By Christopher Matthews

First ramps of the season

On St. Patrick’s Day, tender, emerald green ramp shoots finally peeked out of my special upstate patch, a happy harbinger of spring — and good eating to come.

I’ll check back in a couple of weeks to monitor their progress.  Maybe some will be large enough to  harvest, but, more likely, I’ll have the first good take three weeks from now.

An earlier ramps “sighting” took place in the Spring 2012 issue of  About Town, a quarterly publication covering Northern Dutchess and Columbia Counties, where my article, “Forager’s Delight: Ramps”, appeared, giving tips on how to harvest them (sustainably), as well as how to clean and prepare them for cooking.

And, ramp fans, mark your calendar: the Hudson Valley’s second annual celebration of ramp cuisine, RampFest 2012, takes place again in Hudson, New York on May 5, 2012.

See you there…!