Fiddle Heads? Anyone else out starting their spring hunting?

we don't have any of that type of fern. I dug some up at the cottage and try to transplant them, but they didn't take. I have to read up on fern spores and prorogation.

I was at the cottage 2 weeks ago and the only ones I saw were already fully unfurled. Unless there's some other fern that is earlier than the fiddleheads I missed it.

we don't have any of that type of fern. I dug some up at the cottage and try to transplant them, but they didn't take. I have to read up on fern spores and prorogation.

Hi Beth

I can't get any to grow on my farm either, I have tried to transplant them a number of times, no luck but they grow like weeds in Farmer T's 27 acres of swampy woods and I have permission to walk, hike in and have responable wild forage rights in. It does seem to take the right conditions for them to thrive.

I was at the cottage 2 weeks ago and the only ones I saw were already fully unfurled. Unless there's some other fern that is earlier than the fiddleheads I missed it.

Morning

There are different types of ferns in ontario so once they are out, it would be worth getting on the books and confirming species for next year looking, sorry you missed the season, its very! short, I have looked one day and have them up and done a matter of one to three days later, but sometimes you can find area's that are slower to go depending on the conditons and so while this ridge will be unfurled, the back side of the ridge will still have pickable ones on it as they don't get the same amount of indirect sun etc.

Have a peek at the local nursery to you. I went looking for some around me. They didn't have the kind I went looking for, but they had two other kinds of Ostrich fern (Lady and King Jumbo Ostrich Fern) which at the time I was there nobody that worked there could tell me if the fiddleheads were edible or not.

I went home, looked them up online and it turns out they are just as good as wild ones.

If it helps, check out this http://umaine.edu/publications/4198e/

Runs with Scissors

I remember as a kid my mother used to drag me along picking them.
There were plenty growing by the river that ran behind our house.
Never really cared for them as a vegetable though.
However, this is probably one of the more popular things for foraging.
If you know of a patch near you, keep it in mind for SHTF times.
You could also transplant a few, never tried it, but I imagine they would take under the right conditions.

Sorry to revive this post but something I wanted to get some opinions on. I'm a chef and have been using fiddlehead for quite a while every year and have picked them fresh as well. In most of the books etc it has listed them as edible but also as containing a probable carcinogen. Thoughts? I love wildcrafting but part of being sustainable is "sustaining yourself" not potentially shortening life lol. So now I'm torn on whether to continue

Sorry to revive this post but something I wanted to get some opinions on. I'm a chef and have been using fiddlehead for quite a while every year and have picked them fresh as well. In most of the books etc it has listed them as edible but also as containing a probable carcinogen. Thoughts? I love wildcrafting but part of being sustainable is "sustaining yourself" not potentially shortening life lol. So now I'm torn on whether to continue

My personal advice, read the information, read the warnings on many, many different plants, always consider doing test trials in very small amounts to see your own bodys reactions and then use your best judgement..

I eat things that are considered bad for me all the time by the experts 🙂 I drink raw milk, I put up a ton of different wild fruits that have to be prepared this way or that way to make them safe, some folks won't touch them. I make a herbal cough syrup that has been used for generations dating back to the 1500th century, but is now considered a "high risk plant" I use it carefully and sparely but I still choose to use it when needed.

If think its very much each persons call.

I looked for fiddle heads last weekend when out walking with my girls near the river, but didn't see anything. I have read that for Southern ON May is the time to get them. Does anyone know? I grew up in NB and fiddle heads are a big thing there to be sure, but as a kid I didn't like them. I am hoping I have acquired a taste for them now that I am an adult. I would love to try them, but I have to find them first. Also, I know that there are a couple of kinds of ferns that make the fiddle heads we generally eat. How would I know it's one of those that I find and not another, less desirable kind? I will keep checking along the river weekly to bi-weekly 🙂

May used to be when you could count on them. Last year April was too late for me. I suspect this year will be much more like a "normal" year, maybe even a bit late. You want the low lying areas that flood to be very wet still. I seem to recall black flies being at their peak very often when the fiddleheads were at their prime.

Mine are not out at all yet, checked last weekend and was surprised to find that while things are starting to move along on the farm, there was still a fair amount of snow in the bush, will take a little walk this weekend and see where things are, if nothing else the wild mustard should be up and going for a nice picking.. I don't think I will see any fiddle heads around here till may..

Too late for fiddleheads now in Eastern Ontario but this is what I learned, as a kid, growing up with herringchokers.
The ones with the white fuzz are NOT edible, if they have a brownish husk, they are the good ones.