Ramsoms in the Wild
Greetings, Hive! In one of my last posts I talked extensively about wild leeks or "ramps" and even shared a picture of some growing in my shade garden. Today I'm sharing a patch I found in their natural woodland habitat.
This is an ideal patch that you can harvest from because they are growing abundantly in a patch that's at least 5ft by 5ft. I harvested one leaf from several different plants and left the remaining leaf so that the plant may still photosynthesize. It's important to harvest sustainably so that they can continue to proliferate. In some places they are commercially exploited and overharvested.
What's interesting is that there are two varieties of wild leeks. Allium tricoccum var. tricoccum has purple or red petiols (leaf stems). This is the variety I saw today. The other, var. burdickii, has white petiols and narrower leaves. This is the variety growing in my garden.
I think in July when they bloom I will bring some seeds of the other variety to my garden.
That is all for today!
Thanks for stopping by!
Cool, I didn't know the leaves were so big. I found some wild chives that were pretty potent tasting a couple days ago as well. This shot reminds me of the Waterfall Glen forest preserve area.
I think I know which ones you're talking about. I see chives growing everywhere on the sides of the bike trail leading up to the woods where the photo was taken. Curiously, I've never actually seen them growing inside the forest. Did you pull up any for the little onions?
Yeah i pulled up a clump to try and grow some. They are really good baked on bread as a topping, very spicy.
Wow! That's amazing! They are the same ones I was thinking of. Yeah they do well in the garden. I've even transplanted bunches multiple times. They're very resilient