'Purple Jomon' Rice

Oryza sativa

Origin: Japan

Improvement status: Cultivar

Seeds per packet: ~20

BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED

Life cycle: Annual

I wish we knew more about this extraordinary dark-purple sticky rice from Japan, but what we do know is more than enough to recommend growing lots and lots of it! It's a very productive short-grained rice, well-adapted to upland (dryland) production, but apparently able to be grown as a paddy-rice as well (though we haven't tried this). The plants have little streaks of purple-black coloration, and the seeds look like any other rice when still inside their husk — however they reveal a strikingly dark purple, almost black color, once dehulled. They require a relatively long season (120 days in the Mid-Atlantic), but are well worth the wait.

We got our original stock seed from John Sherck, retired founder of Scherck Seeds in Indiana, who told us he originally received it from our friend Sylvia Davatz, retired founder of Solstice Seeds in Vermont. Sylvia tells us she received it through Seed Savers Exchange from a member named Paul Simon.

We haven't yet been able to track down this Paul Simon (we can only assume he's not the folk-rock superstar or the late Illinois Senator and presidential candidate of the same name), so all we have to go on is Sylvia's record of Mr. Simon's entry in an old Seed Savers Exchange yearbook: "130+ days, a.k.a. Japanese Tomb Black Rice, supposed Neolithic origins, interesting if true, attractive purple and black lines and smudges on small to med. size plants, day-neutral, yields well, upland or paddy rice, am selecting for pure black seed, some runs red to off-white. From: USDA 89.” It does seem he successful in selecting for pure black seed, or a subsequent steward was, since we haven't seen any of the red or off-white types he noted in his description, however we haven't dehulled seeds from very many plants yet, so they may still be there in the population.

At this point, we can't find any record of "USDA 89" or "Japanese Tomb Black Rice", nor any explanation of how it got the name "Purple Jomon" ("Jomon" refers to the hunter-gatherer period of Japanese history, stretching from over 10,000 years ago to 300 B.C.E.). If you manage to learn anything else about this awesome rice, please let us know about it! In the meantime: Enjoy!

GROWING TIPS: Direct seeding may be possible in certain long-season climates, but we recommend soaking seeds for 24 hours and starting indoors up to 3 weeks before last frost, then transplanting after all danger of frost has passed. Space plants a foot apart. Water frequently while the plant is growing, and especially during flowering — as much water as you would give tomatoes or corn. Cut and bundle before frost when husks are dry. Small amounts of seed can be dehulled at home by using a food processor with duct-tape over the blades.