Ramps (Wild Leeks)

Ramps are a perennial plant that is the first to emerge in April, taking advantage of all the sunlight before the overstory trees leaf out later in May. A member of the allium family, they taste like a mixture of garlic and onion and their aroma permeates the air when walking through our forests each spring. They are also an indicator plant that only grows on the best, most fertile sites in our region, so we knew we had a great sugarbush when we saw the huge abundance of ramps.

Many people dig up the bulbs along with the greens and cook with them, but doing this eliminates that plant permanently. Overharvesting has decimated ramp populations in many areas so we are extremely careful to only harvest limited amount of bulbs and sell them to others who want to plant them on their own properties. We focus the vast majority of our harvesting efforts on the leaves, as when we take 1 of the 2 leaves from each plant, it is still able to photosynthesize and store energy back in to the bulb that will re-emerge year after year. This is the most sustainable way to ‘have your ramps and eat them too’. All of the flavor from the bulbs is also found in the leaves, and as we are often told, its important to eat your greens!

Ramps are normally a seasonal delicacy in the eastern US, but we have been working with Burlap & Barrel to have them available for sale in dried form year round. We harvest thousands of pounds of leaves each spring and they are dried, crushed and put in to spice jars to be able to add incredible flavors from the forest to so many dishes any time of the year!