i just got out today for some fiddleheads. the season only lasts a few weeks and its halfway gone. i managed to pick a 5 gallon pail full,but their going fast. anyone fortunate enough to have access to them should get out there soon.
the morels are about close to an end here already too... I am not sure enough on fiddle heads to know which type are good... all the ferns are up pretty good here already.
Mark
Another winter is behind us when I see the big piles of fiddles heads for sell in a packing lot.
My patches of fiddle heads aren't up yet. Should soon be though the trout lillies are up. I see old spore frons where they should be growing, but no signs.
We got to the cabin a few days too late last year.
I got some video of the Brook. At the end of the video there are some Fiddleheads that were a few days too late as they were unfurled. We'll be getting there a month later this year so no chance of getting them fresh. My Mother in Law always has some frozen gallon bags of them though. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkSW1hR_9Uk
What a great little creek Mooseherder. I could just set up a lawn chair right on the edge of that and sit there all day listening to the rapids.
I've never eaten fiddleheads. What do they taste like? Asparagus? Green Beans? They interest me....
My uncle said the natives were picking across the road in front of his place yesterday. But that's near the main river. Outward from the valley they are later and also later near the river bank, as it is in flood stage now. On the Tobique river they pick in June on the Islands and banks.
Logdog, there is a slight bitterness to them. We use vinegar and butter on them when served. With fish they are topped with white sauce made with flour and egg.
You can make them in place of any green that you usually put on the plate.
They are usually boiled or steamed.
The flavor profile and texture is close to tender asparagus but has a flavor all it's own.
A lot of folks make them with a dish called Mess Pork.
The Pork roasts are put in a Salt Brine solution for about a week then they'll make a boiled dinner out of it with the Fiddleheads and Taters. It is so good. ;)
I put fiiddleheads and really all greens right up there with grits. go_away
Thecfarm .... you need to try my mustard greens. I didn't learn how to make them right until about 3 years ago. Now, literally ...you could put a steak in front of me or fried chicken breast and I'd eat my greens instead of the steak and chicken. Anyone I've made them for raves about them and changes their mind about not liking greens. I got the recipe from Rachel Ray believe it or not. First thought that went through my head when SwampDonkey said these fiddleheads had a slight bitter taste was that I bet they'd be great cooked the way I make my greens.
When I lived in northern BC, the folks there wouldn't eat fiddleheads. Thought they were poisonous or something. Just me and the natives knew better. :D Picked them along the Skeena. You could buy them out there in the store for $5 bucks a pound. :D
From 'Fruit and Vegetable Magazine' in the article entitled "Examining fiddlehead production"
Fiddleheads are a good source of fibre, Vitamin A and C, niacin, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and magnesium. They also contain a significant amount of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA in particular) and high concentrations of phenolic compounds (antioxidants). The antioxidant activity in fiddleheads is twice that in blueberries. They are one of the most nutritious vegetables we can consume say researchers.
Research is being done by Dr. John Delong, Dr. Robert Prange, Dr. Charles Forney, Dr. Mark Hodges and Dr. Lihua Fan of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Eat your fiddlehead greens. ;D
log dog are you going to share your recipe? I like steamed greens but I never had mustard greens. Maybe you have. I should have searched first.
Is there a particular type of fern that has the good fiddleheads? Are there any you need to stay away from?
Den, just the Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is edible where I live and that is what we all pick for sale up here. It has brown scales covering the heads just before it starts to grow. I have picked the same fern (natives to) on the Skeena river in northern BC. Last year in Toronto, regular ones sold for $8 a pound, organic for $12 bucks. For the organic ones you just pick every other one from the patch and call it organic. :D Who ever the heck told those guys up there in Toronto that there is some kind of distinction is getting a good laugh and an extra $4 a pound. They are all organic, they all come from the wild, 100 %. ::)
http://ontarioferns.com/main/species.php?id=4027
Thanks SD. There is an island in Pine Creek about 3/4 kilometer upstream from our house. It is covered with ferns that look like these. We also have some growing around the house that I can try before taking the plunge. And they are all organic! ;D
I have resurrected this old thread because I have a question about fiddleheads. When I used to work in Maine, I acquired a taste for them but since I no longer work there I am looking to source them locally. There is a large patch of ferns by a stream back in the woods and the fiddleheads are just coming up . Can anyone tell just by this picture if these are edible fiddleheads? They seem a bit less pliable than the ones I bought in Maine but then those fiddleheads were usually the better part of the day old.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11820/IMG_1222.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1493095149)
You've hit the jackpot. Those are real fiddleheads. :)
I wash off the paper burlap and cook with some salted pork roast or a meaty ham bone. The season comes and goes quickly. Good stuff right there.
Yup x 2. If you go back the end of May, the ferns will look like ostrich plumes, up to 6 feet tall on rich ground, but often not as tall. The Tobique River fiddle heads were always much bigger and grew slower, so the season was into June up there. :)
You can can them also, better than frozen.
We usually steam ours and eat with fish and white egg/flour sauce. :)
if they have a V shape in the stalk you can eat them
Some from our Stream 2012.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/fiddle1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1338659467)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/fiddle2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1338659469)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/fiddle10.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1338659506)
Last years harvest. Hope we get as many this year.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/20160521_081426.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1478962567)
Well DanG.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/DSCN0183.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1366640135)
I only found these little ones. :D
:D Good eat'n all them hairs. :D
You can floss when you finish. :D
Well I went out and harvested the few early birds. It was hard to walk in the area without stepping on node's about to push up fiddleheads. Next week I imagine I will have more than I know what to do with. For now I found enough to have with dinner.
Thank you all for confirming I had edible fiddleheads.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11820/IMG_1229.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1493261970)
They look delicious Brad_S It will be sometime around mothers day before we have fresh ones here. There is still a considerable amount of snow in the woods here but it's fading fast.
Cheers
Ken
Why have I never found out about these before? I'll have to do some reading on the fiddleheads, I know where a big patch of ferns grow but I'm not sure if they're the edible type. I've seen some similar to those while morel hunting. After this flooding settles down, I had better go investigate. :o
the ones I got today are a little bigger the stalk was a bout 5-8 tall a few of the fern legs already started to pop out so I only took the vary tops of some
So far I have only seen cinnamon fern starting up.