Fiddle head ferns

ElizabethB · Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:39 pm

I am being lazy. I usually do research but decided that today I will just pick your brains.

Can fiddle head ferns be grown in the south in a pot or shaded garden? Where can they be aquired? I grow lots of different ferns and thought I would add fiddle heads to the list if it is possible in the deep south. My understanding is that they have a short shelf life once harvested but are lovely sauteed in butter or olive oil and actually have nutritional value. If I remember correctly they are high in A and C.

Any way what is your take on growing fiddle heads in south Louisiana? How to and where to get?

Thanks all!

Dillbert · Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:08 am

yes they are varieties for down south.

some care is required - not all ferns are equally edible

see
https://foragersharvest.com/fern-fiddleh ... of-spring/

ElizabethB · Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:05 am

Thanks Dilbert

Ostrich fern is definitely on my bucket list for under my oak tree.

LA47 · Tue Apr 30, 2013 2:05 pm

I was interested in them so looked them up. There were a few sites that said they were carcinogenic, not to eat many. Thought I'd give you a heads up in case you didn't know about this side effect.

applestar · Tue Apr 30, 2013 2:59 pm

I have Ostrich fern -- the good/safe to eat kind -- all along the NE end of the house. Since we had a nice soaking rain yesterday, a lot of them should be coming up now.

(There were already some sprouted, but they stalled when we didn't have rain for about 10 days)

They are just a bit earlier than the asparagus which has just started to shoot up. I think closer to potato planting time.

ElizabethB · Thu May 02, 2013 1:38 pm

Thanks all. I am kind of

. I did a re-read of Stephen King's "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon". The poor girl sustained herself on fiddle head ferns and other wild plants. Got my craziness going - want to try planting some fiddle heads. I looked on some cooking sites and the recipes sound wonderful. I love vegetables with a fresh, grassy taste. Probably why asparagus is a fave.

Any way that is what prompted my question.

Crazy what can get me on a side track. I read about something in a novel and want to try it.

Oh well. I am kind of a crazy, old, southern lady who gardens because that is what crazy, old, southern ladies do. Did you ever see "Steel Magnolias"? Clarisse. Only in jeans, tee shirt, muck shoes and a straw hat instead of the coveralls.

Thank you all for your patience with my sometimes crazziness. BTW I LIKE being a crazy, old, southern lady