Collecting and Germinating Ramp Seeds

Depending on where you are located, ramps are starting to yellow or soon will be. If you look closely at a patch of ramps, you will probably see flower buds just beginning to show on some of them. Now is the time to plan for seed collection. When ramp seeds are mature, the leaves of the plant are usually gone and the base of the plant is often covered up by the foliage of other plants. It is not uncommon for the only evidence of the ramps to be the seed heads. They can be REALLY difficult to find unless you know exactly where to look.

So, if you want to collect and sow ramp seeds, I suggest that mark your ramp patches now. This can be done with flagging, rock formations, or you could just get a GPS coordinate for the location. Then, in late August to early September, you can return to collect the mature seed. Be sure to wait until the seeds are black.

There are several methods for germinating ramp seeds, and a number of them are described in my book. But here is the easiest procedure that has worked for me. As quoted in the book, "Collect the mature, black seed from the plants in late August before the seeds fall to the ground; then, either immediately plant the seeds in a nursery bed or store the seeds in paper envelopes in a cool, dry place until you are ready to plant them in a moist site. Little seedlings should emerge after exposure to one warm season and one cold season in the soil. This usually means after 18 months. If you planted the fresh seed early enough in the season for the seeds to get a long period of warm temperatures before the soil cooled down for the winter, you should obtain good emergence the first spring after sowing-in about seven months."

There is a whole section devoted to ramps in the book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals.

Special Collection of Woodland Medicinal Seeds!

My friends at Garden Medicinals and Culinaries in Virginia are offering a special collection of three full-sized packets of black cohosh, ginseng, and wild yam seeds. This is perfect for the beginning woodland medicinal herb grower. Wrap it up with an author signed copy of my book (see right sidebar) and you have a great holiday gift for the gardener and herb enthusiast. Because these are moist living seeds, they will be shipped in the spring just in time for planting.

Where to Buy Seeds and Plants to Grow Your Own Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Botanicals

The interest in growing ginseng, goldenseal, black cohosh, bloodroot, and ramps is greater than ever. I receive dozens of inquiries each week at work about them. Common questions this week have been "Where can I buy ginseng seeds?", "Who sells goldenseal rhizomes?", "Where can I buy shade cloth?", and "Where can I buy a root washer?" Because Scott Persons and I get so many of those questions, we put extnesive (although not exhaustive) resource lists in our book "Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals". All of those listed are companies we have done business with or know personally.

Fall is a good time to plant and its not too late to get many of these plants and seeds into the ground. Just think, come spring you will have some of your own woodland medicinals growing!

If you are serious about growing woodland medicinal herbs, whether for a business or your own personal enjoyment, this is the book to have. Written by two well-know authorities, the book is chock full of information and hundreds of pictures on how to grow ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, and many other native herbs.

How to Get a Copy of the Book: We suggest you order the book through the publisher, New Society Publishers, or your favorite local book store; that way the authors can receive their full royalties. It is available in bookstores where native plant gardening is popular. You can order the book through all the big on-line discount book sellers. Many sellers offer the book on Ebay. The book is also available as an ebook through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Society Publishers, and elsewhere.

The book is a high-quality soft cover book with 508 pages. It has a center color photo section and black and white photos throughout. Here is detailed information about the book and a link to the table of contents.