Do you like my fiddleheads?

Plant: Ostrich Fern

Given Name: Matteuccia struthiopteris

Nicknames: fiddlehead fern, garden fern, shuttlecock fern

Would you like to go for a walk? Maybe you'd enjoy a quiet stroll under a hardwood canopy by a stream or river... the dappled sunlight feels so good.

While you're there, take a moment to breathe in the fresh air, and feel yourself relax. Welcome to my world!

In this calming environment, I have been nurtured and cared for since dinosaurs walked the earth. Over the millennia, I have had a lot of time to get comfortable with myself, just the way I am. I know that I'm not particularly showy- my large feathery leaves, called fronds, are pretty but I don't have fancy flowers. I understand that I'm not impressively large- at most I grow to be about 3 feet tall. I'm not even colourful- I'm just one shade of green and that's it.

But I like who I am and my confidence makes me stand out.

Even in early spring, before I unfurl in all my splendour, my leaves are curled into dignified tight spirals, known as fiddleheads, that pop up boldly from the forest floor.

My fiddleheads resemble question marks and the question I'm asking you is, do you want to eat me? At this point, when my leaves are coiled, the answer is, emphatically, yes!

While other ferns will make you sick, I taste great boiled for about 15 minutes and then eaten with butter, pepper, lemon juice and garlic. Or try seasoning me differently- find out what you like and go with it.

So don't be a stranger- you're welcome to visit me anytime.

You'll be able to tell my specific fiddleheads apart from other ferns by the u-shaped groove in my leaf stalks that looks similar to the groove in celery and by the papery-brown chaff that covers me when I emerge. Just please don't pick too many fiddleheads- less than half per crown- because I need my leaves to keep breathing! In and out: it helps me relax. And, of course, keeps me alive.

Normally, I'd never suggest hurrying but my fiddleheads are only around for about two weeks before I unwind for the year in my peaceful forest home.

So, if you want some, now's the time. Seize the moment! Because once my fiddleheads are gone, you won't have the chance to eat me again until next spring.

Be true to yourself,

Poised Ostrich Fern

References:

Crawford, M. (2010). Creating a Forest Garden: Working with nature to grow edible crops. Cambridge: Green Books Ltd., pp 225.

Harvesting Fiddleheads on Woodlots (n.d.). Ontario Woodlot Association. https://www.ontariowoodlot.com/publications-and-links/featured-articles-news/harvesting-fiddleheads-on-woodlots

Jacke, D., Toensmeier, E. (2005). Edible Forest Gardens: Volume Two. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, pp 480-1.

Shuttlecock Fern (Ostrich Fern) (n.d). National Records of Scotland. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/archivists-garden/index-by-plant-name/shuttlecock-fern-ostrich-fern

Small, E. (2013). North American Cornucopia: Top 100 Indigenous Food Plants. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Available online: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/north-american-cornucopia-ernest-small/10.1201/b15818.