I don’t often go into the woods at this time of the year. I don’t like the heat, and there are ticks everywhere. It was a beautiful day Sunday, though. And since my husband cleared a path through the brush last year, it is now possible to get into the woods with only minimal exposure to ticks. I decided to take my chances.
The Scenic Overlook in Spring
That beautiful view is composed of thousands of beautiful trees, like this one.
Beautiful Tree
Last year my father told me, as we walked through some woods in the park, that all the bushes I thought were blueberries were, in fact, huckleberries. I haven’t had a chance to fully explore my area of woods, but I found two different types of shrub that might be blueberries (or huckleberries). I found a few big bushes, like this one.
Tall Shrub With Flowers. Highbush Blueberry?
And I found low-growing shrubs, like these here.
Low-Growing Shrub. Lowbush Blueberry?
And flying around the shrubs were all sorts of insects, including little beauties like this one.
The smaller plants are coming up, too. I got some pictures of wildflowers that I’ll be sharing later this week. For now, I give you these beautiful ferns.
Ferns
I love the curve of the heads, and when you look closer, you can see that the fronds already starting to break out of some of them.
The word that popped into my mind when I looked at this was “fiddlehead.” According to Wikipedia, “fiddleheads are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable.” Vegetable? That sounds interesting, but don’t get your forks and knives out yet. Wikipedia also notes that some ferns are carcinogenic. And those hairy fiddleheads don’t look too appetizing, do they? Still, it might be something worth looking into someday.
Anyway, spring is here and looking mighty fine!
Fiddleheads are delicious, but the ones in your picture are further along than what I’d eat. The only ones I’ve ever eaten have been still tightly curled and not furry like that.
You sometimes see them in the grocery store. I’ve bought them from Stop & Shop from time to time. (Someone brought them into my fifth grade class and I was fascinated, so always kept a lookout for them.) Should you buy them, put them in a paper lunch bag and shake vigorously to remove as much of the tough outer bits as possible (easier than doing it by hand), and then cook them as you would chard or bok choy. We used to saute with butter and garlic.
I’m surprised you were able to find fiddleheads at Stop & Shop. S&S sometimes carries exotic fruits, but they don’t seem to be quite as adventurous with the veggies. I’d be willing to try fiddleheads if I found them there. In fact, I’d almost HAVE to try them (and if I ever did, I’d shake ’em in a bag, like you said). But I wouldn’t harvest them from the woods until I knew more about the different kinds of ferns!
I think they occasionally buy them from foragers. I used to see them more regularly down at Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford, which surprised me less than Stop & Shop, as you say.