Fiddleheads

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
It's the newly-emerging shoots of ferns, before they unfurl. The curled shape is reminiscent of the arm on a fiddle or violin.

 

[Kassaundra]

And they are amazing!! I live in OK, but my father's family is all from Maine, I have only eaten them once while on a visit. I didn't know they could be grown in the garden. Does anyone know how for south zone wise they would still survive? I am 7B.

 

[True Grit]

Easiest found on stream banks in early spring. You have to make sure to leave one fiddlehead in each clump so they keep coming back. That's the way I was taught to pick them. Then you gently unfurl it and kind of run it through your fingers to get the brown papery covering off . Boil (I like mine well cooked cuz that's how I had them when I was a kid) and serve with butter, salt and pepper and some folks like vinegar on them. I get them every time I go back home to New Brunswick. They're delish. The closest thing I can think of to them is asparagus.
ETA - what's a drop bear?

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
if you give them shade, and rich, cool moist soil like that of a river bank along a forest edge, you should be able to grow them in Oklahoma.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
I don't know 100%, but I remember that there aren't any fern species listed on any "toxic plant" lists for cage birds, so I'd imagine that they're all edible. However, I guess some species taste better than others. I do know that in zone 7b, you can grow Ostrich Plume ferns. I posted a link to the Dave's Garden Plantfiles page for that species. It's native to much of the eastern states, more in the areas north of the Mason-Dixie line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead_fern

Some species are listed there.

And this might be a great nursery for you. They have lots of species, I've had great experiences with them (huge, healthy plants), and they are almost in your growing zone -- but on the east coast. I searched for "fern" on their website and found lots of species.

http://www.plantdelights.com/

Basically, if you have an area where moss grows, ferns will love it there.

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks Kristy, and Aquaeyes I'll check it out.

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
I don't know 100%, but I remember that there aren't any fern species listed on any "toxic plant" lists for cage birds, so I'd imagine that they're all edible. However, I guess some species taste better than others. I do know that in zone 7b, you can grow Ostrich Plume ferns. I posted a link to the Dave's Garden Plantfiles page for that species. It's native to much of the eastern states, more in the areas north of the Mason-Dixie line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead_fern

Some species are listed there.

And this might be a great nursery for you. They have lots of species, I've had great experiences with them (huge, healthy plants), and they are almost in your growing zone -- but on the east coast. I searched for "fern" on their website and found lots of species.

http://www.plantdelights.com/

Basically, if you have an area where moss grows, ferns will love it there.

some species of ferns have been linked to stomach cancer, and some are down right unpalatable. I would stick to Ostrich fern and Matteuccia struthiopteris in particular which is what is commonly eaten

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
I don't know 100%, but I remember that there aren't any fern species listed on any "toxic plant" lists for cage birds, so I'd imagine that they're all edible. However, I guess some species taste better than others. I do know that in zone 7b, you can grow Ostrich Plume ferns. I posted a link to the Dave's Garden Plantfiles page for that species. It's native to much of the eastern states, more in the areas north of the Mason-Dixie line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead_fern

Some species are listed there.

And this might be a great nursery for you. They have lots of species, I've had great experiences with them (huge, healthy plants), and they are almost in your growing zone -- but on the east coast. I searched for "fern" on their website and found lots of species.

http://www.plantdelights.com/

Basically, if you have an area where moss grows, ferns will love it there.

some species of ferns have been linked to stomach cancer, and some are down right unpalatable. I would stick to Ostrich fern and Matteuccia struthiopteris in particular which is what is commonly eaten

See, that I didn't know. That's why I figured I'd check Wikipedia to see what species are eaten. And those species don't seem to be hard to find. But if you're planting them yourself, I'd imagine you'd need to start with a bunch to be able to harvest any. I didn't realize that the "safe" number is only three fiddleheads per clump. No wonder they're such a treat!

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
some species of ferns have been linked to stomach cancer, and some are down right unpalatable. I would stick to Ostrich fern and Matteuccia struthiopteris in particular which is what is commonly eaten

See, that I didn't know. That's why I figured I'd check Wikipedia to see what species are eaten. And those species don't seem to be hard to find. But if you're planting them yourself, I'd imagine you'd need to start with a bunch to be able to harvest any. I didn't realize that the "safe" number is only three fiddleheads per clump. No wonder they're such a treat!

Well it is more than just growing perennials that careful harvesting is important. when harvesting in the wild you should never take everything from an entire plant either. It often kills the plant or renders it unable to reproduce.

One of my earliest lessons as a child was being taken into the forest and my mother showing me how and what to find and saying to only take only one of only four to seven plants, if you must harvest a whole plant (it depends on the plant and your personal judgement on if you take one in four or one in seven), and if you can not find enough plants to take one in that number, then you don't harvest any. If you only find three plants, those may be the last three plants alive there.

if you only harvest part of a plant, like a fruit or leaves, you harvest less than 25 %. Save the seeds from the fruit you eat and toss them back out where you found them. Never harvest from the same place, clump, colony, consecutively. Always change up. If I harvest cattail shoots from a pond near my house one spring, then the next spring I'm taking them from another pond, or at least from another side of said pond depending on the number of cattails and the size of the pond involved.

It's just good stewardship.

 

[hikerchick]

I find them in the supermarket.