Anyone cultivating Ramps?

Has anyone here had any success growing ramps from seed? I just ordered a couple packs of seed and am looking for some tips on growing them.

Would I be better off using all wood chips as mulch or should I use only fall leaves or should I do a mix? Should I build A raised bed to plant into?  I’ve read it can take 6-24 months for them to germinate, it might be easier to keep track of where I planted them if I made a slightly raised bed. Should I plant them in fall or spring? Do they require much fertility?

Location:
I have a spot in my yard, on the western side of my house, which has a very old, large maple tree and 30 feet to the south a red oak. This area is shaded until around noon then gets dappled shade the rest of the day. However in spring, before the trees leaf out the area gets good sun, I can currently grow hostas and astilbe there. I have been slowly covering the grass with cardboard and a nice layer of wood chips and will be dividing my hostas and astilbe to fill in some area. I’m hoping to eliminate the grass completely here. Does this sound like an appropriate spot to try establishing ramps?

I’d love to hear opinions and what others have tried, whether it worked or not.

I have been growing leeks for about 20 years. They are super easy. I just harvest the top green part and let the bulb keep growing.  Leeks are related to ramps, but a slightly different species.  Where did you get the seeds?
Thanks,
John S
PDX OR

I also grow leeks. They are pretty easy so I hope I have as much luck with ramps as I do with leeks. I ordered my seeds from Richters.com.

Also, I did a search for threads about ramps and didn’t find much, then once I made my post this popped up as suggested reading https://permies.com/t/110584/Ramp-cultivation-Allium-tricoccum Some good info there!

There is no need to cultivate them here - we are lucky enough to be able to find them in superabundance in the late Spring by taking a walk in an older woodland. We pick quite heavily and freeze them as my partner makes amazing scones using them!

We also have Three-cornered Leeks growing in the South-West of the UK, a delicious wild allium. These grow all over the cities and countryside here and are a great, garlic-flavoured alternative to green onions.

I cultivate Babbington's perennial leeks which are similar to a garlic chive and can often be used in place of ramps, out-of-season. I am just starting some Egyptian Walking Onions too which I am looking forward to!

All of our green onions and leeks are cut with a centimetre left by the root (the white end). These are left in a little water on the kitchen windowsill and replanted when the roots grow (for shop-bought) or the green shoot emerges. These can be replanted and will crop several times more, until the Winter. I also cut them from the ground rather than picking.

I planted mine as bulbs, but they now are easily self seeding for me.  Moist soil with a little leaf litter under deciduous trees has worked very well when I throw the fresh seeds into spots like that.

ramp farm

This is the only ramp farm I know of.  Though it's in West Virginia, I've never had the pleasure of visiting it.

I've never planted seeds but it's something I've wanted to try. I did however plant the root ends of plants after cleaning with little success. I planted them in pots in the shade, while in hindsight I should have planted directly in the ground. I was able to find a very small patch on our property this spring and luckily it's located in a small valley and not visible until you are right upon it.  I plan to let it grow for a few years, harvesting only a few leaves.  Unfortunately ramps are a quick cash crop for foragers here and many harvest entire patches.  

Edit:  Looks like there is a new owner to the site, who is also selling seeds, but looks to be out of Vermont. The original farm in Richwood, WV is for sale.

Thank you Michelle.  So great to see that the ramp farm is reopened!  That's where I bought mine over 10 years ago.

I've transplanted it from the wild, it grows wild but it needs an alkaline soil. It won't work in the acidy soil we have. The walls of houses where i live are made out of lime/clay mix, and slowly it feeds the soil. I planted my ramps there on the north side of the house. I guess the south side is too dry or sunny. They always grow next to thick hedges here, partially shade.
They have been doing so well! They selfseed now and i've made new patches as well. It takes some two years before they are fully grown into flowering ramps. End of second year i mean.
They do well where the rhubarb grows. The rhubarb there is slow to appear, first the ramps are there, then they get outshadowed by big leaves, but i still manage to get some leaves for salads.

Hi All, I’m the new operator of rampfarm.com and thought I’d take the opportunity to introduce myself. Glen Facemire did amazing work for a lot of year and I hope to keep it going.

Rob, you’ve asked some great questions. In my experience, and as described by the Ramp Man himself, the best thing to do is seed them directly into a naturally wooded area by moving some leaves back, dropping a pinch of seeds, replacing the leaves and stepping on them to pack them down.

Growing in the yard takes a bit more care. I have some under artificial shade and I use maple leaves each fall as mulch, but I’m moving away from that after the bumper crop of saplings that I have in my ramp row this year! I’ll be using rye straw which is advice that I received from a gentleman in Wisconsin that’s been growing woodland perennials for decades under artificial shade. This comes with the drawback of not having leaves that naturally fertilize the soil so periodic soil testing should be done and it may need amendments (a little gypsum) from time to time.
If you have grass in that spot currently, a hard boarder or raised bed would be useful to prevent the grass from overcrowding and likely taking over the ramp bed.

I hope that helps!

I can also add that planting them from seed under my oaks worked well, with leaf litter mulch. Though I should have caged mine so they could get better established because other things liked to eat them a lot. In my opinion ramps are significantly more delicate and difficult to get established than leeks. It is mostly because they are an ephemeral and have very specific growing conditions which the enjoy living in. Best of luck!

Devin, thanks for the reply, I appreciate the input! How thick do you apply your mulch when sowing seeds? Also do you plant seed in fall or spring?

Hi Rob,
Fall is most definitely the preferred time for planting. I usually go with 3-4 inches to make sure there is good moisture retention. Ramps are quite good at finding their way to daylight and a little extra mulch shouldn't hurt, it'll just delay spotting them. The leaf litter that you'll get from the oak and maple trees in the yard will work very well as long as you're okay with pulling some tree seedlings each spring. If it's a small bed then it won't be a big chore.

Aimee, I'm glad to hear you've had good luck with planting them under your oaks. Our woods are predominantly oak and yet only one small patch on eight acres. Gives me hope that they will multiply.

Devin, so glad to see you here!  Hoping you can share more ramp growing advice with us.  In particular, I'm wondering about the artificial shade you have.  Is it a slatted structure, under shade cloth, or something else?  

Hi Michelle, I use shade cloth in an area of my back lawn where I scraped the sod away, ran discs through it and then formed raised beds with a potato hiller. It's my experimental garden where I have a few varieties of perennials. The ramp row is a bit distinct because it needs some shade before the other plants, and in a different quantity. There was a study done at Purdue University (link to the article below) that states that 30% shade is ideal for germination but then additional shade is needed for long term survival. In my current setup, the whole garden is covered by 60% shade cloth throughout the summer, so I have a temporary 30% shade low-tunnel style structure that I put over the ramps as soon as they begin to emerge and then I take it down when the 60% shade cloth goes up over the whole garden (after the leaves on the trees are out and the threat of snow is mostly gone). I've posted a picture on the Sustainability page of the site and attempted to link to in in this reply, but in case it doesn't work, it can also be found at at https://rampfarm.com/pages/sustainability-practices

https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-449.html#:~:text=For%20the%20artificial%20shade%20structures,be%20detrimental%20for%20seedling%20survival.