Today, we stopped by our farmer friends, Ethel and Tom, to buy some honey and eggs and he had just come back from digging up some ramps and offered me some.
Awesome! This season is so short and I seemed to have remembered seeing the stem part at farmers markets but I think I was confusing it with garlic scapes. The leaves are so very tasty. They taste both garlicky and oniony. They are actually a relative of the leek and signify that Spring has arrived! I’m going to chop them up and put some in my baby kale salad tonight that we’re having with a broiled skirt steak. I’ll throw the rest in some scrambled eggs in the morning. He said many people make pesto with the leaves as well. That would be darn good but I don’t have enough to do that.
Tom said I could use the leaves and part of the stem and then plant the roots back in the ground to come up next year! I did just that!
Funny, in a little research, I learned that ramps are a part of the Allium family, and I just planted some of those beautiful tall purple spherical flowers last Fall and they are just coming up. So I planted these ramps nearby. After all, you’ve got to keep the family together, right?
My purple Allium coming up!
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Brilliant! I love fresh spring produce. Thanks for the education! I’m going to find some.
Hope you do – good luck!
Interesting – I’ve never heard of ramps before or seen them here in London. They sound tasty!
It’s a very aromatic vegetable!
When I lived in East Tennessee there was an annual ramp festival. Just imagine the aromas!
Heady!!
I’ve never had ramps but I love your description of them! I can imagine they tasted fabulous with those eggs. They probably work great in a frittata.
The eggs were delish!! Yes, frittata would be great too!
Ramps are new to me. What vegetables are they closest to?
Leeks, Spring onion and garlic – is what they taste like – but it’s more of an herb than a vegetable.
I have to admit that I have never heard of ramps. Thank you for letting me know what they are and how they can be used.
Do try to find them if you can. They are special and the season is short – like 2 weeks!
Love the flowers of Alliums!
Have never heard of ramps before. I’m sure to love ’em as I adore leeks and onions, as you may have noticed. Those ramps are going to be so good with scrambled eggs.
Yes, they were great!!!
You are so lucky. I’ve never been able to purchase them, and I would love to play with them.
Yes I know – Tom is a sweetheart! Hopefully mine will now grow for next year! Check farmers markets and even your garden center.