It's fiddlehead season in Maine

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:06]Spring is in full swing swing. Today feels like summer, however. And in Maine, a delicacy season is happening right now. Fiddle heads. So, they're edible ostrich ferns that haven't yet unfurled, and you can pick them yourself. Our Katie Delaney got a foraging lesson and shows us how it's done.

[00:00:23]We are here with Neil Reynold, assistant director of recreation at Pineland Farms to take us on a fiddle head forage.

[00:00:29]Thanks for having us.

[00:00:30]>> Thanks for coming.

[00:00:31]>> All right, let's go find some fiddle heads.

[00:00:32]>> Sounds great. We have them here.

[00:00:35]>> Where can these plants be found?

[00:00:38]>> Yeah, so fiddle heads, they grow in flood plains, uh sides of rivers, streams, and brooks. Uh pretty much any body of water that the water level rises in the springtime. And the fiddle head is called the ostrich fern. So, one thing that you can identify it is is the brown fronds on the side of the riverbank. Kind of like what we have right in front of us here. Um, that looks just like ostrich feathers.

[00:01:03]>> So, once you've spotted your fiddle heads, how do you figure out which ones you do want to pick and that are the right size?

[00:01:08]>> Yep. So, you want to find some that are closer to the ground, ones that haven't fully unwound that are a little bit they're wound tighter.

[00:01:18]Um, that's what you're really looking for. Probably 3 or 4 inches off the ground.

[00:01:24]>> These guys right here looking good.

[00:01:26]>> Yeah, those are fine.

[00:01:26]>> We just bend and snap it.

[00:01:28]>> Bend and snap. Yep.

[00:01:29]>> So, we want to make sure we're not taking too many so they're able to continue growing.

[00:01:33]>> Exactly. Yep.

[00:01:34]>> And so now once we've picked fiddle heads.

[00:01:37]>> Sure.

[00:01:37]>> You want to eat them. How do you prepare them? What's the best thing to do before you start cooking them?

[00:01:42]>> So fiddle heads, I mean, you can see where they grow. They grow on the side of a river. The river flooded. There are parasites. There's bacteria in the water.

[00:01:51]>> Oh yeah.

[00:01:52]>> Um that tends to be transferred into the fiddle head. What you want to do is boil them. Uh rinse them off, boil them before you eat them. If you eat them raw, the odds are pretty good you're going to get sick.

[00:02:04]>> And once you they're ready to go, how do you like to cook them? What's your favorite way to prepare them?

[00:02:09]>> What I like to do is keep it simple. Um, sauté them up in some butter, garlic, salt and pepper. Um, maybe mix in a little salt, pork or bacon. It's a typical main recipe and it comes out really good.

[00:02:22]>> Thank you so much, Neil, for your wisdom.

[00:02:24]>> You're very welcome. Thanks for coming.

[00:02:28]>> That was our Katie Delaney. Fiddleheads you can eat don't last for long. The season usually only goes until the beginning of June. And if you do want to forge, be sure it's on public land. You cannot forge on private property unless you get permission