Let’s talk fiddlehead ferns! It might surprise some, but this delicate fern finds itself right at home in northern climates, even down to zone 2!
Fiddleheads, sometimes also called Ostrich fern, are known as a delicacy when harvested young. Typically, the right time to harvest them is right before they unfurl, quite early in the spring. It happens super fast, so you have to watch them closely! They taste a bit like asparagus, perhaps something between asparagus and broccoli.
For many years now, we’ve been working on building a good size patch of Fiddleheads. Like many people, we couldn’t afford to just buy all the perennials we wanted. So, we planted a couple in our perennial flower garden and transplant a handful of newly produced ferns each spring to our desired “fiddlehead farm.” Our eventual goal is to have hundreds of ferns, which can then provide a meaningful harvest.
Fiddleheads will spread out a bit, replicating by at least one or two additional ferns in most seasons. So, even a relatively small initial fern garden can quickly turn into a lot of ferns!
Ferns generally prefer more partial to fully shaded areas, so they’re a great candidate for areas that are less ideal for other typical gardens. When you plant them in full sun, they have a tendency to unfurl quite quickly in spring. But, they’ll work in full sun areas, too.
We’ve found them quite easy to grow, requiring very little maintenance. They will often take in less than ideal soils, too, making them a rather flexible perennial to work with. The only time we do anything with them is during severe droughts. But, in that case, we often water our perennials anyway.
Even if you’re not growing Fiddleheads for production purposes, they are a fantastic northern perennial to work with. It’s nice to have ferns about, they certainly provide some unique foliage that you don’t see with other plants!
