How to grow Ramsons

How to grow Ramsons - Introduction

- Ramsons (or Wild Garlic) starts growing underground in late winter and its striking white flowers appear between May and June, contrasted against lush green foliage.
- Flowers are hermaphrodite (they have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by bees and other insects.
- Seeds ripen in July, when the plant dies back completely, allowing other plants to grow in the same place.
- In your garden, Wild Garlic can inhibit the growth of legumes, like peas, but grows well with most other plants, such as carrots, chamomile and roses.
- Wild Garlic can be a very invasive plant when the growing conditions are right and they tend to form a dense carpet of growth in the spring.

Ransom is a member of the Onion Family and should not be grown in soil that has raised a crop of that family in at least the last three years.
The ramson patch will have to be taken out of the rotation scheme, as the plant is a perennial and will return each year in early spring.

- This species is characteristic of old established woodlands. It is often found in dappled shade conditions in damp meadows, along stream sides and in shady hedges.
- The plant can grow in many conditions but prefers moist and slightly acid, loamy (medium) and sandy (light) soils.

Turn over to a spades depth and introduce a good amount of well-rotted manure or compost.
Dig down three or four inches to make a wide ditch, make sure to break up and turn the earth well. Sprinkle the hole liberally with general fertilizer, such as Growmore or the organic Blood, Fish and Bone. Ramson needs a lot of nutrients, specifically nitrogen.

Best sow Ramsons outdoors autumn or pre-chill if sowing later.
- Usually ramson sets seed profusely and germinates well.
Grow on in a greenhouse/under glass for the first year and plant out when the bulbs are dormant in the summer.

Break each clump into its component bulbs.
Place them root end down in the ditch, three or four inches apart from each other.
Cover the bulbs up with the soil, spread a thin layer of organic compost over this to help give them nutrition as they sprout, and then spread a thick layer of mulch over the compost.
The mulch will prevent weeds and grasses from sprouting amongst the garlic while it is still trying to establish its root system.

- Water well each week.
- You should begin to see sprouts by early February.
- Lightly mist the leaves with liquid seaweed fertilizer once a week beginning in March all the way up to June to keep them fertilized.
- They should be large enough to harvest by August.
- They will continue to propagate themselves naturally year after year as long as they have sufficient light and rain.

Once this plant is growing in your garden you should have no need to propagate it further.

The bulb is used raw or cooked and best harvested early summer to winter when the plant is dormant.