Fiddle Heads Part 2: The Harvest

Chuck's Fiddle Head 5K walk.

Soaking in water.

Cut and cooked fiddle heads ready to put in jars.

The handful made 4 canning jars of processed fiddle heads!

It's not too late to gather fiddle heads.  Chuck took me for a 3 mile walk this Wednesday and I picked an armload of these fern shoots.  I wrapped them up in damp newspapers and put them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator to be processed the next day!  It will take me about a week to complete the processing and then the fern shoots will be edible.   I love tossing them into stirfry or making them Korean style.  These can be used like regular fern shoots.

I Spy Fiddleheads! Yum!

How many fiddle heads can you find in this picture?

I was wondering around the property and noticed that the bracken fern fiddle heads are popping up.  Yummy!  A fiddlehead is the name for the baby fern sprouts before the leaves open up.  

 Did you know that fiddleheads are edible?  Asian cooking use these fern shoots in stir fry, pickles and various dishes. Alaskan Cooking mentions simple ways to prepare this fern. Do NOT eat them raw or unprocessed. fiddlehead article   E-mail me if you would like to know how to safely process these "free" forest edibles!

Fiddle heads should be gathered when the heads are tightly curled. They are inedible when the leaves open.  Be careful not to step on any when you go through the woods to gather them.

Pick those with tight heads.

Look in areas with last years old dried bracken fern leaves.