Fiddleheads steamed, boiled, creamed, in an omelette, soup, salad, with pasta or pickled, anyway you like them means Spring has sprung!
Every year when I return to our farm, I am reintroduced to the sounds of the country. When I first arrive the silence is thunderous. Then slowly, as my body adjusts to the calm surrounding me, the symphony begins. Birds, bees, even the wind sing a soothing welcome to their world and I am grateful to be back.
Early yesterday morning, I pulled on my rubber boots, grabbed a basket and my camera and headed down to the river to forage for fiddleheads Really I just went fiddlehead picking but I love the word ‘forage’. I was only five minutes into my hunt, when I heard a crashing coming down the bank in front of me. I was sure it was a dog. I froze. Should I run? Could I outrun it? My heart had cut off the air to my chest when I saw a flash of white. I could breathe again. It wasn’t a dog. A dog would have been barking, if it had heard me walking. The crashing sound was two young deer spooked by the sound of me walking. Apparently, I’m not that quiet in the woods.
My fiddlehead hunting grounds are the banks along a pristine brook near my farm. As I was taking the shot of this wild yellow trillium, I heard what sounded like somebody doing a cannon ball into the water. I thought I was alone! A beaver had slapped his tail on the water, warning his buddies that a strange looking human, wearing turquoise gum rubbers, was laying on the ground looking through some kind of box. At least if I was a beaver, that’s what I’d think.
I picked a couple of pounds of fiddleheads and happily headed back to the farm feeling full of the magic of life.
It’s Victoria Day weekend in Canada. The official opening day to summer. We’re a bit behind this year due to our long winter but knowing summer is on the way is enough. Gardens will be tilled, barbecues unpacked, cottages opened and everybody HAPPY!
Our first feed of fiddleheads will be straight up! No embellishing. Picked, cleaned which took five separate rinsings, boiled quickly, drained, plated with a little butter and a squeeze of lemon. It doesn’t get any better than that!
Happy Victoria Day my friends. I’m looking forward to a wonderful summer and the fun I’ll have sharing it with you. XO
one year ago: old fashioned blueberry muffins
two years ago: apple blossoms
three years ago: hot fudge sundae
Thanks for reading.
