View Full Version : Ramps are up
For those who like them, now is the time to go out and dig some.
This is a MEAN post. :p
They don't grow in Ohio and I WANT SOME!!!
Oh well, there is always next year.
What are ramps?
They don't grow in Ohio and I WANT SOME!!!
Click on USDA Plants (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALTR3) for nomenclature and distribution information about wild leek (ramps). Where there exists a desire for ready supply of ramps there is also a solution, but it requires an effort as with most other desirable things.
The A.T. states where one could expect to gather a small quantity of ramps for immediate, personal consumption on the AT in a manner that's legal and ethical from the standpoint of resource conservation is probably limited to North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia south of Shenandoah National Park on National Forests.
If anyone wants to have a serious discussion about what I just posted, I'm all for it and would be happy to contribute.
vamelungeon
04-17-2009, 13:18
Ramps are wild plants that leave a big STANK on people who eat them. There is no word in the English language to describe the odor your breath will have. They are delicious.
Whitetop, Va has a "Ramp Festival" every May. Good times!
sherrill
04-17-2009, 15:19
I was in the Smokies last week. You think a pic is cruel? How about being right next to hundreds and hundreds and not being able to grab just one or two?? :D
I was in the Smokies last week. You think a pic is cruel? How about being right next to hundreds and hundreds and not being able to grab just one or two?? :D
That's your story and your sticking with it!
sherrill
04-17-2009, 15:33
That's your story and your sticking with it!
Yeah, I could claim it was the wild hogs! :p
We never heard of them until our AT section. Bought some at the Farmer's market in Asheville and they STUNK up the coolers to ruination on the way home. They were delicious. We do not get them here.
CrumbSnatcher
04-17-2009, 23:13
White Top ramp eating contest/festival during traildays(last day of traildays i believe) go see WICKED 99' 02' defend his championship belt. IMO i'd rather have a big and tasty yellow onion
Just don't mix them up with the hellebore. I hear they look very similar but the hellebore is poisonous (doesn't smell like a ramp, though, according to what I've read).
Ramps are wild plants that leave a big STANK on people who eat them. There is no word in the English language to describe the odor your breath will have.
Yeah, they send the kids who eat them home from school around here.
Whitetop Ramp Festival
http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?attrID=16171
Ron Haven
04-18-2009, 01:20
Just don't mix them up with the hellebore. I hear they look very similar but the hellebore is poisonous (doesn't smell like a ramp, though, according to what I've read).Tinker you are right but hellebore don't have a bulb on the bottom like a ramp.
Just don't mix them up with the hellebore. I hear they look very similar but the hellebore is poisonous...
Quite a few plants including but not limited to Clintonia sp. and American lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria montana L.) could be mistaken for ramps.
Tinker you are right but hellebore don't have a bulb on the bottom like a ramp.
Neither do the plants I mentioned. Relying on the presence of bulbs as a confirming characteristic necessitates pulling up plants, likely destroying them in the process and pointless destruction non-target trailside vegetation.
Some may think by taking only a plant or two, their impact is negligible, but when one's impact is considered in the context of the many who may think these same thoughts and act upon them, it becomes apparent just how significant one's actions can be over time.
The A.T. and those who visit it would be better served if we refrain from promoting this activity and encourage those who have more than just a casual interest to attend festivals, do their homework beforehand and their gathering elsewhere.
One way to identify ramps is that they have purple stems.
Ramps! My first taste of them was somewhere around the GA-NC border at some commercial campsite (can't remember the name). There was a huge family there that treated us to dinner including fried potatoes with ramps. Delicious. I never dared to pick any myself, though. I was always afraid I'd get the wrong thing and needlessly pull up a native plant that I couldn't eat.
Spirit Walker
04-18-2009, 19:53
We were in the Shenandoahs on Monday and set up camp next to a small patch of ramp. I smelled them before I saw them. Didn't take any because there was only one small patch, but it brought back good memories of the AT.