Ramps are one of the most beloved foods of Western North Carolina and the wider Appalachian region, inspiring chefs, captivating adventurous home cooks, and marking a rite of Spring for people who grew up foraging ramps in the mountainous landscape they and their ancestors called home. With the growing exposure and popularity of ramps, many people are finding reason to harvest wild populations during the short window of time, usually in April, that their greens and bulb are available. Since ramps are a slow growing perennial, many people don’t realize that the meaty bulb gracing their plates might be a decade old. Female ramps don’t produce a flower stalk until they’ve reached seven years of maturity. Because they are slow reproducers and only grow in a very specific habitat, ramp populations have been dwindling.
Happily, however, there is a way to sustainably harvest ramps! Please watch and share this video we’ve produced explaining how to do so. Advocating as consumers, by asking for and purchasing only sustainably harvested ramps, will also help build a demand for responsible foraging practices.
How to Harvest:
- Avoid harvesting from small patches of ramps.
- Do not harvest any ramps that have a little brown spent flower stalk attached to their leaves.
- Using a knife, insert it into the ground at a 30 degree angle, slicing through the bulb. Collect the leaves and the top third of the bulb, leaving the rest of the bulb and root plate in the ground.
- Harvest only 1 in 5 of the ramps in a patch.
- Wrap tender ramps carefully in a damp paper towel or cloth and keep them in a plastic bag or cooler to retain moisture. Refrigerate immediately and use as soon possible.
When buying ramps, look for:
- The leaf and partial bulb
- Very fresh, green leaves, and plants that have no foul odor
- Do not purchase whole plants that include the root plate and roots.
- Ask the vendor how and where they harvested their ramps.
Thank you for sharing this video far and wide and helping educate ramp lovers of all kinds about sustainable practices!