PLANTING RICE

I've been fasinated by the landscape of rice fields in this country. The rectangular fields of water that cover the countryside at the foot of the mountainsides are truly beautiuful. I've been very curious about this grain which is so necessary to the Korean diet--along with KimChee. It grows in water (in mud)and is planted in straight rows. How do they do that? Well, now there are machines that do it, but you still see it being done by hand occasionally. I thought that would be an interesting experience. As it happened, I got to try just that on a recent trip to the DMZ.

I first tried wading out in the mud with tall boots on. That became too difficult very quickly. My boots literally got stuck so far in the mud that I felt like I was in quick sand. I couldn't pull it out, and I was losing my balance. I was told to pull my feet out and leave the boot--go barefoot. At first, I thought, "Is this man nuts?" But it was so much easier, and I quickly got used to the squish of mud through my toes. I made my way into the field and positioned myself along a string that was strung across the field and attached to two poles. There were tiny red strings attached along the string at about 6 inch intervals. People were lined up along the string. We were given little squares of grass looking plants (like sod). You would tear off the sod with 4-5 tiny plants and plant them in the mud at every red string marker. When that was done, you stepped back two feet while the poles at the end of the field were pulled up and moved forward two feet. The process was then repeated. So it goes until the field is planted!!