It's a beautiful sunny day and I'm just in from planting the last of my Springtime seeds (calendula, marshmallow, and chamomile).

Amazing how quickly the perennial herbs have popped up! (pictured are irises, a poppy, and chives, front to back)

We've got some vegetable seeds already sprouting in a raised bed too. With a plastic cover creating a mini-greenhouse, peas, radishes, and lettuce are growing despite the persistently below-freezing temperatures at night.

My indoor herb starts are doing great too~ I should have lots of Holy Basil (Tulsi), Clary Sage, White Sage, English Thyme, Nasturtium, and Hopi Tobacco to add to the garden this year.

And I haven't even mentioned the mushrooms! We started Shitake last Fall, and have added Maitake, Oyster, Reishi, and Chicken of the Woods.

This herban garden is paradise

It’s the season for Wild Leeks. Also known as Ramps a Lily family perennial and a wild green delectable, edible food that is part of the Garlic and Onion family. Though without the strong bite of Garlic and the eye watering intensity of Onions. Ramps are found growing from Canada to the Appalachia’s. It’s one of the first of greens to show up through out our woodland landscape with its timely presence reassuring us spring is here. Snow or no snow, Ramps will grow. Of course not everyone is aware of this simple little green plant. Unless you’re a wild foods forager or one who looks for a nice hot bowl of fresh Potato Leek Soup at one of our local eateries.

Geographically speaking, Ramps have been a choice spring pot herb not only for the lure of its flavor but also for its nutritional value. The green leaves have 3 to 4 times more Selenium and flavanoids, both powerful anti-oxidants, over the bulbs and are no less potent in flavor. Ramp popularity has grown so much so over the years that they can be purchased at markets, roadside farm-stands and restaurants from Quebec to the Appalachia’s. Bought over the Internet and shipped fresh to your door. Even some southern festivals are dedicated solely for the Ramp season and Ramp eating.

All this demand can bring about a reasonable concern for its future viability. Especially when one considers the ratio of supply and demand. This wild edible can end up a very unavailable food in a very short time. To those who harvest Wild Leeks or know someone who does, please consider the following suggestions as this will allow Ramps for our future and our grandchildren's children‘s future. Suggestions are followed by statistics and supportive evidence(*).

Consider this:
Invest in Ramps.

Leave at least 80% to 90% of the plants for adequate self propagation. For instance, for every group cluster of plants, remove only one or two single Ramp(s).
(*) It takes 2 to 3 years for a Ramp seed to germinate and up to 6 years to fully mature !

Consider this:
Keep their life force in the ground.

Leave ½ inch of their bulb root in the earth. Cut only the green leaves at or just below soil level. (*) It has been observed that by keeping ½ inch or more of the bulb root in the ground will allow the plant to continue to grow for future seasons. Supportive studies have also shown that when harvesting a stand of Ramps, if one picks as little as 5% - 15%, root and all, cause’s the stand to go below ‘an equilibrium level’. Meaning, the stand is functioning at substandard levels and can take several years to return to normal. As long as it is untouched for the next few years, this will give it a chance to repropagate.

Consider this:
Rotate harvesting stands.

Have at least 3 or 4 sources to harvest from and visit only one of them each year. (*) It takes 2.5 years for a stand to fully recover from general harvesting. In Quebec Canada, permits are given for Ramp harvesting with only 5 Ramps per person !

Lastly and as importantly, consider:
Think sustainability.

Share with all children the ethical wild crafting way.

Ask local merchants and restaurants to buy bulb-less plants from their wild harvesters.
Lastly, this is the right thing to do for all of Nature to prosper.

This report and considerations by Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower, Herbalist and Registered Nurse - The Herbal Nurses and a wild foods enthusiast. Author of Healing the Injured Brain with Herbs and Natural Therapies. Source of Stats and further reading: “Having Your Ramps and Eating Them Too” by Glen Facemire, Jr. 2009.

Marshmallow (Althea officinalis) is indeed the plant that the original marshmallow confection was made from. The root and leaves contain a sweet, gummy mucilage that, when mixed with water, form a slick gel.

It's used medicinally to coat the throat and stomach to reduce irritation, and can also be applied topically to soothe chapped skin.

"Althea" is an English female personal name, originally a variation of the Greek name Althaea, meaning "healer" (Grateful Dead fans know "Althea" as a Hunter/Garcia song first played in 1979).

Marshmallow has been used for centuries as both a food and a medicine. Traditional healing systems recommend it for:

• Asthma
• Bronchitis
• Common cold / sore throat
• Cough
• Inflammatory bowel diseases
• Indigestion
• Skin inflammation
• Stomach ulcers

It also makes a nourishing hair spritz and/or final rinse to replace lost minerals in your hair and repair any dryness or damage to your scalp. Especially recommended for dry, thick, naturally curly, wavy, and Afro textured hair.

Dried leaves may be used in infusions, fluid extracts, and tinctures. Roots are available dried, peeled, or unpeeled in extracts (dry and fluid), tinctures, capsules, ointments/creams, and cough syrups.