Foraging for Ramps & a Ramp Giveaway

I grew up in the country with thousands of acres of forests and farm fields as my playground. As I grew older, I became a city boy, but one thing that hasn't changed is my love of the outdoors. I love to go camping, hiking, and just about anything that keeps me outside. Foraging* (searching for food in the wild - see the very end for more info on foraging) is the perfect combination of my love of the outdoors and my love of food. Ramps are my favorite food to forage for, largely because it's the what I've had the most success with.

So some of you are probably wondering what ramps are...

Freshly dug ramps

Allium tricoccum, commonly known as ramps, spring onion, ramson, wild leek, or ail des bois (French), is a member of the onion family. Found in groups with broad, smooth, light green leaves, often with deep purple or burgundy tints on the lower stems and a scallion-like bulb strongly rooted just beneath the surface of the soil. Both the white lower leaf stalks and the broad green leaves are edible. A common description of the flavor is like a combination of onions and strong garlic.~Courtesy of Wikipedia

Ramps can be found at your local farmers market from early April to late May (~$5 for a small bunch), but it's much more fun to go dig your own. Ramps can be found all over the forests of NE Ohio. They typically grow in damp forests, near river beds. In my foraging experience, if you see skunk cabbage (see pictures below), there's a decent chance you might find some ramps too.

Lucky for me, this is my Dad's "backyard":

My dog, Tucker, loves being in the woods too
 

Skunk cabbage (the big, brighter green, leafy plants) & ramps (the smaller leafy plants)

I can't think of a much better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than out in the forest digging ramps with my Dad. This is my haul after about a half hour of digging:

More than 5 pounds of ramps

 Close-up of the ramps & my awesome Stove Monkey's shirt

The best thing about ramps is they come back every year, so once you find them growing, you'll be set for life as long as no one else discovers your stash. Ramps grow in bunches, but you don't want to dig them all, otherwise they won't come back the next year so be sure to leave some behind. Also, it's illegal to dig them in the Metro Parks and some other parks so be sure it's ok to dig before you do. 

So what do you do with ramps? They can be used in just about anything you like. Some of my favorite things  are omelets (try ramps, bacon, mushrooms, hot peppers, tomato, & goat cheese), tossed in salad, grilled or  sauteed, pesto, and quiche. Ramps are also amazing pickled with hot peppers, onions, & garlic or on a pizza like the one I made tonight.

Flat bread pizza with sauteed ramps & Killbuck Valley mushrooms, bacon, tomato, blue cheese, & fried egg. The crust is from Lucy's Sweet Surrender at the Crocker Park Farmer's Market

Delicious!

I'd love to share some of my ramps with YOU!

If you'd like to try some ramps, leave me a comment below with how you'd use the ramps if I shared some with you. I'll pick my favorite comment on Thursday morning and send some to you. Bonus entries for Tweeting / Facebooking about the contest. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win!

*If you are interested in learning about foraging, consider attending the Foraging Forest Food cooking class at The Greenhouse Tavern. Jonathon Sawyer does a lot of foraging and I'm sure he'll share a lot of great tips on how to find these gems in the forest, as well as how to cook them. I hope to attend this class myself.