Ramps for spring cleaning or variety, Parsnips for easy self seeding crop

[Guest guest]

Ramps grow well here in the NW, native to the SE US like the Carolinas they are

not well known locally.? See info below.

 

 

 

 

Parsnips are a root perennial crop that break up clay soils well and can be

eaten raw or cooked.

 

 

 

 

I have an abundance of both and willing to sell or trade.?? Ramps (2 bulbs for

$1) Parsnips $1, 2 or 3 basically a dollar per foot of height.? $5 if you want

one in a pot.

 

 

 

 

I also have beautiful chives, forget-me-nots (blue), vine maple trees, empress

of china (Paulownia tomentosa) start and a 16 ft Black Locust tree.? The trees

are all in pots and ready to go. :>)

 

 

 

 

 

I need native frogs or tadpoles for my ponds.? Parsley starts (no hybrids

please) I want them to reseed themselves each year.

 

 

 

 

Thank you

 

 

 

 

Bill

 

 

Meadows Tilth Urban Farm

 

360 695 4482

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native medicine

 

To early Native American and, later, the white settlers, ramps were an

important and welcome addition to the early spring menu. The fresh and

tender-green ramp leaves with their strong onion-garlic taste were an

improvement on the bland winter fare of dried fruits, pickled vegetables,

nuts, beans, and dried beef or salt pork; they were regarded as a spring tonic

that cleansed the blood.

 

 

Modern science supports this folk tradition. Alliums are a good source of

Vitamin C, a fleeting nutrient that was often lacking in winter diets, as well

as prostaglandin A1, a fatty acid known to be therapeutic in the treatment of

hypertension. Studies have linked the genus to increases in the production of

high-density lipoproteins, which in turn are believed to combat heart disease

by reducing blood serum levels of cholesterol. So, by following their

instincts

and taste buds, these early mountain folk discovered a valuable nutritional

supplement.

 

 

Native Americans knew ramps well. They used them in decoctions to treat

coughs and colds, and they made a poultice from the juice of the strong summer

bulbs to alleviate the pain and itching of bee stings. The Menomini called

them pikwute sikakushia (skunk plant), and they referred to an area near the

southern shore of Lake Michigan, where ramps grew abundantly, as CicagaWuni or

shikako (skunk place). The term was later applied to a white settlement now

known as Chicago.

 

 

The late wild foods evangelist Euell Gibbons considered ramps " the

sweetest and the best of the wild onions. They have a mild onion flavor with a

hint of garlic, which I find delicious. " The mildness is relative,

however. Though definitely more delicate than the typical wild onion or

garlic, ramp greens are decidedly more pronounced and lingering in flavor

(though less hot) than ordinary cooking onions.

 

 

Now that modern technology has given us a steady, year-round supply of

fresh fruit and vegetables, our dietary need for ramps as a spring tonic has

diminished. But to mountain folk, especially those in central West Virginia

and western North Carolina where the tradition still lingers, the social

medicine conferred by ramps is an integral rite of spring, a spiritual need.