WVU staff members explore solutions to ramp overharvesting

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Ramps are a big part of West Virginia culture, but there is increasing warning from experts of the overharvesting of wild ramps and how it could affect the plant’s future.

“Ramps is another one of those products that people love to eat, so it’s really attractive to them and it’s a really cool plant,” said Dave McGill a Forestry Resources Extension Specialist at WVU.

With the famously pungent plant “ramping up” in popularity in restaurants and recipes, 12 News spoke with experts and seasoned foragers alike, who have grown increasingly concerned over the future of ramps.

To try and help the situation, WVU staff members Walter Veselka and Dave McGill developed a plan to find new ways for West Virginians to continue to make a profit from ramps while keeping the wild population safe. In order to test out their plan, the pair used a portion of the University Forest used by the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design at WVU.

“What we’re trying to show here is additional value that can be gained from forest farming. After completion of maple syrup season, there’s a short but profitable window for these farmers to actually harvest ramps in the same areas where they already have trails and infrastructure, leading to plots,” Veselka said.

Even though it takes a ramp about seven years to fully mature, it is one of the first greens that comes out in the spring. Because the plant takes a while to grow, Veselka and McGill partnered with Sprouting Farms in Talcott to begin testing by planting ramp seeds, transplant bulbs and “ramplettes” in the Spring of 2021. They also planted sets in the University Forest.

“You know, every hour of labor that we knock off is less labor input that increases return on investment, and then find out what that optimal starting point is. Is it seeds? Is it ramplettes? Is it transplant bulbs? We just you know, try to buy in bulk and resell,” Veselka said.

Veselka checks on the progress of the University Forest ramps about every year, weighing baby ramps to check on their progress and then replanting them. He and McGill are optimistic about the future of commercial ramps.

“There is money to be made for the entrepreneurial-minded small woodlot owner, I mean it’s a brief window but there is meat on the bones there,” Veselka said.

Veselka and McGill said they also get feedback from Sprouting Farms on the things they can change in the future to make the plan as successful as possible and for more farmers to get a chance to have a stake in the profits and keeping wild ramps safe.

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