Ramps on the A T

[Ron Haven]

Ever heard of seeds?

I have heard of the roots turning to seed and I know in late May to early June they turn yellow and are mushy.The top dries up and this is when I have heard it said:they have turned to seed.Is this what you mean?

[Pedaling Fool]

They propogate in a manner similar to garlic and onions - the bulb makes little bulbs....

When I first started composting, I inadvertantly started growing foot-tall plants, turned out it was potatoes, just started growing from the whole potatoes I threw in the compost.

[emerald]

Anyone wanting to read about establishing a ramp patch of your own can click on "Cultivation of Ramps," a Horticulture Information Leaflet provided by North Carolina State University.

[emerald]

I have heard of the roots turning to seed and I know in late May to early June they turn yellow and are mushy.The top dries up and this is when I have heard it said:they have turned to seed.Is this what you mean?

Check out what I just posted. Most people think ramps go dormant or die shortly after the time they're harvested -- not so. Once their leaves have withered, ramps produce another shoot on which seeds are borne before they go dormant.

Ramps are perennials which take several years to mature.

[emerald]

They propagate in a manner similar to garlic and onions - the bulb makes little bulbs....

Perhaps ramps do produce bulblets. I've never seen it, nor have I ever read anything before to indicate it's so, but I've only ever handled them in the spring.

Lilies and other plants that overwinter as bulbs are sometimes deliberately wounded to produce bulblets which are then removed at the proper time and allowed to increase in size until they reach saleable size. In some cases, this technique is faster than seed and, of course, produces plants exactly like the original.

Bulbs treated in this manner are subject to disease and rot. To prevent this from happening, sometimes they are treated with fungicides.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Wow, with everyone puling up ramps, I guess we'll truly Leave No Trace - of ramps. It's okay though, we can blame all the holes that are left on trekking poles.

Okay, seriously. I've only had them once, and they were tasty, but there is an ecological impact if everybody starts pulling them up. I'm not saying it's a devastating impact, but it's something to think about.

[Ron Haven]

If you've never had them before, try a friday night where you don't have to work the next day

Ramps are best eaten with others who are eating ramps. There is a ramp festival over on Qualla, many cool recipes! (Cherokee Spring Ramp Festival)

Smile,I have heard of that festival.WNC also has others.Some one totld me it was against the law to dig ramps in the Smokies.I don't know that to be true or not.Shade of Gray,I have never tried growing ramps.I always went to the mountains to get them.I am sure that what you say is true.

I go to the mountains sometimes and dig ginsang also.There is a nest of berries in the middle I bury also.I have tried drying them and planting them.I have never got any of them to grow.

[emerald]

Okay, seriously. I've only had them once, and they were tasty, but there is an ecological impact if everybody starts pulling them up. I'm not saying it's a devastating impact, but it's something to think about.

Conservation botanists have been thinking about that impact too! Quite a number of states are watching more closely. Others may follow.

Could wild leek become another ginseng or goldenseal? I hope we never find ourselves in that postion.

[emerald]

I go to the mountains sometimes and dig ginsang also. There is a nest of berries in the middle I bury also.

I'm glad to hear you wait until the seeds are mature to hunt ginseng. I believe what you do is considered to be the best way to gather ginseng from the standpoint of conservation.

It's good it's easiest to find ginseng when it's best for ginseng to be found. That should help both those who gather it and those who protect it from those who would harm it. I think this is a wonderful example of enlightened self-interest.

Did you ever meet Charles Trivett from Damascus? I remember him telling me of the virtues of ginseng and where to find it. He was someone who liked and helped hikers too.

[Ron Haven]

I'm glad to hear you wait until the seeds are mature to hunt ginseng. I believe what you do is considered to be the best way to gather ginseng from the standpoint of conservation.

It's good it's easiest to find ginseng when it's best for ginseng to be found. That should help both those who gather it and those who protect it from those who would harm it. I think this is a wonderful example of enlightened self-interest.

Did you ever meet Charles Trivett from Damascus? I remember him telling me of the virtues of ginseng and where to find it. He was someone who liked and helped hikers too.

I don't think so,but i bet there is a lot of it near there.

[Sly]

Ramps? I hate ramps, especially the ones in Cloverdale!

[Lone Wolf]

Whitetop Ramp Festival
http://www.virginia.org/site/descrip...p?attrID=16171

[SGT Rock]

I love ramps. Thanks for the quick class on how to ID them and the local NC ramp pickers. That family looks familiar.

[rafe]

Whitetop Ramp Festival
www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?attrID=16171

IIRC, the date usually coincides with Trail Days... or near the end of TD. Worth catching if one is around for TD anyway.

[Lone Wolf]

IIRC, the date usually coincides with Trail Days... or near the end of TD. Worth catching if one is around for TD anyway.

yup. always the sunday of trail days. Maineak won the ramp eating contest many years in a row.

[Nearly Normal]

If your prone to indigestion I wouldn't fool with them.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Perhaps ramps do produce bulblets. I've never seen it, nor have I ever read anything before to indicate it's so, but I've only ever handled them in the spring.

I have a small number of ramps in my garlic patch as I use them (sparingly) in cooking some. I've seen the bulblets and know they will come up. Haven't had much luck with the seeds. Maybe the lack of bees (didn't get pollinated)

[Smile]

They are very similar to wild onions or garlic (I have many bunches put up for winter here, they are small but delicious), and they do have little bulblets on them. They are much easier to start than seeds

Ramps are terrific with brook trout, stuff inside, add a little butter, salt and pepper and some olive oil....man I could eat some right now!

[emerald]

If you have a camera capable of producing a satisfactory digital image, I'd like to see one. Where and when do these bulblets, offsets or scales form?

[emerald]

Some one told me it was against the law to dig ramps in the Smokies. I don't know that to be true or not.

While looking for something else, I found a report published by Appalachian Plant Materials Center (See p. 2) which indicates gathering ramps in GSMNP at least had been permitted, which surprised me. Before collecting there, I'd want to call ahead to be certain.*

The article I mentioned and linked pertains to research being conducted on behalf of the Cherokee Nation that will lead to establishing ramp gardens on tribal lands.

*After posting, I read elsewhere, cut and pasted what follows: In response to the increased harvests, and in light of studies showing a ramp population needs many years to recover from a single harvest (Rock 1996), the Smoky Mountain National Park, in North Carolina and Tennessee, banned the harvesting of ramps in 2002.

Seems odd those who wrote the report published in April 2007 didn't know what apparently ocurred in 2002.