Wild ramps thrive in Wisconsin if you know where to look. I had the good fortune to be shown that healthy patch above. Ramps appear early, and the Indians showed the settlers the health benefits of eating the plant after a long hard winter. Ramps are sometimes called wild leeks and have a distinct garlicky flavor. I've used them in potato ramp soup, sautéed with butter and used whole uncooked leaves as a tasty hors d'oeuvre that riffed on bagna cauda.
Wild ramps are apparently hard to cultivate, but I'm giving it a shot. I brought back a couple whole plants; hopefully they will survive.
11 comments:
I bet Granny Clampett cooked ramps. Probably w/ possum.
We have green onions around here. Just yesterday as I mowed my lawn there was the distinct odor of onions as I mowed down those plants by the dozens. Not sure they are edible, I am not much of an onion eating guy, I think my Pop ate all of those things.
My allium plants are doing well this year - I have some giant ones in the back that I assume were planted for their flowers.
I hope your plants do well - as with wild ginseng that grows in the mountains here any time a wild plant gets popular they get pushed to the brink of extinction. Dare I say people are greedy idiots? Well, I just did. Then I would break out my Rodney Dangerfield routine "No respect". Those plants and their habitat get no respect.
I bet Granny Clampett cooked ramps. Probably w/ possum.
That and poke weed salad.
@Sixty: These are alliums. I hope the ones I picked flower and go to seed. I've read that germinating ramp seeds is even harder than leopard lilies.
A burlap sack is part of the look if you intend to follow The King of Ramps.
https://www.richwooders.com/ramp/bato_crites.htm
Mark me down as one of the people who wouldn't think Althouse's partner would post something like this here. I can't imagine anyone with a modicum of awareness regarding this blog's history thinking this looked like something he'd leave here.
"Bagna Cauda is made from anchovies, garlic, olive oil. They use it like fondue and dip veggies in it in the winter. "
that sounds good. I'm not ever sure if I've ever eaten an anchovy. I know they are yummy as part of caesar dressings.
+Foraging for unique plants sounds appealing.
My nona foraged dandelion greens, taking me along. A Polish neighbor lady would take me out into the woods, teaching me how to find non poisonous mushrooms. I am trainable, if not educable.
that sounds good. I'm not ever sure if I've ever eaten an anchovy. I know they are yummy as part of caesar dressings.
Garlic and anchovies are both strong flavors. Most people here in WI tend towards bland food and rejected it. I learned to love it with the natives. It's a bit like coffee. I developed a taste for good coffee over there. Coffee I could not find back in WI -- not in 1979. Now you can pretty much find it everywhere if only the beans.
Hey, Chickelit. Enjoyed the pist.
It seems the Cosby Ramp Festival is now defunct. Cosby is about 20 miles northeast of Gatlinburg, TN hard by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the festival was held the first Sunday in May.
There are many other ramp festivals held along the foothills of the Smokies, some may even be ongoing this spring.
bland food - yes. My father was born and raised in WI - and his mother only cooked with the 3 main spices. Salt, pepper and sugar.
Thanks, l
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