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It's ALIVE!!! Fiddleheads!

Carolina Q
Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
edited April 2015 in EggHead Forum
I kept forgetting to forage for these sorta-asparagus-tasting delicacies and always missed the "season". They grow wild and once they get too large, they aren't edible. They go from perfect to too large in a short time and if you miss 'em, you have to wait a year.

So, two summers ago, I went looking for a full grown stand of ostrich ferns. MUCH easier to find them when they're 3' tall than when they're just poking up out of the ground! Found two good size patches and planned to go back the following spring to harvest some. Trouble was, both patches were about 5-6 miles from my house, in different directions. Driving 12 miles round trip every day or two just to see if they were ready got old. So, when they finally WERE ready, I picked 'em, prepared them and enjoyed them. And, I transplanted them! :) I figured if they lived, even though half a dozen plants wouldn't provide many fiddleheads, at least I could just look out my back door and know when It was time to hop in the car or on my bicycle and head to the real crop.

Well, I planted six of them in my yard, right in the middle of a good sized stand of other (inedible) ferns that have been coming up year after year for a good 20-25 years now. I knew my ferns liked it there, I just hoped the fiddleheads would. Frankly, they didn't look like they made it thru last summer. But I've been checking the last few days and all six are alive!! Buds just now starting to pop up. I'm excited!! =)

Here's one of mine...

And here's what they should look like when it's about time to harvest. (I think this is one of Cap'n Cook's pics - my apologies if that is wrong)...


You have to clean all the brown "paper" off and boil them for at least ten minutes before you can prep and eat them. If you don't, they can make you sick. Apparently. I need refresh my fiddlehead prep memory and do some more experimenting on different ways to cook them. Steamed or sautéed are delicious!

Anyway, it was fun last year and I'm psyched that all six of my transplants made it through the year! 

I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Michael 
Central Connecticut 

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Comments

  • Acn
    Acn Posts: 4,490
    Love fiddleheads, my mom and grandma would always go and pick a bunch.  We steamed them and then tossed in a cider vinaigrette with lots of fresh garlic.

    LBGE

    Pikesville, MD

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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Acn said:
    Love fiddleheads, my mom and grandma would always go and pick a bunch.  We steamed them and then tossed in a cider vinaigrette with lots of fresh garlic.
    I think the only wild thing my mom ever picked and ate were dandelion greens. And yet, she keeps telling me I'm gonna get sick if I keep eating this "wild" stuff. Or if I pick what I think are edible fiddleheads, but I'm wrong. This years will come from the same patch as last years and I will prep them the same way. I guess mommies are supposed to worry about their little boys. Even if they aren't little boys any more. 

    Sautéed with garlic are great!

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Found this pic that I posted a while ago. A mature ostrich fern about 3' tall. Each stalk was once an edible fiddlehead. Hopefully, I will have 6 of these clumps (minus the poison ivy) in a month or two. If I don't eat 'em all. Also, I hope they won't take over my yard!

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • NCEggSmoker
    NCEggSmoker Posts: 336
    Thanks for sharing the photos. I've never been brave enough to forage anything other than wild blueberries and blackberries on my grandfathers farm. 
    Raleigh NC, Large BGE and KJ Joe Jr.
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  • cook861
    cook861 Posts: 872
    Love fiddle head  pan fry with butter and garlic and some lemon juice at the end of cooking
    Trenton ON 1 mbge for now
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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
    Never heard of Fiddleheads.

    I do like to pick wild blackberries and eat 'em.

    I know better than to pick wild mushrooms, some are deadly, some will just make you sick, some will make you deliriously crazy if you don't know what to expect. 
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    Yes, cooking them well first is important as some have high levels of shikimic acid which is carcinogenic. 

    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • Phatchris
    Phatchris Posts: 1,726
    Tempura fried are delicious =)
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  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,877
    Zmokin said:

     some will make you deliriously crazy if you don't know what to expect. 
    Those are the good ones!
    NOLA
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  • Sammi
    Sammi Posts: 598
    Love fiddleheads, but they're at least a month away for me. I've done the same with trying to transplant with little success. I think my mower likes them too. 
    +1 on the boil and blanching, then saute in butter. 
    Sudbury, Ontario
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Well, it's been five days since I took that first pic. FINALLY, I have an identifiable fiddlehead. Just the one, but still. =)

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,583
    nice, ive tried to plant them but they never got big, they dont like the yard. those should start multiplying and taking over the other ferns
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    fishlessman said:
    nice, ive tried to plant them but they never got big, they dont like the yard. those should start multiplying and taking over the other ferns
    Yeah, I wondered if I'd have a problem with them taking over. Guess I'll find out. 

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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