Foraging for ramps 2018

We recently went ramp foraging and I have to admit I thought it was going to be harder then it turned out to be. Not only were the ramps easy to find ( after much consulting of many plant identification books) but they were a breeze to harvest.
Ramps are wild onions that have broad leaves and a white bulb. They are so easy to harvest because of their shallow root systems that make them pull able with little effort.

Ramps can be used in many was but we are going to pickle them. they can be used in pesto's or marinades - anywhere you may use onions and garlic together , you can sprinkle in a few ramps. Over the next couple of days I'm going to test out a few recipes and I hope you get adventurous with cooking with ramps as well as they are a wild, sustainable food source that should be planted and looked after in your area. As long as they are native, that is.

I did harvest 10% or less of the patch I found , as this will not affect the productivity of the patch of ramps. If you wish to keep the ramp population healthy then I suggest following the 10%harvest guidelines .

These are a few items I will/ have purchased to go foraging with. This collapsible shovel is not only light weight but it can be clipped onto your pack or belt with a Carabiner clip.  ( you should always have one on your key-chain )

This makes foraging so much easier , in the future I will not bring a basket or a bucket as I found a much easier way to take your foraged produced out of the woods. This is a collapsible bag , and I think it will be my next must have to bring with me when I go out camping or hiking.

The last thing is a good knife and this fixed blade knife is handy. Make sure it has a belt clip and is not easily opened in your pocket by accident.