Ramps

Apparently, if you want more ramps growing in the wild, you need to harvest some ramps.

Samuel Thayer, out to prove that responsible ramp harvesting including the bulb, does not cause ramp extinction.



Still under construction, his research study is posted here.

I wish I had ramps.

Thanks so much for posting this! Thayer and Bergo and the others are all broadly in my neck of the woods and I used to buy Harmony Valley ramps at our food coop.

That's cool Christopher. I have never tasted ramps. I saw some years back at the grocery store, but I couldn't justify the expense...

It's ramp season.
Let the debate begin.
Listen to all voices. Observe the ramps. Then decide.
Can ramps be sustainably harvested?
Leaves only, or bulbs too?
Is sustainable foraging acceptable?
How do we know that a practice is sustainable?
Is foraging morally wrong?  
Who appreciates a plant more than the person who eats it?
Is foraging necessary?
This has been four years in the making, but finally, I'm releasing the ramp video that I've been working on with Jesse Roesler. This plant has been dear to me for many years, and my life has become deeply intertwined with it. This video only scratches the surface, but hopefully it can help push the conversation about sustainable ramp harvest beyond the knee-jerk, anti-foraging, ramp-shaming that has grown rampant over the last two decades. You can watch it on youtube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHbV4p4_AhU
I guess this is also the launch of my YouTube channel.
Let us have some rational discussion.
Let's not let the insidious misinformation of anti-foraging outsiders dictate the terms of our own discussions about what we do.
In this video there is not time to go into the details of my own ramp research. I have put up a new page on my website summarizing this research, which you can view here: https://www.foragersharvest.com/rampresearch.html  I have almost 20 years of data. It's not going to take 20 years to get it posted, but it won't be overnight. I will be adding to the analysis and data posted as time permits.

Samuel Thayer's facebook post in reference to the above youtube video.

Ramps are a strong sensory childhood memory for me: the scent of rich dark earth clinging to the bulbs after harvest, cold water on my hands while rinsing them off, the pungent deliciousness of fresh leaves and root, the caramelized melty-ness adorning just-fried potatoes. Yum!
My dad transplanted some from his spring trout fishing trips to the WV mountains onto our Appalachian foothills property. I would help myself to them while playing outside. Never had to tell Mom what I'd done, either. My "reward" was having to chew spearmint-flavored Trident for a couple hours after.

I miss ramps. Only knew of the broad-leafed ones - I learned something!