Back to ramps:

Saw them ingood supply at Whole Foods on Sheffield this afternoon for $2.99/bunch. Looked like a "bunch" was about 10-12 individual plants.

Edit: I think they were organic from a producer in Viola, Illinois. Don't remember the name.

Plenty of ramps at Whole Foods on Peterson this morning. As we speak, I'm making ramp-fennel pesto and oven roasted mushrooms.

Surprised Whole Foods doesn't stock these in the suburbs. None in Northbrook yesterday and none in Deerfield today.

they are available at hmart in niles. they go for $4.50 per pound. they are labeled "wild garlic" and not ramps....

Rick T. wrote:Saw them ingood supply at Whole Foods on Sheffield this afternoon for $2.99/bunch. Looked like a "bunch" was about 10-12 individual plants.

Edit: I think they were organic from a producer in Viola, Illinois. Don't remember the name.

A "bunch" weighs about 3 ounces, which works out to about $16/lb. The ramps I bought were from Harmony Valley Farm (Wisconsin).

On Saturday, Whole Foods in Evanston had ramps from Harmony Valley farm in Wisconsin - two bunches for $5.

Green City market did not have ramps but had green garlic and tropea onions.

Kathleen

Hi,

FYI - H-Mart often has green garlic.

Regards,

On Sunday, H-Mart in Niles had a large supply of "Wild Garlic - Herb" on the wide flat tables toward the east side of the produce section. $3.99/lb

JoelF wrote:On Sunday, H-Mart in Niles had a large supply of "Wild Garlic - Herb" on the wide flat tables toward the east side of the produce section. $3.99/lb

Was it bundled up or did you have to sort through it? I remember last year, early season green garlic was priced similarly. As the summer progressed, the price was less than a dollar, but I had to pick through the table myself.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

JoelF wrote:On Sunday, H-Mart in Niles had a large supply of "Wild Garlic - Herb" on the wide flat tables toward the east side of the produce section. $3.99/lb

Was it bundled up or did you have to sort through it?

Like MHays described above, it's in plastic containers like you'd get a sammy at the airport.

Ramps were in the Whole Foods Northbrook store last night. $2.49 for a small bunch, organic from California.

I'd like to know where to find ramps this year. It seems like most farmers markets won't be opening until after ramps season, with the exception of Green City's date on April 24th. Any help would be appreciated.

Unfortunately, the Illinois supply of ramps is very limited this year. One of the main suppliers "Spence Farms" has reportedly had a dispute with a family member (ramps were on his families property not his). This is leaving hundreds - maybe thousands of pounds of ramps to be returned to the soil.
Good luck hunting,
D

green grocer received their first batch of ramps this morning. they're $19.99/lb., and will probably have them arriving for the next 2 weeks. i'm told the price will probably drop. justjoan

green grocer, 1402 w. grand., 312-624-9508

Nordicnectar wrote:Unfortunately, the Illinois supply of ramps is very limited this year. One of the main suppliers "Spence Farms" has reportedly had a dispute with a family member (ramps were on his families property not his). This is leaving hundreds - maybe thousands of pounds of ramps to be returned to the soil.
Good luck hunting,
D

HI,

Just in case there is a thought to DIY collect ramps.

The only way to do this legally is to find private property where you have been granted permission. To take from forest preserves is asking for ticket. Unlike mushrooms, which is a fruiting body like an apple, to collect a ramp you are taking a plant from the soil.

Regards,

To reply to a PM related to mushroom collecting:

You are asking for trouble there, too, with mushrooms on county land - though now it is legal in state parks. The argument the mushroom/berry/nut people always submit: we are taking a fruiting body, which can be replenished.

To dig up a plant is a forever thing.

Long before there were issues with mushrooms, there was always a problem digging up plants.

Regards,

toria wrote:I'm assuming ramps are rampion.

Rampion is Campanula rapunculus. Ramps are Allium tricoccum.

Mhays wrote:I headed out to H-Mart today, as I was looking for ramps but would settle for green garlic...lo and behold, what do I see, masquerading as "wild garlic".... They also had a different, similarly-packaged item labeled "wild garlic," but that looked more like chives, which I guess are similar to what stevez found.

Wild garlic is another common name for ramps. There are a number of alliums that are called "wild garlic," e.g. A. canadense, A. vineale and A. ramosum, which led to some mix up as to which was the plant for which Chicago was named.

Rampion...doesn't anyone read Rapunzel to their kids??? When the mother was pregnant she longed for a salad of Rampion and the father stole the rampions and the witch took the baby and...........let down your hair..the end. Good night!

I am curious on the laws with gathering as I thought it was against the law to forage anything in county parks (herbs, mushrooms, ramps, ect..). I would check as any fine from the forest preserve could be REAL expensive!

On a consumption note, I would be sure to use a vegetable sanitizer when consuming raw ramps as they can pick up bacteria from the ground and the same thing with cooking fiddlehead ferns as there have been outbreaks of sickness from raw ferns but no clear bacteria (but gosh it is worth it..yum!) http://www.elements.nb.ca/theme/ethnobo ... ls/jim.htm

JohnH wrote:I am curious on the laws with gathering as I thought it was against the law to forage anything in county parks (herbs, mushrooms, ramps, ect..). I would check as any fine from the forest preserve could be REAL expensive!

There is a blanket restriction on foraging in county forests, which has been expanding over the years. Maybe fifteen years ago, I had a map from the Lake County Forest preserves outling where you could collect nuts, berries and mushrooms, though plants never. It now had a blanket restriction.

There once was a similar restriction for Illinois state parks, though now nuts, berries and mushrooms are allowed except for any nature preserve. There is a quiet effort being made to reverse the position of county forests. These restrictions didn't happen overnight and their reversal will take some time (some estimate five years).

I have a friend whose FAther walked right up to a ranger with his mushroom finds. He lost his mushrooms and gained a costly ticket.

Regards,

JohnH wrote:Rampion...doesn't anyone read Rapunzel to their kids??? When the mother was pregnant she longed for a salad of Rampion and the father stole the rampions and the witch took the baby and...........let down your hair..the end. Good night!

The best song lyrics about vegetables, ever.

picked up some Michigan ramps at The Dill PIckle tonight. $4 for a good-sized bunch, the tender leaves of which I julienned and tossed raw with pasta, olive oil, grated lemon peel, grated cheese, toasted pine nuts and red pepper flakes. A tasty Spring dinner that was ready in the time it took a pot of water to boil, plus 10 minutes.

Ramps from California were in the Northbrook Whole Foods today. I think they were $2.99 a bunch.

Because of some activity restrictions from a back surgery back in Feb, I've been using Peapod for the bulk of my basic grocery needs. I was pleasantly surprised by the availability of ramps from Peapod. It was $4.99 for a bunch. The website lists the weight of the bunch to be 4 oz. I've ordered the ramps twice now and have been happy with the quality both times.

Irv & Shelly's Fresh Picks has local (Wisconsin) ramps for $3 per 1/4 lb. bunch.

To make a delivery order worth it, you can bulk up your order with Klug farm asparagus at $4/lb. With very few farmers markets open yet, Irv & Shelly is the way to go for me.

Best,
Michael

Found a ton of ramps at HMart, but they were labeled as Garlic-San Manul, which is apparently what they call it in Korean. $3.99/lb, however I noticed that the flavor is not nearly as strong as ramps I've bought elsewhere in years past.

I bought three big bunches of ramps on Saturday at the Dane Co. market in Madison, and last night, purloining an idea from Chris Cosentino of San Francisco's Incanto, made ramp salsa. My version: a pint of grape tomatoes, three ramps, trimmed, a handful of cilantro, two red serrano chiles, and a *big* pinch of salt. I finely chopped the ramps and chiles in the food processor (drop them down the feed tube with the machine running, in the manner one uses to chop garlic), pulsed in the cilantro, scraped down the sides, added the tomatoes and salt, and pulsed til chopped. Delicious! The subtle garlic-y flavor of the raw ramp works very nicely in this application.

Thanks for the idea, Chris. I owe ya!

Now back to ramps -

On Saturday afternoon, Whole Foods in Evanston had Harmony Valley Organics (Wisconsin) ramps two bunches of maybe 8-10 for $5.

Very fresh and terrific in Batali's One Hour Calamari in Umido with Ramp Bruchetta:

Kathleen

Same deal at Whole Foods on North Ave. They also had morels. A pint or so for $9.99.

Mary

I have found some delicious, albeit pricey, ones at Whole Foods--has anyone seen any local ramps around town?

I've only found them at Whole Foods this year as well, around 25 dollars a pound. I'm going to try green city markets this weekend to see if I can find anything cheaper.