CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — With flowers and trees beginning to bloom for the spring, ramps are also beginning to appear.
Ramp leaves usually start to become visible near the beginning of April and can be harvested until the end of May to sometimes early June. The National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia said it is already seeing ramp leaves, calling them “a welcome sign of spring.”
If you want to harvest the Appalachian leek, which tastes something like onion and garlic, you can do so in places like the Monongahela National Forest as long as you follow a few rules.
Ramps usually grow in patches, but it can take more than seven years for a plant to reach maturity, meaning they are threatened by overharvesting. If you are harvesting from a ramp patch, make sure it has more than 100 plants only take one-fifth of each plant to it can continue to grow.
On public land, like in the Monongahela National Forest, it is only legal to harvest 180 plants at a time—about two grocery bags full.
