The field site we are working at (the Flambeau State Forest) is filled with ramps (Allium tricocum, aka wild leeks). In Virginia on the A.T., hiker friends talked about a popular mountain festival devoted entirely to the celebration of ramps. I always thought it was a little weird, until this month, when I encountered ramps for the first time. They have a spicy, savory flavor that is best described as a cross between onions and garlic. You can eat the entire plant - leaves, stem, and bulbous roots. I have been throwing them in all of my cooked food - quiche, stirfries, sauces, on pizza!, etc, but also wanted to find a way to preserve them for times of less-plenty. I found a webpage devoted to the preservation of wild leeks, and tried a few things. When I arrived in Wisconsin in the beginning of May, ramps were in full verdant glory. This is the time to pick them. The leaves can supposedly be used to make a mean pesto, or blanched and frozen for future soups. In the last couple of weeks, however, the leaves have died back, and the only identifier is the flower head - a succulent-looking, maroon 6-inch tall stalk with a messy little explosion of white flowers on the end. This is how I have been collecting the bulbs.
It is finally time to learn how to pickle. My last attempt at canning was in 2008, when I made a single (proud) can of Russian olive jam. I used an unboiled salsa jar, and crushed the little tart berries in a piece of mesh I had removed from a thrift store dress. Considering my lack of knowledge and/or supplies, the jam was pretty good. So, when I discovered that a recommended way of preserving ramps was to pickle them in jars, I just had to try it. This time, I bought canning jars from the store. I bought a jug of vinegar, and even bought some spices that I will likely never use for anything else (mustard seed, celery seed?). At the end of work, while the others walked quickly towards the car, I rummaged through the woods, stopping to pull ramps often, and then ran to catch up. I had enough ramps for 3 cans of pickles. The first jar did not seal, but the button on top seals when it is in the fridge? This I do not understand. Of the next two jars, one sealed, and one did not. I have to admit, my biggest accomplishment of the week may be that jar of ramps sealing. Honestly, I have no idea what to do with pickled ramps. I am also not quite sure how long to let me jars sit before the pickles are... pickled?
Perhaps more exciting was our discovery of a little forest lair of morels - that brain-looking fungus so sought after by foragers. A coworker is a serious mycophile, and she discovered them on the side of one of our paths. I don't know how to describe the taste of sauteed morels and ramps. Delicious and earthy (not in a eating-dirt kind of way, more in an eating complex untamed flavors kind of way).
