Ramp make the very best leek soup. You need only a cupful of the cleaned leeks. The only problem growing them is they like wet soil and somewhat shady conditions. Easy to find near a creek-bank in the woods. Wish I had some now. Here in zone 5 they are about 3 weeks early.

A rather common plant in many areas, many folks have this but are too busy to pay attention to the seed exchange or to do trades during their busy gardening season. This is most likely the reason why you have not had any responses to your request. Seed harvest is just starting here, have a couple dozen freshly harvested so far and still have 50 or so from last year. I also have plants in a couple pots that were requested from local people who never picked them up. Was going to replant the dormant bulbs before winter but could certainly save some for you. Saw your request in the seed exchange and had bookmarked it. I do not have time to do general trades during the gardening season, would be happy to trade with you come November if you still have not found any or want more. Have a good day, -Tom

Yes, they are different. When left in the garden, many regular leeks will form little bulbils on the outside of the root. When the mother plant dies, the bulbils grow and form a clump. But all this is very slow, so you get better production by growing regular leeks from seed. Perennial leeks enthusiastically form little bulbs in clusters, kind of like little shallots, only with two very long green seasons and a short midsummer dormancy. Southern Exposure sells them but they are out for the year.

Well, stoloniferous, it appears not to be to hard to grow ramps from seed. I finally found the seeds I brought back from Michigan in the Fall of 2006 in a baggie in my kitchen months after picking them. Sowed them in a pot of moistened seed starter in Fall, 2007, and left them on the screened porch, covered, all winter. They started germinating last week, really early where they were, temperature still going down to the teens and low 20's at night, nothing else outside coming up. You might check, but they may need to be moist stratified in order to germinate. That is, kept in moist soil or seed starting mixture for 2-3 months at temperatures usually below 40 degrees. If you sow them right now, they may not come up 'til next year.