ONE MAN'S SWAMP:

Attuned to fiddleheads: The tender greens are now popping up in Ontario, thanks to the fertile vision of East Coast entrepreneur (Kim Honey, 5/21/08, Toronto star)

Nick Secord was the laughingstock of town when the locals found out the city slicker had bought farmland at the edge of a bog.

"Somebody from the city bought the swamp," went the joke, according to Secord.

When he looked at the property, which was zoned for agricultural use even though it was unfarmable, the entrepreneur didn't see a marsh fit only for frogs. In his mind, he envisioned a sea of fiddleheads, the tightly curled tips of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris).

A wild delicacy savoured for their asparagus-like flavour, not to mention the first of the season's wild greens, fiddleheads are a signal to winter-weary Canadians that spring is really, truly on its way.

Secord's company, NorCliff Farms, is the largest grower, packer and distributor of wild fiddleheads in North America, shipping hand-picked greens from 1,000 acres of land Secord owns or manages in New Brunswick and Quebec to markets in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. On its best day ever, NorCliff moved 60,000 pounds.

Edible Ferns of New England (ELIZABETH RIELY, 5/08/98, NY Times)

FIDDLEHEADS, so aptly named because they resemble a violin scroll, are as sure a harbinger of the new season as asparagus, shad or fresh morels. These tightly furled young fronds, which in spring appear at the crown of all varieties of ferns, grow throughout the world. Indeed, the woodlands of the northeastern United States are abundant with them.

But it is New Englanders who prize fiddleheads for their form and color. Before cultivated vegetables have emerged from backyard gardens, the crisp texture and fresh flavor of the wild fern sprouts are especially welcome.

Though they grow in many regions and climates, edible ferns prefer an alluvial soil full of nutrients. Some foragers gather them along the marshy banks of rivers and streams - Thoreau's ''ever rich and fertile shores'' - while others may look in secluded thickets and woods. In spring, the bright green fern crosiers are covered with a brownish ''paper'' and surrounded by the dried plumes of the previous year's foliage. As their short season continues, usually lasting a couple of weeks in a specific location, harvesting moves farther and farther north. [...]

The naturalist and wild-food enthusiast Euell Gibbons may have helped to increase the popularity of fiddleheads. In his book ''Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop,'' he wrote, ''Not the least of the pleasures of early spring in New England is the enjoyment of fern fiddleheads, one of the greatest delicacies among wild vegetables.'' He suggested that the best way to find them is to look for tall dried foliage that has persisted through the winter. ''These old fronds are tough and inedible, but summer, when they are conspicuous, is a good time to locate a fruitful spot to come plundering next spring.''

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 21, 2008 11:13 AM