Ramps 1 (2016)

This weekend I decided to pick some Ramps. At this point they are still young, excellent as cooked vegetable. They can be used as addition to veggie sups or mixed with other wild greens ( Chicory, Dandelion, Nettle) as a simple side dish. Cook for 5-6 min, add some olive oil and salt. That's it! My favorite chef uses ramps in many inventive and delicious ways.


As the first wild edible showing in the wide range of woods in Eastern Canada, it is very popular and sought after. Greed and reckless harvesting diminished this plant considerably. Some great information can be found here. Taking all that into account there are some rules that I always apply when digging Ramps, and I think everybody should consider at least some of them.




  • Never take more than 10% of the growth from any patch

  • Always dig in the middle of the patch; don't disturb edges - they are used to propagate and expand given patch

  • Try to cover digging spot and return them into original state as much as possible

  • Never touch small patches (less then 3 meters in diameter); they can disappear completely


 

[caption id="attachment_1041" align="alignnone" width="3264"]DSCN3278 Prime for consumption as cooked vegetable[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1042" align="alignnone" width="3264"]DSCN3279 Decent size patch[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1043" align="alignnone" width="3264"]DSCN3280 Another nice patch[/caption]

I was visited by Turkey Vulture while exploring the area.

[caption id="attachment_1074" align="alignnone" width="1471"]DSCN3281 Turkey Vulture[/caption]

After digging several handfuls, I washed them at the nearby creek


DSCN3282


There were some smaller patches right besides creek, but I did not touch them.


DSCN3284


Back home additional washing and cleaning was done.


DSCN3285


After 5 min cooking, left to cool down.


DSCN3286


Final result - several freezer bags of cooked Ramps.


DSCN3287


The next would be pickling Ramps. For that I wait till green part starts to die and bulbs are big ansd succulent, somwhere at the end of May.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morels 2 (2016)

Image
Encouraged by the finds couple of days ago I visited one of my best spots for Morels .  There was no trace of any mushrooms yet. The only thing indicating something is going on are several Dryad's Saddles in very early stage of growth. The Trillium is everywhere, showing great variations in color. I did find many small patches of Ramps. All of them were too small to harvest.   I will try again on Weekend.
Read more

October 17, 2016

Image
Seems like I dismissed warm weather a little too early. Today expected daily high is 27°C! The forecast is still factoring in humidex! In the woods the fall change is well under way. I guess trees are reacting to calendar as much as couple of cold nights. The colors are amazing. All the shades of green, yellow, brown and red are present. On the floor of the woods big flourish of Honey Mushrooms has passed. There are still some around but big clumps are gone. At this time they are frequently infested by bugs. I found numerous traces of heavy harvesting. Blewits are showing in numbers. As usual they are forming partial or full fairy rings. Due to worm weather some of them are still buggy. This is excellent edible, definitely one of my favorites. Blewit color can vary greatly and it is not recommended for the beginners. For me the odor is one of the main characteristics for recognition. [caption id="attachment_3115" align="alignnone" width="663"] Clitocybe n
Read more

Morels 3 (Fiddleheads) (2016)

Image
Temperatures dipped back to near zero over several nights.I tried  foraging in North York Regional forest with zero result. The consolation price for the weekend of May 14th were fiddleheads. There is some controversial info on the web about fiddleheads. Some sources have a warning about carcinogenic compounds found in several species of fern.The fact is they are still  sold in grocery shops in Ontario. I limit my foraging to Ostrich Fern . It is easily recognized by 3 characteristics: Dark green, almost bluish in color Paper like membrane (visible on picture bellow) Presence of characteristic spore bearing fronds Anyway, I follow recommendation of Government of Canada and cook my fiddleheads thoroughly, just in case. The fiddlheads season is very short. The best way to preserve is to blanch(cook in boiling water 2 minutes, shock with cold water to stop cooking), dry and put in freezer bags). Fiddleheads have a great, buttery taste and can be eaten as side dish or cooked veg
Read more