Springtime natural harvest
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 1:46 pm
This is todays natural harvest... It's that time of year in Maine.
![Image](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/BBQinMaineiac/Shaving-%202_5_13/DSC04095_zps67b5af22.jpg)
The raw product, cut from the surface of the ground.
They're a springtime treat; fiddleheads. They are the new shoots of the fiddlehead fern, specifically that fern and no other.
We've never had fiddleheads on the hill before, then my neighbor had some road gravel, dug by the town out of the ditches on the side of the road hauled in. Some of it went next to an intermittent stream that flows off of his land and onto mine. A few years ago the first fiddleheads were seen to be growing in that area. No one touched any of them, though last year they could have been harvested. This year we walked over and yup, there they were, poking through the leaf litter. I love fiddleheads. What are they like? Something like asparagus in taste, with a texture just suggestive of okra.
![Image](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/BBQinMaineiac/Shaving-%202_5_13/DSC04096_zps81d0c92b.jpg)
Here they are just cleaned and draining in the colander. Just put them in a basin of water and what husk still clings to the fiddlehead soaks off in minutes. A few shakes in clean water gets rid of the "skin". These are ready for the pot.
Steam them until tender. It doesn't take long for them to cook. Then salt to taste and butter them. Just fantastic.
Tomorrow I'll check again for more. Pretty soon though they'll "go by" and not be harvest able.
![Image](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/BBQinMaineiac/Shaving-%202_5_13/DSC04095_zps67b5af22.jpg)
The raw product, cut from the surface of the ground.
They're a springtime treat; fiddleheads. They are the new shoots of the fiddlehead fern, specifically that fern and no other.
We've never had fiddleheads on the hill before, then my neighbor had some road gravel, dug by the town out of the ditches on the side of the road hauled in. Some of it went next to an intermittent stream that flows off of his land and onto mine. A few years ago the first fiddleheads were seen to be growing in that area. No one touched any of them, though last year they could have been harvested. This year we walked over and yup, there they were, poking through the leaf litter. I love fiddleheads. What are they like? Something like asparagus in taste, with a texture just suggestive of okra.
![Image](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/BBQinMaineiac/Shaving-%202_5_13/DSC04096_zps81d0c92b.jpg)
Here they are just cleaned and draining in the colander. Just put them in a basin of water and what husk still clings to the fiddlehead soaks off in minutes. A few shakes in clean water gets rid of the "skin". These are ready for the pot.
Steam them until tender. It doesn't take long for them to cook. Then salt to taste and butter them. Just fantastic.
Tomorrow I'll check again for more. Pretty soon though they'll "go by" and not be harvest able.