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Ramps signal Spring has come to the Appalachians and they bring about many family gatherings and public festivals to eat and celebrate the first vegetable of the year. The ramp is a wild leek, smelling strongly of garlic, and people either love 'em or hate 'em.
Ramps (Allium tricoccum Aiton) are native to North America, harvested in the early Spring from South Carolina to Ontario in the upper cool, forested regions of the Appalachian mountains. The name comes from Rams or Ramson, stemming from an Elizabethan name for wild garlic, and used by early English settlers in the southern Appalachians. Others say the name ramson comes from the ramps first appearing in the zodiac sign of Aries (the ram) March 20-April 20. The ramp looks like a scallion but with broader flat leaves. Both the bulb and the leaves are edible although the leaves are a bit milder. They add a pungent flavor to hearty dishes like soups and casseroles and are often fried up with bacon and potatoes at Ramp Festivals. Ramp lovers offer this caution: Don’t be surprised if people keep their distance for a few days after you have eaten ramps!
Ramps will grow from the few seeds they produce although germination make take a year or more, and then 4 or 5 years to make a bulb. More commonly, ramps are spread by underground rhizomes. Ramp pickers (generally small-scale subsistence harvesters) will usually dig clumps and leave individual ramps to fill the gaps for the next year. The late wild foods evangelist Euell Gibbons considered ramps "the sweetest and the best of the wild onions."[1]
Native Medicine
Ramps were regarded as a spring tonic to cleanse the blood, and were used to keep away colds and the flu. Modern science concurs, and shows Alliums (which include ramps) are high in Vitamin C which was often missing in winter diets. Ramps are said to also increase the production of high-density lipoproteins in the body which are linked to reduced blood serum levels of cholesterol. An Oregon State University professor thinks there might be cancer-fighting potential in this powerfully stinky Appalachian woods plant. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/1998/Jan98/ramps.htm
Following instinct or maybe traditions, the early mountain folk had found a tasty, nutritional spring food. The Native Americans knew ramps well and besides making a spring tonic, made a poultice from the bulb juice to put on bee stings. The Menomini tribe referred to the area near the southern shore of Lake Michigan where ramps were abundant as "shikako" meaning "skunk place". The name was later used for a white settlement there now known as Chicago.
Culinary Use
In the central mountains, ramps are usually fried with potatoes in bacon grease or scrambled with eggs and served with bacon, pinto beans, and cornbread. Many chefs are now bringing fresh ramps to their spring menus along with other spring delicacies like fiddlehead ferns and wild morels. Food TV Network chefs Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali have all aired shows featuring ramp recipes. http://www.starchefs.com/features/ramps/html/index.shtml
There are many Ramp Festivals held in Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia and up into Pennsylvania. The Festivals are family-oriented and usually have Bluegrass and/or Gospel music, old-fashioned games like horseshoe pitching, arts and crafts and of course lots of food made with (and without) ramps. Some festivals also have antique tractor and car displays and Ramp Cook-offs.
iron skillet 4 or 5 large potatoes, diced 1 lb. bacon 1 1/2 lb. ramps, cleaned and cut up 6 eggs (optional) salt and pepper to taste
1. Fry bacon in skillet. 2. Remove from pan and set aside. 3. Put cut up potatoes in bacon grease and let fry 3 to 4 minutes. 4. Add cut up ramps and continue frying until potatoes are well done. 5. Put previously fried bacon on top of potatoes and ramps; let simmer for about 2 minutes.
I have a 'growing my own food' obsession that grew out of my overlapping interests in cooking, nutrition and gardening. I am also a teacher (but outside the System), a writer, and a builder… and a craftsperson and... and… and many other things, LOL. In fact, I guess I am a generalist.
I live in the southern Appalachian Mountains on a hillside with a creek in front and drive a 15 year old truck I lovingly call “My Farmer’s Ferrari.”
Posted by atoths (from Mount Airy, MD) on April 18, 2008 at 3:23 PM:
Hi! I run the Ramps! King of Stink website. I wanted to thank you for linking to it.
Also, I wanted to say that if you dig some up, all you have to do is take a sniff and you'll know they're ramps. If you're still not sure, you'll know by the time you get to the extension office. Your car will reek! They smell more garlicky that wild onions and have a broader leaf.
I don't know why Earthy Delights lists ramps and wild leeks separately unless, they get the ramps from somewhere else and then sell locally grown wild leeks a month later. They are based out of Michigan and people do call them wild leeks there. I think they are the same plant.
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on April 18, 2008 at 4:08 PM:
Thanks for taking the time to add to our discussion!
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Subject: Excellent
Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on April 16, 2008 at 8:25 PM:
Excellent article, Darius. I'm one of those that doesn't particularly care for ramps, but I have friends who love em. Thanks for sharing the information.
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Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on April 16, 2008 at 8:31 PM:
I wonder if we have them in northern KY? We have so many wildflowers here in our woods, and some of the leaves I see coming up look like those, but I don't know what they are. Are they only in the mountains, Darius?
Edit: I just answered my own question, lol. According to the USDA distribution map, yes, they are here in Campbell county! I'll be pulling up some of those wildflowers tomorrow, but before I eat them, I'll take them to the extension service here to make sure. I'll let you know!
This message was edited Apr 16, 2008 8:57 PM
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on April 16, 2008 at 9:43 PM:
Cool! I wanted to put the distribution map in the article but couldn't find out who to contact quickly enough. (I didn't want the article to languish way past ramp pickin' time!)
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Subject: Thank you
Posted by enya_34 (from Madison, WI) on April 16, 2008 at 4:31 PM:
As usual, delightful, informative and well researched article. Though it did make me said to realize that the seeds I planted won't make bulbs for quite some time. So my trying the recipe would have to wait unless I can catch that elusive ramps season at the local farmer's market :) I am trying to introduce ramps on my wooded property as one of the plants that I could both harvest and enjoy.
Great job!
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on April 16, 2008 at 4:34 PM:
Thanks!
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Posted by roseone33 (from Southern Mountains, GA) on April 16, 2008 at 7:14 PM:
Hi Darius, Wonderful! You've really come into your own up there. I'm so glad for you!
Great article, I've looked around here for ramps but so far no luck.
Best to you, Rosemary
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Subject: so interesting
Posted by Dutchlady1 (from Naples, FL) on April 16, 2008 at 6:39 AM:
I love reading about things I never knew existed!
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Posted by catmad (from Pelzer, SC) on April 16, 2008 at 8:33 AM:
I keep looking for them in my rambles, but no luck. I suspect I'm too far from the mountains, but I keep hoping....
Thanks Darius, I will be checking out the calendar. Hope it has pictures, I have sooo many things that "look" edible, but I'm just not sure....
Okay, no pictures, but still neat. I'm confused, tho. The calendar lists Ramps and Wild Leeks seperately, but the order form lists Ramps/Wild Leeks, as if they are the same thing. Anyone know?
This message was edited Apr 16, 2008 8:38 AM
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on April 16, 2008 at 10:09 AM:
Cat... I got the idea there is a very slight difference between our Appalachian Mountain ramps and the wild leeks grown around the Great Lakes. But why the differences between the calendar and the order box is a puzzlement.
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Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on April 16, 2008 at 10:45 AM:
I guess I'm too much Mississippi river Delta over here in west KY. I've looked for ramps everytime I head into the woods.
I'd love to find a patch!
Thanks for the great article!
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Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on April 16, 2008 at 12:15 PM:
It is a great article, Darius, as are all of yours. Makes me homesick for the mountains, though. Thank you.
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on April 16, 2008 at 4:34 PM:
Thanks, y'all!
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Posted by mellielong (from Lutz, FL) on April 16, 2008 at 8:38 PM:
I read the part about how to serve them up to my Dad, who is from Lincoln County, WV, and asked if that's how he had eaten them and he replied, "Absolutely!" I love reading your articles about this part of the U.S. It brings out a lot of good family stories here in my house. Thanks!
Melanie
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Posted by roadrunner (from Hereford, AZ) on April 16, 2008 at 9:33 PM:
I well remember the one and only time I was treated to a Ramp Dinner.
My neice and her DH over in Alderson, WV came by some of the ramps...She decided they WERE NOT going to be cooked in her main kitchen....so off we went ...out of town to their farm house...we boiled up a bunch of the tops...then chopped them up and fried them with potatoes...YUMMY. But our husbands decided to eat some of the bulbs whole....needless to say...they slept alone for a couple of nigjhts....at the FARM HOUSE....LOL Jo
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Posted by mellielong (from Lutz, FL) on April 16, 2008 at 10:00 PM:
Jo, in one of my genealogy books I remember reading a story about kids eating lots of ramps to get out of going to school for a few days! I had to ask Dad if it was really that bad and he let me know in no uncertain terms that it was.
Melanie
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Posted by roadrunner (from Hereford, AZ) on April 16, 2008 at 10:28 PM:
Melanie...My older brothers didn't have Ramps to get them out of school...but they would eat garlic to do the same trick!! LOL Jo
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on April 16, 2008 at 11:01 PM:
Jo, I figured this article would get your attention, LOL. Glad you and Melanie got back to some good memories because of it. :)
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Posted by roadrunner (from Hereford, AZ) on April 17, 2008 at 1:11 AM:
Thanks, Darius...Jo
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Posted by georgiascv (from Canyon Country, CA) on April 21, 2008 at 8:45 AM:
I Found reading this article about 'Ramps', takes me back. I have fond memories of taking early morning walks with my Dad thru' the woods around our home where I grew up in Erie Pa. We went to dig worms, for fishing of course. We would eat what we always called leeks along the way. I never knew they were Ramps. I plan to find some to grow in my own small garden here in so. Ca. and hopefully share them again with my Dad. Thanks for the article and time to reminisce.
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Posted by Horseshoe (from Efland, NC) on April 21, 2008 at 11:07 AM:
Every year I hanker to head to the Ramp Festival in Cherokee! (I hear you can smell it for miles before you get there!) So far I've never made it yet but I still have hope!
The way I figger it, after two days of eating ramps I'd be a prime candidate for camping in the mtns for a week! No doubt the aroma exuding off me would keep the ticks off as well as keep the black bears at bay (unless the bears liked ramps, too!).
Appalachian mountains. The name comes from Rams or Ramson, stemming from an Elizabethan name for wild garlic, and used by early English settlers in the southern Appalachians. Others say the name ramson comes from the ramps first appearing in the zodiac sign of Aries (the ram) March 20-April 20. The ramp looks like a scallion but with broader flat leaves. Both the bulb and the leaves are edible although the leaves are a bit milder. They add a pungent flavor to hearty dishes like soups and casseroles and are often fried up with bacon and potatoes at Ramp Festivals. Ramp lovers offer this caution: Don’t be surprised if people keep their distance for a few days after you have eaten ramps!
If you want to try ramps and they are not available locally, try Earthy Delights to order online. 
Bluegrass and/or Gospel music, old-fashioned games like horseshoe pitching, arts and crafts and of course lots of food made with (and without) ramps. Some festivals also have antique tractor and car displays and Ramp Cook-offs.
