Not only does it take on average up to seven years for a ramp to go to seed, it can then take almost two years for that seed to actually germinate and produce a new ramp. Over-harvesting has become so problematic, ramps are listed as a threatened and protected species in the province of Quebec with strict legislation in place regarding both harvesting and consumption. And because of these harsh regulations, it has created a black market of smugglers who dig up ramp patches in Quebec , then cross into Ontario where they can be legally sold for a hefty price.
Trends Why ramps should stay off the menu this spring Over-harvesting of this wild leek is turning it into a vulnerable species, coveted on the black market. Wild ramps. How sad to read that over harvesting is decimating your local ramp population :- - over here in London, the ancient forest on the outskirts has banned the gathering of wild mushrooms for the same reason. I respectfully have two suggestions for you, if germination at lower altitudes seems too hit and miss.
The bulbs are smaller than your Ramps, but the leaves are about the same size and delish, and they grow at sea level. Check out the Plants for a Future website, pfaf.
If you enter 'Allium' in their search engine, both your Ramps, and our Ransoms are listed on the 3rd page. I have a thriving colony in a shady spot in my garden. Love and blessings. A bit like how Ginseng and Goldenseal were wiped out from commercialization.
If we could only take as much as we need, gently, and help the next generation propagate, as it should be done, these helpful plants would be there for us for eternity. I'm from central Ohio and had an old timer show me where ramps were located along an old railroad bed.
I dug up a bunch and replanted in my woods at home - north side of the hill. Nothing special, just stuck them in the ground. They began producing the next year, but I left them go for several years before harvesting. It has been 10 years now, and I have 4 patches that are going nuts! The largest is 10 ft x 10 ft with satellite patches beginning around them. I tried planting 2 separate patches at anearby location on the South side of the same hill, with limited success.
Wonderful to hear from fellow rampy folks! The transplants did pretty well, I enjoyed sitting out talking with them and munching one leaf from a few of them this spring. I also planted seed in the same vicinity 2 years ago but none have made their appearance yet.
One just never knows when they may pop up, similar to wildflower seed Thanks for caring :- and best wishes! Just wanted to say, that we sustainably harvest a small amount of them, maybe 5 dozen, and I leave the dirt on them until were ready to use them, seems to make them last a bit longer. I also took home a few, maybe 10 with roots intact, and planted them in my garden, they are doing quite well.
It doesn't look like anyone else knows about the patch we found, it's quite a large area. For what it is worth, growing wild leeks from seed is about a seven year process although as someone posted above that it can happen in less. I transplanted bulbs to an ideal location in my yard about 5 years ago but have yet to see them propagate.
I have a place in the wild where I have been very selective about digging, taking only a few bulbs for pickling each year. I generally cut the leaves off for drying and use them year around in egg omelets, meat seasoning, sour cream dip etc. Leaving the root portion of the bulb as stated by the author is a great idea to insure future generations the opportunity to enjoy leeks.
Most of my family came from northwestern Pennsylvania and foraging for leeks has been a spring ritual for many years. Spring trout season is also leek season and my grandparents depended on those fresh greens during the Great Depression.
For those that don't like the strong garlicky onion after affects cooking the leeks mitigates a lot of that lingering odor.
I grew up in West Virginia eating ramps all my life. I now live in southern Indiana and am working on turning my rural county into a ramp capitol. I am amazed to understand how ramps can get overharvested. If everyone knew that all one needs to do is go to your favorite ramp patch in late September and discover the hundreds of seed pods like garlic sticking up " from the forest floor. Scoop them up little black beebees and scatter them somewhere else before the leaves fall off the trees in order to bed them in.
In Quebec, for example, I grew up eating local wild leeks in the Eastern Townships. So did everybody else—until they were all but gone. Their commercial harvest was banned province-wide in —and the plant is still listed as threatened. Stateside, they have similar problems. The trouble is, good intentions are not much fun to apply here, for the only considerate way to harvest wild leeks is to hardly do it at all.
To not do any harm to the plant, one must remove only the leaves, so the bulb left in will grow some more the following year and, possibly, flowers and seeds, too. But the bulb is the prize, the choice part; the leaves are just a tasty add-on. So the only truly useful option is to determine how many can be removed without damaging the patch. Origin and Meaning of Names: Scientific Name: tricoccum : three-seeded Photographs: photographs available, of which 14 are featured on this page.
Range Map is at the bottom of the page Wild Leek plants form patches in the forest. Some individual plants in a small patch. The leaves and bulbs smell like onions when bruised or crushed. Always test them until you get to know this plant. If they don't smell like onions they are not Wild Leek.
Another nice patch of Wild Leek. The edible bulbs. These can actually be dug up in the winter under the snow, especially if the ground is frozen. Young shoots in spring. Wild Leek is among the first of spring plants to poke up in the spring. These plants, sheltered in the sunny lee of a friendly rock, are further along. Flower stalks starting to grow.
Note that the leaves are starting to look a little pale - they die off by the time the flowers open. An umbel of flower buds. There is only one stalk of flowers per plant.
The stalk is smooth. Flowers opening in their umbel at the top of the stalk. A closer view of the flowers. Wild Leek seeds and dead stalk in winter.
0コメント