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Glen Facemire, the “Ramp Man” of Richwood, West Virginia, says it’s time for him to sell what may be the world’s only ramp farm.
“I’m hoping to pass it on to someone who has a heart for it,” says Facemire, 76.Â
Facemire’s G-N Ramp Farm, a 71-acre hillside forest overlooking the Cherry River near Richwood, has been selling the pungent wild onion for more than 20 years. Facemire and his wife, Norene, who died in 2017, started out selling freshly dug ramps to restaurants and vendors in the region, and eventually around the world.
The couple expanded their product line to add ramp products they marketed year-round, including ramp jelly, ramp mustard, pickled ramps and many more ramp items.
At ramp festivals including Richwood’s Feast of the Ransom, the Facemires sold chocolate-dipped ramps, along with Glen’s DIY ramp-growing book, “Having Your Ramps and Eating Them, Too,” and his paperback about the plant’s life stages, “Ramps: From the Seed to the Weed.”
In recent years, Facemire has focused on selling ramp seeds and ramp bulbs to people who want to raise their own ramps. The bulbs grow naturally in moist, well-drained forests from Maine to Georgia. Facemire sold about 45,000 ramp bulbs last year, he says.
Facemire says it’s hard to supply the growing demand for fresh ramps due to the brief time the plant is harvest-ready. He’s had corporate food buyers ask him to ship them a ton a month. Facemire just doesn’t have enough ramps for orders like that. He hopes his successors will be able to meet their business needs.Â
Facemire’s contact info: 304-846-4235; rampfarm@frontier.com
The story above appears in our July/August 2019 issue. For more subscribe today or log in to the digital edition with your active digital subscription. Thank you for your support!
