Finding the...			...Fiddleheads
			by Debi Osborne

Our family looks forward to Mother's Day every year. Like most people, we get everyone together and do the traditional gift-giving and meal, but we also spend a few hours bent over a marshy area, our plastic pails filling quickly with crisp, green delicacies called fiddleheads. If you didn't grow up picking them as a child, you might not know what they are or where to find them. Because there are only 3-4 weeks out of every year that they can be found, fiddlehead pickers tend to be stingy with their secret.

Author surrounded by food

Fiddleheads are a type of wild fern that at one stage of their cycle become extremely tasty, especially after they are boiled and tossed with butter and lemon juice or vinegar. Ferns are non-flowering green plants that grow up from the ground, starting as spores rather than seeds. There are about 10,000 species of them, some of which have been around since the dinosaurs roamed the earth, changing little in all those years. Ferns grow by poking their tightly curled "pin-wheel-shaped" heads through the ground. After the stalk reaches a certain height, they begin to uncurl, eventually standing straight and full, pretty when placed on the table as part of a floral arrangement but too bitter to eat. It is the tightly coiled fronds that you want to pick for eating. They are called fiddleheads because at this stage they resemble the carved scrolls on a fiddle. It is best to pick them before their stalks are barely out of the earth. That way they will be nice and firm and will keep for weeks in the fridge.

The shorter the stalks, the firmer the fiddlehead.

At home, we have a three-week period where fiddleheads are served with every meal. Even pizza nights come with a bowl of steaming greens. No one seems to tire of them. They are low in calories (about 30 for 4 ounces) and a great source of vitamin C. So, if you're interested in trying something different, read on to discover where you might find some and what to do with them once you gather them. There is also an important note on how to avoid picking the ones that will make you sick!