tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post7561555874831229446..comments2024-01-01T00:31:18.174-05:00Comments on Calendula & Concrete: Wild Ramps from West VirginiaChristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01905386163490128028noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-49848880710491550762009-03-11T13:29:00.000-04:002009-03-11T13:29:00.000-04:00Just a word to the wise. DO NOT eat these things...Just a word to the wise. DO NOT eat these things and expect to be around people for a couple days aftewards. Where I grew up, kids were sent home from school for eating too many Ramps (we call em wild leeks)<BR/><BR/>They produce an odor that makes garlic smell like the finest cologne and simply showering doesn't help. If comes right back out through your pores.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-4894212388906044282009-03-06T02:32:00.000-05:002009-03-06T02:32:00.000-05:00I am a resident of West Virginia and enjoy venturi...I am a resident of West Virginia and enjoy venturing into the wilderness.The mountains around here offer many delicious foods.One of my favorites are ramps on homemade pizza.Thanks for recognizing the many treasures there are to find in Wild Wonderful West Virginia! Sincerely,Ramp DiggerUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14844718072755360007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-78171047330847590532008-07-28T20:46:00.000-04:002008-07-28T20:46:00.000-04:00I live in Pleasants county West Virginia and I've ...I live in Pleasants county West Virginia and I've been picking ramps out of the hills here since my dad showed me what they were many years ago. In fact,it's sort of a family tradition to pick ramps every spring. I'll clean them and eat them raw most of the time or even put them in turtle soup. Any way you use them, no other wild vegitation comes close to down home backwoods taste.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-65394985483721054772008-04-15T16:22:00.000-04:002008-04-15T16:22:00.000-04:00I grew up in West Virginia near Clarksburg in a to...I grew up in West Virginia near Clarksburg in a town named after my family (McWhorter) who owned the land coal was mined on there. I was born there, left and returned when I was three and stayed until I was eight. I am 51 now and living in California. I remember deer hunting season in W. Va. as a child and big skillets full of ramps cooking alongside deer meat. The ramps would give flavor to the meat and tenderize it. Nobody cooked deer meat without the ramps, they went hand in hand.I recall the smell of those ramps cooking and I was running around half starved most of the time being a foster child of sorts nobody really wanted. Nobody would ever let me taste the ramps or food cooked with them. After all of these years the smell of those ramps still haunted me and by golly I just ordered three pounds of them to be shipped to me plus a seed kit to grow my own. I remember them growing all around the forest wild everywhere and my Uncle going off to pick them. I remember what they smelled like being cooked with fresh deer meat, just divine. If you are in any area with some shady spot to plant them I can assure you you will not regret having a little patch of them and frying them up with a good cut of meat. Or even baking them with a roast for a wonderful flavor. When they cook the smell travels for a mile, like a garlic with no bitter. Thanks for the article!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-75385046468314409712007-06-08T21:58:00.000-04:002007-06-08T21:58:00.000-04:00Ramps are delicious. I read a NY Times article a c...Ramps are delicious. I read a NY Times article a couple of years ago and bought some by mailorder. They were delicious just sauteed in butter with a little salt and pepper. We ate the leaves and all but they can be a little stringy and chewy. I've grown so fond of them that I ordered some seed and ramps for planting. The ones I planted the previous year will be ready for harvesting next spring so I won't have to buy them anymore.Kihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05576859749293959381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-86026338767528147312007-06-05T20:16:00.000-04:002007-06-05T20:16:00.000-04:00Who would have thought that such a little veggie w...Who would have thought that such a little veggie would be so interesting. I enjoyed the history lesson about the name.<BR/>I love leeks so I'm sure I would love Ramps.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-44373577918000053192007-06-05T10:44:00.000-04:002007-06-05T10:44:00.000-04:00This was all very interesting to me. I had never ...This was all very interesting to me. I had never heard of ramps before and it was very educational.Jane O'https://www.blogger.com/profile/06426526301234517692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-35150425418621683552007-06-05T08:56:00.000-04:002007-06-05T08:56:00.000-04:00Ramps being the first vegetable in spring are a bi...Ramps being the first vegetable in spring are a big deal in Appalachia. They've become so popular that harvesting wild ramps has been banned in Smokey Mountain National Park and horticulturists are trying to develop a breed that can be grown domestically. There are many ways to prepare them. Check this post as well:<BR/>http://theslowcook.blogspot.com/2007/04/ramps-are-here.htmlEd Bruskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12217850970833353800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-79847557053948473282007-06-05T08:33:00.000-04:002007-06-05T08:33:00.000-04:00All I can say is YUM! What a wonderful dish!ReneeAll I can say is YUM! What a wonderful dish!<BR/><BR/>ReneeKnitters Notebookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11828971476334676496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-44416633326916278152007-06-05T06:56:00.000-04:002007-06-05T06:56:00.000-04:00Great discussion re 'all actions have consequences...Great discussion re 'all actions have consequences, some are unintended' -- <BR/><BR/>PS Nice to see the icon popping up here!Alanna Kellogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12869948243694610558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-29045057295615739132007-06-04T18:29:00.000-04:002007-06-04T18:29:00.000-04:00Jennie,Very good point. I think it comes down to o...<I>Jennie,<BR/>Very good point. I think it comes down to one's definition of local. Local for whom? I've been shopping at the farmers' market with the notion that everything I buy there is "good", because I'm supporting local businesses and cutting down on food miles. Most of the vendors at our market hail from West Virgina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The products they offer are "more local" to me than most of the produce I see in the supermarkets (from California, Florida, Central and South America, etc.). <BR/><BR/>I thought I was doing good by buying ramps, until I later read about the overharvesting issue. Had I known about it, I would have passed them up for something else. I think part of the responsibility lies with the vendors/harvesters too, though. I realize they are trying to make a living and can charge a premium price for something that's available only for a limited time of year... but are they offering a product that's been responsibly harvested so as not to deplete the resource (or its habitat) for future use? Everything we buy/eat has repercussions somewhere else. Next time I see something "wild grown," I'll be less quick to jump at it until I know more. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comments, everyone!</I>Christahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01905386163490128028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-6799583661482932092007-06-04T10:04:00.000-04:002007-06-04T10:04:00.000-04:00Yummy yummy. But I'd have to disagree with you ab...Yummy yummy. But I'd have to disagree with you about the depletion of the wild ramp supply being a result of the local food movement. Ramps are local in southern appalachia, not new york or or d.c. or the various other cities that they're being taken to for restaurants. If the only people collecting them were people who lived in the region who intended to eat them it's pretty unlikey there would be a shortage. It's a spring tonic after all, not something you eat a lot of.jenniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15300754685634949536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-52595596748847706502007-06-04T06:27:00.000-04:002007-06-04T06:27:00.000-04:00Beautiful post! Although I haven't heard of wild r...Beautiful post! Although I haven't heard of wild ramps before, but I love the way you have described them and the prepared breakfast looks sooo appetizing.Green thumbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02985557905470748245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-14152708682718199342007-06-04T00:55:00.000-04:002007-06-04T00:55:00.000-04:00Being a Southerner, I've heard of ramps, but I don...Being a Southerner, I've heard of ramps, but I don't think I've ever had them and I know I've never known precisely what they are. Mahalo for educating me. I'd love to try them just as you showed in a savory breakfast.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-73358348043806049032007-06-03T23:44:00.000-04:002007-06-03T23:44:00.000-04:00I've not heard of ramps either. But they sound go...I've not heard of ramps either. But they sound good, as does the dish you made!Kylee Baumlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04288354709094515651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21012673.post-6100448954496248562007-06-03T21:47:00.000-04:002007-06-03T21:47:00.000-04:00Nice story and such an interesting plant. The ramp...Nice story and such an interesting plant. The ramps, eggs, potatoes and bacon sounds and looks realy good. I can almost taste them.Whyitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12243528765489096681noreply@blogger.com