Ramps!
Harvesting an early-spring wild delicacy in the Northeast
This is my first year harvesting ramps.
For those unfamiliar, ramps (Allium tricoccum) are an early-spring perennial that grows abundantly throughout the forests of Eastern North America. They are essentially small, wild leeks, with red stems and large green leaves, and their flavor is about what you’d expect: mild, slightly spicy, onion-y—almost a little fruity.
Ramps are native to this region: the map below from Flora of North America shows the plant’s rough distribution, and you can find them in “moist ground in rich woods, depressions, streamside bluffs, and colluvial slopes.”
As I say, this is the first year I’ve spent time searching for and harvesting them—but that description is a good summation of where I looked. Up in the mountains, in Zone 4b, I first found ramps in mid-April, shortly after a very warm spell melted what snow remained. My harvest spot is in a neighbor’s sugar bush, where small patches of the plant cover several acres that slope down to the east, at an elevation of about 2,000 feet, amid a few year-round and seasonal streams. As of early May, their green leaves are still by far the most abundant ground cover in that part of the forest, though plenty of other spring ephemerals—trout lilies, trillium, colt’s foot, spring beauty—are visible too.
Ramps are pretty easy to identify: they have green leaves, which can grow up to a foot long and about three inches wide, with red stems, reddest at the bottom. There is also a white/green-stemmed variety, though I haven’t seen it and it is apparently rarer. Most plants appear to produce two or three leaves. And they have an unmistakable allium scent.
This said, an eternal word of caution when foraging: do not eat anything wild unless you’re *sure* you’ve identified it correctly. I don’t think this is especially difficult with ramps, especially given their smell. But several foraging guides warn about two potential lookalikes, both of which are toxic: American false hellebore (Veratrum viride) and lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis). The former’s leaves appear to grow more densely than those of ramps, while the latter produces long roots, not bulbs. There are other differences as well, and again, neither smells like onion, which is probably the biggest giveaway. (For more, the site Grow Forage Cook Ferment has a good write-up on the differences between the plants, and I advise reading that or similar before foraging.)
If you do go out looking for ramps, something else to consider: they are being overharvested. This is perhaps unsurprising given their popularity (and let’s be honest, a certain human tendency to take more, sometimes much more, than one needs) but it is still alarming given what a long-established species this is. I recently read about how Burlington’s Intervale allows early-spring harvesting of plants like dandelion, burdock, knotweed, and a few others—but not ramps, because they’ve been virtually pulled to oblivion. And even where ramps appear abundant, they may not be for long. They are not rapid growers, and it can take seven years for them to reach maturity—more than enough time for a patch to be eliminated.
For that reason, according to the blog Practical Self Reliance, it is best when harvesting ramps to take just the leaves, rather than pulling up the whole plant. This approach was new to me, in part because when I’ve been given them by friends or seen them at farmers’ markets, the bunches tend to include the whole bulb. And the whole plant is indeed rather beautiful. But best to consider their health and only pick the leaves, and only one leaf from each plant. This will ensure a given patch of ramps continues to produce.
And if you really want to support the species, you can propagate ramps yourself by purchasing seeds online.
Finally—there is, I think, no shortage of good uses for ramps. Here’s one suggestion: ramp pesto, which I made and which came out quite nicely. I include a rough recipe below, loosely adapted from this basil pesto recipe from Cookie + Kate.
3 cups ramps, rinsed and dried
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup toasted seeds (I used sunflower and pumpkin)
2 cloves garlic
salt, pepper, and lemon to taste
Blitz the garlic in a food processor, add the rest, and… blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning as needed, and enjoy. Pretty simple. (If you want it on the milder side, probably omit the garlic.)
Happy harvesting!