Are you craving some of this...
...but can't find one of these!
You're bound to find a roadside stand just about anywhere in the spring in
ramp country. If you are like me and living too far from the mountains, it is hard
to make it to the dinners or to find roadside stands. Fortunately, you can get ramps mail order
in season.
G&N
Ramp Farm Specialties is located in Richwood, WV. Anytime of the year you can
order a recipe booklet, booklets on the growth cycle of ramps and
growing ramps and postcards to send to your friends. They also sell
many specialty items such as dehydrated ramps, pickled ramps, ramp salt
(I use it on steak and burgers), ramp jelly and ramp mustard. If you
are interested in growing your own, you can order ramps seeds and ramp
bulbs. I order from them every year and the ramps are very clean compared
to some I've bought in the stores in WV.
Food Finders is
another WV source of fresh ramps. They also sell vinegar.
Earthy Delights is in
Michigan. They also have pickled ramps. They were mentioned on the April 23, 2006
edition of the Today Show. Apparently NBC made them take the video off of YouTube.
It's no longer availabe at that website.
Smoke Camp Crafts sells Ramp Jam at Mountain Made, Tamarack and other outlets in West Virginia.
It is also available wholesale or in bulk. Call them at (304) 269-6416 or
.
A. S. Margraf's Fine Foods in
North Carolina advertises ramp vinegar, sauces, salad dressing, mustard and even
catsup.
Spence Farm sells to restaurants in the Chicago area! But you
can call and order from them also. They also list the restaurants that
they sell to, in case you want to dine there. They started collecting ramps to
sell because they had become invasive. The ramps are collected in a sustainable
manner.
The Kirkwood Winery sells Appalachian Ramp
Wine that they claim is great for cooking. This wine was shown in the documentary.
Their online shop isn't available yet but you might try calling them. I have
seen it for sale at
Bulk Foods,
located at the Flatwoods Factory Outlet, exit 67 of Interstate 79 in Flatwoods,
WV.
I have also seen Chef Harv's Ramp Dressing at Bulk Foods. I
wish it was available on the website. By the way, I love Chef Harv's Hot Pepper
Jelly!
If you are interested in growing your own ramps,
Dr. Jeanine Davis has a nice list of sources for bulbs and seeds. And she
also has lots of advice on planting and harvesting ramps in a book that she
co-authored. It's the first one listed in my "Support this site" section.
I've been researching New York City restaurants that serve ramps and I found
out that you can buy fresh ramps at Greenmarket Farmer's Market in Union Square
Park North, (212) 477-3220.
© 1997 & 2005 Anita Toth Simpson