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Ramp cultivation?

  • #21
Hi,
I'm in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia the Ramp festivals will be starting up next month.
Someone gave me a small bag of about a dozen plants last year since I had never heard of them before.
They smelled stronger than anything I'd ever smelled before! I had to keep them outside!
I finally gave them to a neighbor who ate them for dinner!
Whew! Ramp breath! eeeew! Not good! 100X worse than garlic and onions combined!
I suggest you grow them far from your dwelling! these things are awesomely strong!
They grow in some highland meadows here but, sadly the wild ones are being over harvested.
I think you eat the green growth, not the bulbs ?
 
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  • #22
That's really good news for Crissy. I hope she does show us some photo's. I'm enjoying the success of you guys.

I am wondering if you should give them any fertilizer? I know they only get leaf mold where they grow, so they may not need it, but you know-a little bit of a jump start may work to your advantage. What do you think?

Jerry, to be honest I just don't know.... it would seem like a good idea, but I wonder if it would have the same effect on the plants in competition for the same space. I think I will just watch their progress this first year and see how they look next spring. I will base my decision depending on if their numbers/growth increases or decreases.

Mine are in an area very rich with leaf litter. I'm very hopeful they do well :)


Hi,
I'm in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia the Ramp festivals will be starting up next month.
Someone gave me a small bag of about a dozen plants last year since I had never heard of them before.
They smelled stronger than anything I'd ever smelled before! I had to keep them outside!
I finally gave them to a neighbor who ate them for dinner!
Whew! Ramp breath! eeeew! Not good! 100X worse than garlic and onions combined!
I suggest you grow them far from your dwelling! these things are awesomely strong!
They grow in some highland meadows here but, sadly the wild ones are being over harvested.
I think you eat the green growth, not the bulbs ?

LOL, their aroma is infamous....

I originally thought you ate just the bulbs; I was tossing away the green bits LOL
Crissy playfully teased me about it when I told her what I was doing.

You eat both parts :)
 
  • #23
Not the best photo, here's mine. I estimate I have about 15 or so in total.



I had bought about three or four bunches from the market and planted them. I also ended up with a few "extras" in the mail. I don't know what's what. I probably had close to 100 or so planted all in all. Ramps are back in at the WNC farmer's market. I plan to purchase some more for planting. I just ate half a bunch with dinner. They go great on hamburgers. I won't bother my patch for quite sometime. I may try to find another spot on the property in case that particular spot isn't ideal.

As far as the strong aroma and flavor, I absolutely love it!! They are much stronger than onions and add such a great flavor to just about everything. I wish their season was longer than just a few weeks.

The fertilizer is a good suggestion. I will certainly try it.

...and yes, you eat BOTH parts :).
 
  • #24
HaHaHa!
I hope you aren't honey mooning any time soon!
 
  • #25
IMG_0006sm.jpg

larger res of all plants:
http://bluegrasscarnivores.com/ramps/IMG_0006.JPG
http://bluegrasscarnivores.com/ramps/IMG_0007.JPG
http://bluegrasscarnivores.com/ramps/IMG_0008.JPG
http://bluegrasscarnivores.com/ramps/IMG_0009.JPG


"...and yes, you eat BOTH parts ." :nana:
 
  • #26
Thats awesome Av, I'm glad you had a good turnout. This group of people here are very generous. Ramp hunting was a ritual when I was a child. My mom and her family are from West Virginia so every spring we would get together and go hiking, which she is the youngest of 11 children so there were a lot of aunts uncles and cousins... My first memory was "lets go ramp hunting" and like a little boy all I heard was hunting and had no idea what ramps were so I was the first to jump in the vehicle but from then on I never forgot. With a smell like that you can't forget. Looks like you'll have plenty to enjoy for a long time.
 
  • #27
Jason,
Do you still get the occasional opportunity to eat some?.... probably brings back fond memories.
For me it is the appalachian classic of chocolate gravy and biscuits. It was a favorite of my mothers (whom I lost early on)

This forum is full of kind and giving people whom never fail to impress me....

I wonder if fiddleheads will grow in my area, I hear those are good too :)

Be cool to have a seasonal selection of native wild edibles
 
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  • #28
Crissy: If you do try fertilizer, I would go with Bone Meal or a Bulb Tone type fertilizer. Nothing too high in Nitrogen. They really can't get too much N naturally apart from biological breakdown of the dead soil micro organisms.

General Question for those that have seen Ramps growing wild: Can you estimate the depth of the leaf litter where the Ramps grow. I am wondering if the leaves should be thick on the plants, or maybe not so thick.

Av: In photo 0009, I see ferns in the fiddlehead stage. Are they edible? You were asking, maybe you have them already? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead_fern http://umaine.edu/publications/4198e/ http://www.eattheweeds.com/fiddlehead-fanatics-2/
 
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  • #29
double post :)

DOH!
 
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  • #30
Jerry,

I think the ones I have are the ones you don't want to eat... (toxic and/or carcinogen).
If I understand it correctly, the right ones would be smooth, have brown paper like scales and have a "u" shaped channel.

Correct species:
fiddleheads-025.jpg


Mine are fuzzy, no channel and no scales...


For what its worth, concerning the ramps... I looked over my property for what I thought was a good spot for the ramps.
I looked for:

Hardwood leaf litter
Moist (small creek and boggy area 20 foot further down the slope)
Ferns
Well draining slope
Shaded once tree canopy grows out but sunny prior to that

In planting I used a straight blade shovel, dug in.. rocked shovel blade back and forth to make a trench, placed bulbs an inch or so in depth, root end down, closed up trench with foot pressure

No further attention was given until inspection a couple weeks ago

I estimate 75-100 plants, good looking leaf growth... they seem to like the location
 
  • #31
Good to know Jerry. Next time I'm at the store I'll pick up some bone meal. Maybe it will help mine take off better. I'm thinking that maybe that particular area is a bit too dry for them. I'll try again in an area that's closer to the stream (I'll make sure it's not too wet)
 
  • #32
I've lived in Kansas for the past 21 years but visited my mom every summer growing up. I mention ramps here and no one knows what I'm talking about. My mom always reminds me that ramp season is coming up. I should ask her to send me some and maybe get some pictures of them if she has time.
 
  • #33
Any seeds Butch? I have been told they should be ripening seeds by now. If not passed already.
 
  • #34
I went down to look for seed several weeks ago,
I didn't see anything obvious.... but I "think" I saw a couple empty seed heads, but not sure
 
  • #35
Ramps as in chives? Yeah, tasty. I've tried to grow chives and other onion before but they never do anything underground afaik. I never know how to tell when they are ready. Same thing with garlic, potatoes and other underground growing vegetables. They're so cheap to buy really.
 
  • #36
Ramps are different then Chives; some call them wild leeks.
They have a strong spicey-garlic flavor and the bulb resembles onion in appearance.
They are also known for giving those that eat them a very strong odor LOL

image from google search:
IMG_2058.JPG
 
  • #37
Oh. Interesting. Never seen those.
 
  • #38
Thanks for the update Butch.
 
  • #39
Long time since I've been here. Soon after I posted on 10/3, a friend showed me a Ramp patch near his house that is gigantic. All I could see of it was the seed heads with ripened seeds. I'm going to have to estimate the size, but it must have been at least 50 feet square, at least. I harvested a large bunch of the seed heads without even moving more than two feet from a spot. I cleaned them afterwards by rubbing them in my hands to remove the seeds from the seed ball. I blew on the chaff seed mixture in a shallow dish until most of the chaff blew away. I found two living caterpillars about 1/4" long that came out of the seed heads. I don't know what critter eats Ramps, but they were living. Too bad I didn't take a photo.

The seeds are black, not crinkled like leek seeds, and about 1/8" in Diameter. I guess I have about 100 of them. I was going to scatter them in a likely place near me, but I never got it done before the snow and freezes came. Now I think I am going to try and grow them in pots in a cool greenhouse, if my friend can spare some space for me. Otherwise, I'll start some at home and see what happens. I'll be sure to document it and post up what I find.
 
  • #40
I knew it was too early, but was getting anxious to see what this years growth would look like...
Took a walkabout to my ramp patch last week.... still a month or so too early.

on the path to my ramps, my patch is a 200-300 yards from where I took this image.... but starting to see the first signs of spring
woods.jpg


30 yrs ago this was my family's tobacco field, I would plow every inch of what you see
Nature has finally taken it back

spring is in the air, and I'm ready!
wanting some ramps and morels
:)
 
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