Surprise crops growing in Massachusetts

ALL. WE ALL KNOW WILD RICE, RIGHT? WELL, IF ALL YOU’VE EVER TASTED IS THAT STUFF THAT COMES OUT OF A BOX WITH THE LITTLE SPICE PACK, YOU MIGHT BE IN FOR A SURPRISE. CHEF MARK SHEEHAN WAS. I WOULD SAY THAT UNTIL I STARTED COOKING PROFESSIONALLY, I HAD NEVER TASTED REAL WILD RICE. TOP SELLING COMMERCIAL BRANDS OF WILD RICE ARE PREDOMINANTLY LONG GRAIN WHITE RICE, WITH A SMALL PORTION OF PADDY GROWN WILD RICE THROWN IN AT HIS CANTON RESTAURANT, NORTHERN SPY. CHEF SHEEHAN WORKS WITH THE REAL THING, WHICH IS STILL HARVESTED IN THE TRADITIONAL MANNER BY NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES OUT IN THE GREAT LAKES. THE DIFFERENCE IS OBVIOUS. OH, I SEE THE NUTTINESS. OH, I LIKE THAT. TURNS OUT THERE’S A GOOD REASON. REAL WILD RICE TASTES SO DIFFERENT. SHEEHAN TELLS US. IT’S NOT REALLY RICE. CORRECT. SO THIS IS ALMOST CLOSELY RELATED TO EITHER CORN OR LIKE BUCKWHEAT. IT’S A GRASS. SO IT’S AN AQUATIC GRASS. AND SO BOTANICALLY IT’S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE RICE THAT, THAT WE’RE USED TO. MOST REAL WILD RICE COMES FROM THE LAKES OF MINNESOTA, WHERE THE OJIBWE TRIBE STILL HARVESTS BY HAND. SEEDS OF THE GRASS ARE BRUSHED INTO A CANOE, THEN FIRE ROASTED IN A POT. I THINK, BY CALLING IT WILD RICE. THAT WAS THE THE EASIEST WAY FOR SORT OF THE EUROPEAN MIND TO UNDERSTAND IT. SO IF WILD RICE, WHICH ISN’T REALLY RICE, COMES FROM THE MIDWEST, WHAT IS THIS FELLOW DOING SPLASHING AROUND IN THE WEEDS IN CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS? YEAH, LOOK AT THAT. SEE THAT? RICHARD FOREMAN, A PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF ECOLOGY AT HARVARD, WAS PADDLING WITH HIS SON BRANT IN THE FAMILY’S CENTURY OLD HEIRLOOM CANOE WHEN HE MADE A STARTLING DISCOVERY. WILD RICE. HEY. THAT’S GREAT. WOW. JUST THINK OF THAT. IT’S A PLANT. IT’S WILD. THERE IT WAS. REAL WILD RICE. STANDING TALL ABOVE THE CATTAILS IN FAIRYLAND POND, GROWING RIGHT UNDER FOREMAN’S NOSE IN HIS HOMETOWN OF CONCORD. WHO’DA THUNK IT? NOT FOREMAN. IT SURPRISED ME. QUITE HONESTLY. IT SURPRISED ME TO FIND IT HERE IN THIS TOWN. I DIDN’T REALIZE THAT. IT GROWS IN SMALL PLACES AROUND NEW ENGLAND. NOW, IN HIS LATE 80S, FOREMAN STILL BRINGS A BOUNDLESS ENERGY AND CURIOSITY TO THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD AROUND HIM. LOOK, YOU GOT TO BE AN ECO DETECTIVE HERE. I MEAN, YOU CAN’T JUST SAY, OH, WHERE IS IT? YOU GOT TO SAY, OH, I’M AN ECO DETECTIVE. I’VE GOT TO FIND IT AND THEN SEE WHAT IT MEANS. OH, I LOVE IT, BECAUSE THEY’RE WILD, YOU KNOW, IT’S NOT AS TAME STUFF THAT YOU BUY IN THE SUPERMARKET, BUT IT’S WILD. BACK AT NORTHERN SPY IN CANTON, CHEF MARK SHEEHAN EMPHASIZES TRADITIONAL COOKING METHODS, WORKING WITH LIVE FIRE IN FRONT OF A GIANT HEARTH. HE LIKES TO USE REAL WILD RICE IN THE FALL WHEN IT’S HARVESTED. I’VE ALWAYS JUST SORT OF LIKED THE ROMANCE OF RICE GROWING IN DUCKS ARE FEEDING ON IT IN A POND OR IN A LAKE, AND SO I GENERALLY LIKE TO SERVE IT WITH DUCK. WE’RE STILL STUCK TRYING TO DIGEST THE FACT THAT WHAT WE’RE EATING ISN’T REALLY RICE AT ALL. AND WHO KNEW? I MEAN, I HAD NO IDEA. I WOULD HAVE SAID IT WAS RICE UNTIL I FOUND OUT IT’S NOT RICE. YEAH, YOU’RE EATING GRASS. WHILE WE’RE DISHING ON STARCHY SIDES. WHEN IT COMES TO POTATOES, MAINE HOGS ALL THE GLORY HERE IN THE NORTHEAST. BUT GUESS WHAT? IF WE’RE TALKING ABOUT POTATOES HEADED FOR THE SUPERMARKETS, THE BIGGEST POTATO FARM IN NEW ENGLAND IS RIGHT HERE IN THE BAY STATE. WHO’DA THUNK IT? WE’RE THE LARGEST POTATO GROWER FOR TABLE STOCK, POTATOES AND NEW ENGLAND. DIANE WAZOWSKI MULLEN IS A FOURTH GENERATION POTATO FARMER IN HATFIELD, MASS. SHE SAYS THE BIG FARMS UP IN MAINE SEND MOST OF THEIR YIELD TO FROZEN FOOD PROCESSORS, SAUGUS POTATOES, BY CONTRAST, ARE TOP QUALITY TABLE POTATOES SOLD BY WALMART, MARKET BASKET AND STOP AND SHOP, AMONG OTHERS. SO WE’RE FRESH POTATO GROWERS, SO WE THESE POTATOES DON’T GO TO A FRENCH FRY PROCESSING PLANT TO BE FROZEN. SO MOVE OVER MAINE, TAKE A HIKE. IDAHO. PEOPLE NEED TO SHOW A LITTLE LOVE AND RESPECT TO THE UNDERSUNG BAY STATE SPUD. WELL, IF THEY’RE INTERESTED IN LOCAL POTATOES AND POTATOES THAT HAVEN’T BEEN, YOU KNOW, TRANSPORTED ACROSS THE COUNTRY OR HAVE BEEN IN STORAGE FOR, YOU KNOW, 12 MONTHS BEFORE THEY EAT THEM, THEN THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT THEY’RE HERE. THAT’S A LOT OF POTATO, POTATOES. AND THE FOLKS AT SAUGUS SAY THAT THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY HAS GREAT SOIL FOR GROWING POTATOES, SO GOOD THAT THEY’RE ABLE TO DONATE. 120,000 POUNDS TO THE WESTERN MASS FOOD BANK EVERY YEAR OF POTATOES. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. BACK TO THE WILD RICE. IT’S 100% WHOLE GRAIN. IT’S A GREAT ANTIOXIDANT. IT’S HIGH IN VITAMINS AND MINERALS. HOWEVER, IF YOU GO LOOKING FOR THE REAL THING, IT’S GOING TO COST YOU. HAND HARVESTED WILD RICE GOES FOR AS MUCH AS $50 A POUND. EAT IT SPARINGLY.

Surprise crops growing in Massachusetts

Bay State is home to New England’s largest producer of table-stock potatoes, and ‘rice’ that grows wild

Updated: 8:10 PM EST Jan 2, 2025

Everyone knows wild rice, right? Well, if all you’ve ever eaten is the stuff that comes out of the box with the little spice pack, you might be in for a surprise. Real wild rice is still hand-harvested by the native tribes of the Midwest, in the lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin. What’s more–wild rice is actually an aquatic grass, and it has even been found growing wild in a pond in Concord, Mass.For a taste of the real thing, pay a visit to Chef Marc Sheehan at his restaurant in Canton, Northern Spy. “I would say, until I started cooking professionally and I had the ability to source, I had never tasted real wild rice,” says Sheehan.And speaking of starchy sides, Szawlowski Potato Farms, based in Hatfield, Mass., is now the largest provider of table-stock potatoes in New England. Founded by John Rupert Szawlowski in 1910, and now with 3,000 acres of Round White, Red, Gold, and Russet potatoes under production in the fertile Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, Swaz offers local potatoes to customers throughout the Northeast from July through December.

HATFIELD, Mass. —

Everyone knows wild rice, right? Well, if all you’ve ever eaten is the stuff that comes out of the box with the little spice pack, you might be in for a surprise. Real wild rice is still hand-harvested by the native tribes of the Midwest, in the lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin. What’s more–wild rice is actually an aquatic grass, and it has even been found growing wild in a pond in Concord, Mass.

For a taste of the real thing, pay a visit to Chef Marc Sheehan at his restaurant in Canton, Northern Spy.

“I would say, until I started cooking professionally and I had the ability to source, I had never tasted real wild rice,” says Sheehan.

And speaking of starchy sides, Szawlowski Potato Farms, based in Hatfield, Mass., is now the largest provider of table-stock potatoes in New England. Founded by John Rupert Szawlowski in 1910, and now with 3,000 acres of Round White, Red, Gold, and Russet potatoes under production in the fertile Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, Swaz offers local potatoes to customers throughout the Northeast from July through December.