The Ramps are Coming!
The Ramps (Allium tricoccum) are coming!! The young Ramp shoots began appearing a couple weeks ago in the Northeast and with all the rain we’ve been having, they are growing in leaps and bounds! If you’re not familiar with Ramps, they are one of the most interesting and popular wild green. A relative of the Wild Onion Grass (Allium vineale) and our cultivated Garlic (Allium sativum), Ramps possess a similar taste profile although often even more pungent.
Ramps can be used in every place you would use a Leek, raw in salads, sauteed as a side dish, and in traditional Potato/Leek soups. Ramps appear in early spring with 2 or 3 waxy feeling, leaves that smell strongly of Onion or Garlic when bruised or crushed. They have a white, underground Leek-like bulb. I love the unique and fresh taste of wild foods and this one is a favorite for sure! But before you get to harvesting, there are a number of things to keep in mind. Continue reading for important information you won’t want to miss!
The most important thing to know above all, is the correct identification. This is true for any wild harvesting but even more so for Ramps as it has been mistaken for one of the deadliest plants in North America, American Hellebore (Veratrum viride). I personally think the two plants look vastly different, but I have encountered people who have mistaken the young American Hellebore (and even older plants) for Ramps. Below is a photo of American Hellebore. You can see the leaves are ovate with entire leaf margins. The leaves are deeply pleated and arranged spirally on stiff stems. Ramps on the other hand, have only 2 (and occasionally 3) leaves per plant, the leaves are rubbery in texture and smell strongly of Onions. Getting to know the 2 plants very well is of crucial importance before harvesting.
Ramps were once an important Pioneer food in Spring. After having lived off food stores all winter, these lively greens would be a welcome fresh and choice edible and large festivals held over days of harvesting and preparing various Ramp dishes. Even today in the South, Ramp festivals are often held throughout the Spring months.
Ramps also possess medicinal properties related to the cardiovascular system and can be naturally lowering to blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Like many herbs in the Allium genus, they aid in increasing circulation to the heart and are beneficial to overall cardiovascular health. They have antibacterial, antifungal, and antibiotic properties killing certain pathogens directly, as well as increasing the activity of the immune system. They help to balance the intestinal flora aiding in improved digestive function. Native tribes would use the juice from the bulb for earaches.
The sustainable harvesting of Ramps are of vital importance. Given this wild green’s popularity, whole stands are often wiped out in a single season which is a travesty and completely unnecessary. Never harvest an entire stand or even 50% which is way too much. If you harvest 50% and then the next person that comes along does the same thing, soon they will all be gone. First off, you should always harvest only what you actually need spreading your harvesting around so that it’s not concentrated in any one area. One way to harvest Ramps sustainably is to never harvest the bulbs. Given that Ramps are a very slow growing perennial, often taking up to 7 years to reach maturity, harvesting the bulbs puts a tremendous strain on wild populations making it difficult for them to rebound. Given that the leaves are quite pungent, harvesting only the leaves, and only 1 leaf per plant will help to ensure the survival of this native species. Spreading your harvesting around amongst patches is another way to not put too much strain on one group of plants. Make sure to follow the life cycle of this plant to be sure to plant the seeds in the Fall.
Another one of the best ways to harvest Ramps sustainably is to grow your own patch! You’ll have the joy of watching these lovely plants growing nearby and the satisfaction of knowing you’re helping to protect a native species. A win win all the way around!
Enter Jewelweed! One of the best remedies I know of to combat this summertime trickster. Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is an annual member of the Balsaminaceae or Touch-Me-Not Family. In fact, one of Jewelweed’s common names is “touch-me-not” due to the spring like action of the seed pods when touched that will send seeds flying in all directions much to the delight of children and young at heart adults. Jewelweed grows in areas with good water sources, close to streams, ponds, and flood plains. It grows to heights of 3 to 5 feet with serrated, oval shaped leaves appearing opposite lower on the stem and alternate towards the top. The stems have large leaf nodes where much of the juicy anti itching compounds reside. Depending upon where the plant is located, you will find the irregular orange or yellow flowers any time between June and September. The active parts of the plant are the leaves, stems, and nodes that are best used before the plant flowers.
As you’ve probably already guessed from this website, I love plants. Medicinal plants have been a long time focus and calling although all plants are healing in their own wonderful and varied ways. This blog post has been a very long time coming. Its first stirrings began many years ago and came again while harvesting St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) flowers in the bright, warm, embracing sun in the summer of 2015. It had been a trying year full of unexpected changes as my mother had died suddenly in the very early and sleepy spring. Anyone that has experienced grief especially the raw grief that comes on abruptly unexpectedly leaving you breathless in an instant as all the oxygen in your universe is viciously sucked away in one soundless swoosh. My experience certainly didn’t pale in that regard. It left me feeling as tiny as a fish flopping around outside of its safe, natural borders into unchartered, foreign, and wholly un-supporting terrain.
the plants, playing my flute, and harvesting the plant’s gifts. I especially found myself spending much time with St. John’s Wort, or St. Joan’s Wort as she prefers. On this particular day I was harvesting St. Joan’s Wort in the baking Sun to be made into a healing oil. It’s one of my favorite things to do. She has been one of my plant allies for several decades. Early on She drove away “seasonal blues” and calmed sciatica pain and sore muscles. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of sharing her medicine with so many people through classes and remedies from her bright yellow flowers that turn red when bruised or steeped in oil. Making St. Joan’s Wort oil and salve has become a catharsis for me, a rite of passage, and just one of the ways that I keep reconnecting with Her power year after year. The year my mother passed I found myself drawn to her over and over again. A strong drawing not out of balance but a gentle knowing that She was there waiting for me daily. I would seek Her out making flower essences, oils, solar infusions, and many times solely for the purpose of being in Her energy. This particular afternoon had been one of those moments that should be frozen for eternity the connection is so complete and profound that a timelessness drifts over like a summer breeze a completely welcoming surprise. As I bent to examine the bursting yellow blossoms it suddenly occurred to me that I was healing. I was working through the feelings surrounding my mother’s death one day at a time with the help of this absolutely amazing and powerful plant. I’d noticed over the months, that my energy and vitality were returning. At times I was even laughing and the deep and heavy sadness was lifting. In this beautiful, profound “ah ha” moment that burned deep in my soul I realized on an even deeper level that THIS is my medicine. This. All of it. Being in relationship with the plants, connecting, being on the Earth, harvesting in the way my ancestors have done for thousands of years. Simple, beautiful, and profound. This. This was my “medicine”, my power. I’ve been teaching about medicinal herbs and doing healing work for well over 30 years and yet there is always room to stretch farther, to go deeper. 
Even now I can feel Her roots working their way into my soul, into my Being. And I smile. This is the nature of the sacred medicine plants when we approach them with love, with gratitude, devoid of ego, and with an open heart. Bringing our whole selves with us; broken, bruised, and wounded. Or happy and joyous. It doesn’t matter. They react and relate to the authentic. To the real. To the childlike. To humility. To me it requires a complete giving over of the self and allowing oneself to be led. To be guided. Allowing yourself to “not know”. Letting it be okay to not have all the answers. That is where we become teachable. It is the place where the everyday and the sacred collide stretching on into eternity. This is where we embrace the Divine and in doing so we touch the sacred within ourselves. This is the place where we truly connect with the sacred medicine plants.
I probably attended my first Earth Day celebration a little over 30 years ago. Celebrations then had more of a hippie, “we feel great cause we’re loving on the Earth”, light-hearted vibe. The biggest focus was on reducing, reusing, and recycling with some information on endangered species and biodiversity thrown in for good measure. The terms global warming and climate change weren’t the buzzwords they are today as it would still be another couple of months before James Hansen, then Director of the NASA Goddard Space Institute, would report on the “greenhouse effect” to the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and its damaging effects on our global climate.
Fast forward 30 years and recycling paper, plastic, and remembering our reusable bags are just not going to get us there. One of the most alarming facts we must contend with is the passing of the 400ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere a few years back and its resultant increase in global mean temperature. In the last 100 years or so our world has warmed an astonishing 2 degrees Fahrenheit as CO2 levels have spiked from around 300ppm to over 400ppm. While this may not seem like much but remember we’re talking about a global average. The implications of a 2-degree increase has major impacts on global weather patterns with the creation of “superstorms”, the unpredictability of local weather patterns, crop’s viability, and water availability. All of this affects everyone everywhere and as the polar caps continue to melt unabated at an alarming rate, we are losing precious coastline every day creating both safety and exponential economic issues. If that isn’t enough, we now have something called the “Pacific Garbage Patch” a thing most of us couldn’t even conceive of a mere couple decades ago, and pollution found at the deepest depths of our murky oceans threatens marine wildlife, food sources, and livelihoods. What’s further frightening is how normalized these reports have become and how many people remain asleep behind the wheel as we steer ourselves off the proverbial cliff. The changes once predicted not to happen for another 50 years, are happening now. We’ve seen over and over again, that governments and corporations are failing to act in any real meaningful way with most failing to act period. To the point of even continuing to portray global warming as a perpetrated hoax rather than honoring the scientific data and actual evidence our world normally marries itself to, instead preferring to cherry pick the information that’s convenient.
to our futures. Basically no one does. Not even our learned scientists. These are paths we have yet to tread in our human history. The last time the CO2 in the atmosphere was this high, humans didn’t exist. During the entire course of human history CO2 levels have never been at this level and so we really don’t know the implications. I for one, would prefer not to find out. I’m a creature of habit and I’d be happy to stay in our little Earth bubble for a while longer thank you. The bigger question; what do we do about it? One thing I think we don’t do – we don’t wait for anyone else to fix the problem. There is no hero. No one is going to swoop in and save us. And by us I mean you, the person reading this blog. No one is going to save you or your family, and here’s the rub…or your children or your children’s children because let’s face it, they’re the ones that are going to have to pay this piper. They’re going to be the ones to reap what we’ve sown. Things may get annoying and even downright uncomfortable for us but it’s going to be down the road that this Earth may become uninhabitable. At least for humans anyway.
