild rice and sulfates” will take place in the morning from 10:30 am until lunch. Representatives from Barr Engineering, MPCA and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce will present.