Young Farmer and Rancher Update
Susan Wilkins, YF&R Chairperson
By the
time you
read this,
ramp season
will only be
a memory.
But as I
write this,
I am dreaming of a trip to the
woods to get myself a “mess
of ramps.” On a national Farm
Bureau trip a few months ago, I
was actually accused of making
ramps up. What is a “ramp” I was
asked – did I mean a truck ramp?
I wasn’t surprised that farmers
from out west had never heard of
this smelly little member of the
leek family, but I was surprised
that folks from as close by as
Tennessee and North Carolina
had never heard of it. After all, a
good friend of mine who grew up
in Washington, DC and now owns
an upscale restaurant in New York
City begs me each spring to send
her ramps!
With a little research, I
have learned that ramps can
actually be found across much
of the eastern United States and
eastern Canada, from Alabama
to Nova Scotia and Manitoba
to Oklahoma. However ramps
are so rare in most of these
states that they are considered a
species of “special concern” for
conservation. In Canada, ramps
are considered rare delicacies
and are actually listed as a
threatened species in Quebec.
This spring, I took special
delight in a beautiful ad put
out by the Beef Check Off,
encouraging beef eaters to “ramp
up” their steak. The picture of
a delicious flank steak beside a
handful of fresh green ramps has
had me dreaming about ramps
ever since. Naturally I’ve had to
share the ad with all my skeptical
non-West Virginian friends. It’s
funny how things so familiar to
us can be something completely
alien to others. And that’s true
for us both as West Virginians
and as farmers.
I remember the first time I
brought some city-dwelling
friends home to the farm several
years ago. They couldn’t get
over the fact that our roads
weren’t built on flat land, but
right on the sides of the mountain
or even between two mountains.
I try to remind myself each day
how lucky I am to live on a
farm and in this special part of
the state. But sometimes, I will
admit, I take it for granted and