Foraging for Wild Ramps
Last weekend I went home to Vermont, in time for a spring tradition to forage for wild ramps.
What the heck are wild ramps?
They are a close relative of onion and garlic. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say on the topic: “Allium tricoccum is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is a North American species of wild onion.”
Unlike common onion or garlic, wild ramps grow completely in the wild. If you know where to look, you’ll have a delicious, nutritious side dish.
How we knew where to look.
My mom and I walked down our dirt road about a quarter mile, before continuing on a hiking and mountain biking trail another five minutes.
Then, we arrived at the part where we would have to go off-trail. After about 60 seconds of walking in the untamed woods, we saw a batch of leaves sticking out of the ground. The ramps. Right where they always are.
How did we know we’d find them here? Many years ago, our neighbors showed us the spot. They, I’m sure, were shown by the neighbors before them. The knowledge is passed down, and somewhere along the line was a Tarbox Road resident who was a nerd for foraging and local eating.
We came after the peak season, and they looked a little withered. We used a simple trowel and pulled it out from the bulb.
There was a big patch, but we only picked what we wanted to eat with dinner.
How to Prepare Them
After washing them, we threw them on a pan, gave them a dose of olive oil, and put them in the oven for 20 minutes.
The greens have a flaky crunch, and the bulbs have a pleasant sweetness.
this foraging brought a rush of excitement
We hardly see the source of where our food comes from. Yet, somehow, somewhere along the line it (hopefully) came from nature. To walk outside our home and have a delicious side dish was a nice reminder that nature can provide for us.
While this is the only foraging I’ve ever done, it has inspired me. Now, my nose is on alert for other foraging opportunities. As Novella Carpenter wrote in her book Farm City as she tried to exclusively eat what she grew and foraged, “The 100-yard diet had so heightened my senses, I started to see food everywhere. Every shrub, tree, and weed I encountered quivered with potential usefulness.”
Cultivating our own food is political revolution
In my article on 5 big ideas to fight climate, I wrote about the immense benefits of eating locally, and how we need to eat locally to change the course of climate change. Foraging fits right into this.
We live in a world where monoculture crops like soy, wheat, and meat fed nearly inedible corn is cheap, in part thanks to government subsidies, yet healthy fruits and vegetables are expensive.
Every wild ramp we collect, every stalk of kale we grow, moves us towards a world where we can all have access to healthy foods and support the health of the planet. Every food choice we make is political. I view these ramps as my own small form of political revolution.
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