I live in a sort of rural area with hills on all sides. I think I should have ramps, but have not been able to find anything that looks like it.
Anyone have Ramps to trade?
So are we talking about the kind of ramps that you eat??
I think that is what you mean. We love ramps, although we always have to go to North Carolina to get them. I "think" they are ready to pick around Mother's day every year. So maybe that is the reason you haven't seen any yet. Have you had them there before?
However I did make a trade with someone here last year, and she sent me a "mess" of ramps for a plant trade.
So are you asking for ramps or are you saying you have ramps for trade?
I am asking for ramps. And we have lived here for about 7 years and I have never seen ramps on the property - I want to introduce it. We went looking for a ramps dinner (that I read about in the local paper) at the firehouse in Proctorville last year and never found it because it was actually being held at the VFW (I obviously have memory problems)and there was nary a sign in that small town.
O ok I see. I wouldn't know about starting the plants to grow, but I sure nuff know how to eat 'em! LOL
What do you have to trade? Maybe I can help you look for some.
I had to look this one up! Here is an excellent page with information about these Alliums!!
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/hil/hil-133.html
Ok, I can plannly see I need to aquire some Ramp starts. Where do I go/to whom do I go and how much would enough to start one clump cost? I love native food plants.
EvaMae, Here is a website where you can buy them by the pound. Click on the word "products"
http://www.foodfinder.com/ramps/ramphistory.html
Don't know about growing them from the ones they sale, but you might be able to.
Try using Allium Tricoccum or A Burdickii in your search engine, you will be surprised at all the info there is!
Good luck to both of you.
Thanks John, I'm sure that info will really help them here. I used the word from your search info to do a further search and man I tell ya there is tons of info on these little babies! YUMMMMM
i learn something new here every day on dave's garden.
thanks
It was me! I sent MollyBee some ramps. She ate them and didn't grow them. I read the link you posted pardancanda, and it has one thing missing that I wonder about. Ramps in the mtns. of NC generally grow at higher altitudes. The ones I harvested were up at about 4,000 feet., under the "Devil's Courthouse" near the Blue Ridge Parkway. I haven't sen them at lower elevations but that doesn't mean they won't grow there if introduced.
I knew the pressure on the ramp population was great and sure 'nuff, last year the gathering of wild ramps was outlawed. I'd keep checking e-bay to see if there will be any there. If I see any for sale locally, I'll grab some. It's a long growing process, but not so bad if you start with plants instead of seeds.
The ramp festival in Waynesville each year features a contest to see who can eat the most raw ramps at one sitting. Raw ramps are delicious but have a strong odor. I have heard stories of kids being sent home from school after eating raw ramps. Perhaps I can call the Waynesville Chamber of Commerce and find out where they get all their ramps. I will post again if I learn anything
I called the Chamber of Commerce, who sent me to the extension agent, who sent me to a person at NC State University, who supposedly knows some growers. I will contact her and if she can give me a name, I will drive over to Waynesville one day and buy some. Whew! I love wild goose chases that pan out....... The extension agent said people were growing them at 2600 feet so apparently altitude in not the problem, but they probably wouldn't grow in the deep hot south....
woodspirit1, thanks for the additional information, very interesting. Now, how do you grow those southern pickled green peanuts???
you dig a hole, squirt in some vinegar, drop in the green dye, then the peanut and voila! it grows green pickled peanuts!
The agent at the state returned my call and said that you could harvest them in the National Forests, but not the National Park areas like along the Blue Ridge Parkway. She said I could buy some at roadside stand over in Waynesville like I used to here but my greengrocer didn't have them last year. I'm going to check out Mollybee's website too.
I looked at that website and was quite surprised. You don't eat just the bulb; you eat the whole plant. Why on earth they are just showing the bulbs is beyond me!
:-)
woodspirit1, if anything, it is the greens that are more important to eat than the bulbs???
No, I like both equally well. The bulbs are stronger, though. I usually clean them, saute them awhile by themselves and then add beaten eggs and scramble them right in with the ramps. I have had pickled ramps too, and this is just the bulb. They're really good.
Did you see too that they are $10.00 a #!!! wow!
We only eat the bulb here, scrambled hamburger meat, sauted ramps, tomatoe sauce, diced tomatoes. then simmer for about 1 hour over the campfire. YUMMMMM!
We use to go camping close to the blue ridge parkway and after gathering ramps, we'd go down by the creek and gather branch lettuce. The lettuce was eatten with fatback grease poured over it. Ahhh what memories!
You Southerners know how to eat!!!
See John, and we were tyring to get you to move here too! Now you see why! lol
$10 a what?
10.00 per pound! I think that is what I read in the link.
hmm, well, still.......that would be a lot of ramps. But it's best to wait for me to find some, I think.
Yea I would think so too. We love them, but paying that much is a little steep for us.
Good luck in finding them. Hope you find tons!!!!
Will they grow up here and are they GOOD?
I love onions.......
I can answer the last part of the question CC, IF you like onions and if you like Garlic....you'll love these!! Although they do have a very strong smell. once you get past that...its yummmmm yummmmm all the way!
I love garlic and onions and my DH is the type that adds garlic and onions to EVERYTHING
Now I just gotta figure out if they are hardy.....they aint goin in the GH
Hmmm maybe woodspirit can help with that question.
I'm sure they are very hardy. A lot of them grow way up near the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is more like zone 4 or 5. A couple of years ago they had 60" of snow in May!! Of course it was a fluke, but amazingly, that was the highest one-day snowfall they ever had up there. The Pisgah Inn was about 1/2 full of people, mostly Floridians. They were snowed in to say the least and it was the first time a lot of them had ever seen snow. So they stole trays from the dining room and used them for sleds. It was quite an adventure for them. The news helicopters were able to get up there and take pictures and they had plenty of heat and food so it was not a problem; just a great story to tell future generations.....
I was wondering if anyone had been able to find a source for buying these. I would love to get some started in my garden.
This time of year you can probably find them on eBay. And maybe some of our east Tennessee/North Carolina members can hook you up to some of their local sources that will do mail-order...or somebody can be cajoled into doing a ramp co-op :)
Probably not a chance of growing them in central Texas, eh? I love garlic and onions, but never heard of ramps, at least not by that name. Nothing better than some garlic and green onions sauteed in bacon fat, then fresh spinach tossed in and stirred just until it gets good and wilted. I suspect ramps would go well in this dish. It's hard to get it to the table when I cook it, as I tend to snitch that the same way I bite off all the tails on fried perch.
I expect it's too hot in Texas but you might try once to grow them in shade......