Reaping

Last week, my school had a rice festival. The children have been growing rice in pots, and the time finally came to harvest it. Sure enough, they went through each step in the harvesting process, though I doubt that any of the rice was actually consumed in the end for sanitary reasons. There were also snacks and music going on, so it was a fun way to spend the morning for sure.

Step one: cut rice. Each child receives a handful.

Step two: comb rice through metal rakes to remove much of the rice from the stalk.

Step three: the threshing machine removes any stubborn rice still clinging to the stalk. It is powered with a step-pedal and has metal hooks on it. The rice bunches are gently hit onto it while it spins.

rice in the husk

Step four: the rice is pounded in this large mortar-and-pestle setup to remove the husks from the grain.

Step five: the rice is sifted carefully so that the husks fly away.

Step six: the stalks are twisted and braided into rope for various purposes (in this case, a souvenir for the kiddos).

Step seven (not pictured): the rice is taken to the mill and ground into flour. Obviously, this step didn't actually happen at the school.

Step eight: the rice flour is mixed with water and pounded with heavy mallets for ages and ages to break it down and make it sticky.