Ramps are one of spring's fleeting food delicacies. They emerge and disappear in just a few months. Have you ever spotted ramps in the wild? The plant is still there after the early green leaves die back. Here's a presentation of the full phases of the ramp cycle.

1. The Secret Life of Ramps

2. Ramps!
Told in Three Phases
Emergence
Development
Disappearance

3. What am Ramps?
Ramps are wild leeks.
Allium tricoccum.

4. These are not ramps
These are wild
chives
Allium
schoeneprasum

5. Ramp grow north as far as Quebec; west
to Oklahoma and south to Georgia.

6. Emergence
Ramp like to grow in sandy soil near streams,

7. Ramps like well drained calcium rich soil.
These conditions are also favored by trout lilies,
may apples and trilliums, so you if notice any of
these plants-look close! Ramps may be near by.

8. Ramps also grow close to beech, birch, maple and
poplar trees.

9. Don’t be greedy in foraging for
ramps. Ramps take 5-7 years to grow.

10. Development
After the leaves die back, the
flower stalk emerges. The flower
blooms in mid summer and seeds
develop in late summer.

11. The seeds mature atop the leafless flower
stalk.

12. Ramp seed needs both warm and cold to
germinate.
The seed requires a warm moist period
to break root dormancy.
It then needs a cold period to break
shoot dormancy.
If not adequate warmth after seeding,
seeds will not germinate until the second
spring. It can take 6-18 months to
germinate!

13. The seeds will then fall off the stalk
and fall to the ground to germinate.

14. Disappearance
Once the woods grow up,
you have to know where the
ramps where if you are
going to look for seed.

16. You have to know exactly where you are
looking for ramp seed.

17. Cleaning
One of the easiest way to clean ramps are
several trips through a water wash.

18. One of the prettiest spring
vegetables.

19. This ramps presentation brought
to you by Kim at kim.today