CTFishTalk.com: Wild Rice along the Connecticut River 09/24 - Connecticut General Topics ( CT General Topics ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

On Tuesday, DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek) and I found wild rice in every cove along the west bank of the Connecticut River between Haddam Meadows and Selden Neck State Park, although the best crop of it was in Hadlyme Cove. We saw a guy in a canoe there harvesting rice in the traditional native American manner, by pulling stalks of rice over his canoe and shaking them to get the grains to fall into the canoe. Here's what the stalks of rice look like:

I'd bet that Boggy Meadow, which is near the confluence of the Mattabesset River and Coginchaug River, is also loaded with wild rice, right now.
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avidangler · Joined: 08 Jan 2013 Posts: 469 Location: Forestville

That's pretty neat!
I had no idea it grew around here.
I wonder how it tastes. You ever try any?
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DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

We did try it unprepared and it was pretty good. If you actually prepared it I'm guessing it would be great.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

The grains of rice are covered with a very thin hull or skin, if you gently peel it off, you can eat the grains raw. They're small, of course, but they're definitely starchy and taste a little nutty.
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BigEd · Joined: 22 Feb 2012 Posts: 103 Location: Monroe

Very cool to see that. I would have never expected to see rice grow wild here. I wonder how the state feels about it growing there? Could this wild rice become invasive and cause problems for native grasses or is it actually a good thing for the ecosystem and shoreline areas?

DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

From what I have read the wild rice stands used to be much larger and more widespread along that portion of the river including more of the upper Connecticut River and the main part of the river. Wakes from boat traffic have diminished the amount we see now. I guess that's why we saw it in coves and areas with little to no motorized boat traffic. Some of the areas actually had marked speed limit signs and no wake zones probably for that reason.