Fiddlehead greens are the premium wild forage vegetable of spring. Fiddleheads are a yummy fern you can forage for yourself. Look for ostrich ferns emerging in clusters of about three to twelve fiddleheads each on the banks of rivers, streams, and brooks in April and May. Make sure that you have landowner permission before harvesting fiddleheads. They are delicious steamed and served with butter dripping over them. Fiddleheads taste like a cross between asparagus and dandelion greens . ... http://www.squidoo.com/yummiest-wildfood-ever Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:52:24 -0600 FeedCreator 1.7.2 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:55:13 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/yummiest-wildfood-ever Fiddlehead greens are the premium wild forage vegetable of spring. Fiddleheads are a yummy fern you can forage for yourself. Look for ostrich ferns emerging in clusters of about three to twelve fiddleheads each on the banks of rivers, streams, and brooks in April and May. Make sure that you have landowner permission before harvesting fiddleheads. They are delicious steamed and served with butter dripping over them. Fiddleheads taste like a cross between asparagus and dandelion greens . Take a walk through the lowland part of the woods where there is moisture and you'll probably see lots of feathery, green ferns. There are many different kinds of ferns, but the ostrich fern, that grows about four feet tall, is what we can eat in the spring before they uncurl and open into those lacy-looking ferns. In this stage, they are still tightly curled up with a thin, brownish skin-looking layer over them. This is when they look like the end of the violin, hence the name-fiddlehead. Wash off the brownish, skin-looking layer (which just brushes off quite easily), and steam over boiling water in a vegetable steamer for just a few minutes and melt butter over them, then salt to taste. These are so delicious! I eat them every year. Here in Maine, they sell them fresh in the veggie section of our local grocers and at road side stands. They don't last too long, so you need to get them while they're available in the spring. They are not too plentiful, so can get very expensive. I paid $4.99 a lb. just this year. There is a company ( Belle of Maine, I believe) that cans them and other wild edibles, such as dandelion greens. There is a farm in Maine that grows dandelions just for that purpose! If you get a chance, try fiddleheads out. They are delicious! Fiddleheads are the ostrich fern, and I was thinking of getting a bunch of the plants to grow my own, since I love to eat them each spring. They probably could be kept frozen too, to serve later. These plants like a moist, shady area, and I have a shady place out in the back where a brook runs along. But, again these plants seem expensive to me, especially since you would need to get a lot of them. But, they will grow back each year! You could also forage for wild ones yourself. Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:55:13 -0600