Wild Leek Harvest
Allium tricoccum
It’s harvest time for this woodland wild onion in my neck of the woods. The broad smooth leaves are about 8 inches long and have an onion scent when crushed. Later the leaves will wither and disappear before the plant sends up a flower stalk in June – July. Both leaves and bulbs are good eating, either raw, cooked or pickled.
Leeks – April 12
The woods are filled with them this year. I can’t remember ever seeing so many. The patches are larger and there’s more of them than usual. Whatever the reason it’s a good year for them.
Leeks – May 1
Leeks are easy to harvest. All you need is a garden trowel to loosen the soil around the bulb and a bag to haul away your bounty. The plant is very well rooted so just pulling on the stem will leave the bulb behind. If you only want the leaves to use it makes harvesting even easier. Besides leaving the bulb behind is a good idea if they’re not plentiful.
Of course there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There’s always a price to be paid. In the case of wild leeks I paid in blood. It’s also black-fly season and clouds of them will soon envelop anyone who dares enter the woods right now.
Leeks – May 2
Worth it? You bet. I like them raw, chopped and sauteed with bacon (cut in small pieces) and added to my scrambled eggs, used to make potato-leek soup and pickled among other edible delights. But like garlic you don’t want to over do it or you’ll be walking around emanating an odor that others might not appreciate.
BTW
No one around here calls them Ramps. If you do – then they’ve probably already gone by in your area.
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May 2nd, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I didn’t know there are wild leek! If you are cooking them with bacon and egg, make sure to have enough for me! Sound delicious!
Your photos are just fantastic!
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
We call it cheremsha in Russia. Everyone loves it there! Tons of vitamins, good flavor. Thanks for this post, it brought good memories.
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Cool. Never seen any wild ones. I was wondering if the alliums leaves die before they bloom. Mine did and no bloom yet.
May 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I do not expect to see such a wide spread of wild onion when reading about filling the woods with them. It is grand if spread further. I may be a little or to much greedy…
May 2nd, 2009 at 11:24 pm
So that’s what those plants are. I’ve been seeing the same things beside my nature trails. I had no idea what they were, but there sure are a lot of them.
May 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 am
yum, i love leek with eggs. those are wide field of leeks.
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:38 am
The wild leeks are at the exact time point here… only the ones I know about are in an arboretum, not on my own property, so I can’t harvest any! I also love them raw and with bacon (mmmmmmm…. bacon!) sounds yummy.
May 3rd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
My husband and I recently started gathering wild garlic here in southern England. It has similar but smaller white flowers, and you eat the delicious leaves. They taste and smell of garlic – it’s a bit strange at first, but really yummy! I will take a photo of them tomorrow and post it to my blog.
May 6th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I just got some seeds for these from a blogger in North Carolina, I hope they grow well for me. Thanks for showing how to gather them…looking forward to those eggs!
May 7th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Have you ever pickled these? I’ve always wanted to try but have never had enough left over. Now that I’ve planted some perhaps I’ll have a chance.
May 8th, 2011 at 1:38 am
Hi I just wanted to tell you all how great this page is and because of it I harvested my first leeks today Thank