(Oryza sativa); Upland variety; Awned; Minimum 50 seeds
A Russian landrace, Nigrescens is an early maturing variety, flowering approximately 60 days after transplant for a harvest at the 87 day mark. Tall plants (3.5'-4') become laden with panicles heavy with their distinctive grey-black hulled grains. Due to their height, plants may lodge after a heavy rain. Post harvest de-hulling for cooking reveals short grains with an appealing red-brown hue to their bran.
Our initial seed stock came from John Sherck who cooked Nigrescens and notes:
"Cooked up, I was very pleased with Nigrescens flavor. Like most brown rice varieties it is a bit nutty, but Nigrescens has a richer, more complex flavor. The texture was soft, just shy of creamy. It worked great as just plain boiled rice and as fried rice."
We start Nigrescens seeds indoors in plug trays in mid-April to transplant in the garden in a block pattern in early May. At harvest we selected from the earliest maturing plants with the intent of developing a direct seeded line like our Duborskian and Loto varieties.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep in mind, rice seed is hulled. Rice is planted in its hull but after harvest, that hull must be removed before eating. De-hulling rice is not easily achieved by hand, requiring mechanical assistance such as the Brill De-huller or an electric de-huller.
