Growing Ramps and Their History
On my quest to acquire the traditional and sacred seeds and food crops of ancient, aboriginal America I have finally acquired ramps!
What Are Ramps?
Ramps (Allium tricoccum) are a perennial leek that is a cross between an onion and garlic. Although in the lily family, Ramps are often used as a garnish, or the leaves are made into a pesto, while the bulbs can be used as you would regular onion and garlic.
I also purchased some seeds, but as those apparently need at least a year to naturally stratify and take at least 3 years for the bulb to grow, I opted to also purchase mature, 5+ year old bulbs from the same seller located upstate (I’m in NY).
(For clarification purposes, I did cold stratify my ramp seeds, along with native wild persimmon and pawpaw tree seeds in my refrigerator’s crisper over the winter. The persimmon has since started to sprout, still waiting for the pawpaw to do something…)
Ramps, or commonly known as “ramsons” in Appalachia or wild leeks or garlic elsewhere are perennial bulbs native to Eastern North America. This area encompasses as far north as Canada, to the continental eastern seaboard.
Ramps Companion Plants
Favoring undisturbed woodland areas, common companion plants for ramps include: trillium, toothwort, nettle, wild geranium, black cohosh, ginseng, bloodroot, trout lily, bellwort, native ferns and mayapple.
Ideally, you want plants that thrive in similar growing conditions. Plants that like moisture, acidic soil and natural shade.
Ramps generally enjoy shade from the canopy of native hardwood forest trees such as: buckeye, linden, birch, hickory, oak, sugar maple, and poplar.
Transplanting Ramp Bulbs
Since I can’t plant these in the ground just yet for reasons I will not currently elaborate on, for now I’ve placed them in a tote with year old nutrient rich soil from homemade compost and leaf mold. I also purchased our New York native Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) which is 1 of 3 edible varieties that provide fiddleheads in the spring, and our native Hay Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), which I transplanted into that tote bed a week earlier.
Sadly enough, I had 3 fiddleheads on that fern and took 1 to try with a baked potato. I should have blanched it, but I was being lazy and put it in foil with some olive oil. I accidentally threw the foil I baked it in out with the fiddlehead still in it.
When I went back outside, it seems the raccoon mothers lurking around my backyard garden got to them before me…so I guess no more fiddleheads until next spring.
As I ordered the ramps later on in the season, many of the provided mother plants were going to seed, so I guess next spring I’ll dine on the ephemeral fiddlehead ferns and ramp leaves, together.
Growing Ramps Tips
As I mentioned above, ramps grow in acidic, shaded woodlands in their natural habitat under the canopy of hardwood trees. I am growing my ramps in a plastic tote alongside native ferns under the canopy of swamp maple and black locust trees.
Ramp bulbs should be planted at least 5 inches apart from one another, as they spread through underground rhizomes in addition to self-seeding in late summer – early fall. Usually, only the mother plants that have reached maturity and are 5 – 6 years old will set seed.
A mulch of fallen leaves would do wonders for this plant.
The Name of Chicago and Ramps – A History
Something interesting I came across while studying aboriginal American history in general is the relationship between city (or state) names and figures that are later associated with food. I don’t know if this is intentional or not, but it’s happened far too many times to be a coincidence at this point.
Most internet sources credit a French explorer from the 1600s with the name Chicago, from “Chicagou” in reference to a local Indian word for the onions we now call ramps.
The tribe often cited is usually the Miami-Illinois, which is interesting because that is an amalgamation of two names. The Miami is most likely another name for the Maya, who went to Miami – Maya-mi – amongst other places like joining the Creek (Muskogee) of Georgia, for whom they traded cotton and dyes with in Mexico.
The Illinois are for whom we get the name for the state of Illinois…so although I know certain tribes did merge or were under the same confederacies, this is the first thing that stuck out to me as weird.
Chief Chicagou
Secondly, Chicago may actually have been named for its king, similar to Massachusetts and King (“chief” – note chief is a term now used to replace the word “king” when related to Indians) Massasoit.
Chief Chicagou is a figure I can’t find much info online for, which in the long run is fine because 90% of my research is conducted offline and in antiquarian books and sources, anyway.
All the internet has to offer on Chief Chicagou is that he was “of the Mitchigamea” and that he visited Paris in 1725.
There is a bronze bust of him ( or someone supposedly modeled for as his likeness) in the Marquette building in Chicago that was built in 1895.
Apparently, in reference to the impression Chief Chicagou made on a “Marquette and Joliet”. When you search those names, the “Expedition of Marquette and Joliet, 1673“) comes up – which is a swell place to start. I actually believe I have a few antiquarian books on my drive related to the early spies sent as explorers to the America’s.
Traditional Uses for Ramps (Allium tricoccum)
I believe I can do better than this by looking through my old herbal books, but according to Wikipedia various tribes in the Eastern U.S. and Canada relied specifically on Allium tricoccum as both a food and medicine, and possibly as an agent of textiles.
Traditionally, ramps were used as a spring tonic for fresh greens as the leeks are an ephemeral spring plant. It could also be used as a decoction to deworm children and adults (similar to edible pumpkin seeds). The juice from the bulbs could be extracted when crushed and used to treat insect bites.
Ramp bulbs contain a compound that can also be extracted and utilized to create natural dyes in hues and shades of pale yellow to deep orange.
So in short, these tiny bulbs have a wide array of usage sans simply for eating.
Ramsons, ramps, wild leeks, wood leeks, wild garlic, chicagou, shikaakwa, chikako, chicagoua – whatever you’d like to call them, I’m glad to have Allium tricoccum officially growing in my garden.
What are you growing in your garden this spring?
Have you been to any of the many festivals that celebrate ramps along the southeastern united states?
Let me know in the comment section below, and until next time remember :
This world is a shadow of the real one.