I found an ebay seller that sells spores of Matteuccia struthiopteris. Known as the Ostrich fern, but known to us Mainers (whether they know the botanical fancypants name or not) as the edible Fiddlehead.
This is one of those native spring delicacies that people from away tend to be leery of. They grow in many other states and i'm sure people eat them, but it seems to be more of the thing to do up here. In other places, people keep them as pet plants in shade gardens, having no idea that they have something yummy in the ground.
I have been trying to establish a patch in the yard for a few years, i have only a couple hold-outs left since the shady spot they were in has become less shady as we have cleared out an overgrown and dying cedar that was hit by lightening a few years back. There is one of those 'trees' left and as soon as possible, i want that removed too. Its really just an overgrown hedge plant that got away from the previous owner and instead of being a neatly clipped landscape bush, it is now a towering 35' monstrosity. Anyway, its not long for this place, the only reason i haven't pestered our Tree Man to come take it now is because there is a family of Blue Jays nesting in it. So, hopefully later this fall....
Ok, where was i...
Oh yes, so the seller sells spores and i think i can handle starting those indoors and then planting out the ferns in a nice shady spot on the opposite side of the shed that is next to my garden.
The older ferns need to be moved there once things around the house (spring cleaning/rearranging) cools off.
I am also hoping to get some Ramps (wild leek/wild onion) from Oikos to plant there as well... yummy leek-like Ramps and delicious and limited seasonal Fiddleheads.
I can't go tramping for Fiddleheads anymore on account of my bad leg and my uncle who used to supply the family with them, has been gone for a few years now. I think of him when i see them actually...
So, hopefully i can have good luck with this plan....
She also sells Huckleberry seeds, i plan to try those too. And i ordered more letuce seed from her.
Yay!
2 comments:
Something else I need to look up now. LOL
Curious minds can use up a lot of time. Have you noticed?
~Faith
yeah, i go from one bunny trail to another. I also bought some Autumn Olive seeds from her and a few other stuffs like a mixed seed bunch for three colors of Rose of Sharon. I'm not liking my double pink one. These seeds are for the single type flowers, blue pink or white. I know that they will take a few years to show their colors but i can wait. I prefer the blue. The RoS i have now has those double blooms and it just looks wrong. And it won't flower this year i'm sure cause that hard frost that tanked my veggies also bit the RoS hard.
So... see how i go from one subject to another. I'm also on the trail of a book called "The Countryman's Year" by David Grayson. A quote from this book is in Root Cellaring as a chapter header and it sounds so intriguing...
*sigh* lol
Post a Comment