Spring is a time for an old-fashioned "Spring Tonic" food:

Fiddleheads!

https://simplyfreshdinners.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/fiddleheads.jpg

Fiddleheads are a baby wild fern here in Maine. They grow in damp wooded areas and are great to eat. Not all ferns are good for eating only these I found list on Wikipedia:

"The fiddleheads of certain ferns are eaten as a cooked leaf vegetable. The most popular of these are:

Western sword fern, Polystichum munitum, "king of northwest ferns."^[3]
Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, found worldwide (Toxic if not cooked fully)
Ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, found in northern regions worldwide, and the central/eastern part of North America (Health Warning)
Lady fern, Athyrium filix-femina, throughout most of the temperate northern hemisphere.
Cinnamon fern or buckhorn fern, Osmunda cinnamomea, found in the eastern parts of North America, although not so palatable as ostrich fern.
Royal fern, Osmunda regalis, found worldwide
Midin, or Stenochlaena palustris, found in Sarawak, where it is prized as a local delicacy
Zenmai or flowering fern, Osmunda japonica, found in East Asia
Vegetable fern, Athyrium esculentum, found throughout Asia and Oceania

Fiddleheads' ornamental value makes them very expensive in the temperate regions where they are not abundant."

I eat the Ostrich Fern, it has brownish paper like covering and a stalk that looks like a celery stock/stem, (it has a groove going up the middle).

The following is from the University Of Maine Co-Op Extension service: Here is the Link

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/4198e/

Food Safety Facts

Facts on Fiddleheads

By Food Safety Specialist Jason Bolton, Ph.D., Food Science Professor Alfred Bushway Ph.D., and Extension Professional David Fuller.
Originally developed by Extension Professor Mahmoud El-Begearmi.

For information about UMaine Extension programs and resources, visit extension.umaine.edu.Find more of our publications and books at extensionpubs.umext.maine.edu.

Photo by David Fuller.

Fiddleheads, an early spring delicacy throughout their range, are the young coiled fronds of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). Nearly all ferns have fiddleheads, but those of the ostrich fern are unlike any other. Ostrich fern fiddleheads, which are about an inch in diameter, can be identified by the brown papery scale-like covering on the uncoiled fern, as well as the smooth fern stem, and the deep ”U”-shaped groove on the inside of the fern stem. Look for ostrich ferns emerging in clusters of about three to twelve fiddleheads each on the banks of rivers, streams, and brooks in late April, May, and early June. Make sure that you have landowner permission before harvesting fiddleheads.

Potential Foodborne Illness

In 1994 there was a large outbreak of foodborne illness that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) determined was a result of eating raw or undercooked fiddleheads. Since then there have been several reported cases of foodborne illness related to fiddlehead consumption. Researchers have yet to determine what the origins of the illness are but, they do know that proper handling and cooking helps reduce your risk of foodborne illness related to the consumption of fiddleheads. Under no conditions should fiddleheads be consumed raw.

Symptoms of illness from eating improperly cooked fiddleheads

Health Canada and the CDC both have investigated a number of outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of raw or lightly cooked fiddleheads. The described symptoms of this foodborne illness were diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and headaches. These symptoms generally occur within 30 minutes to 12 hours after eating raw or undercooked fiddleheads. This foodborne illness typically lasts less than 24 hours, but it was found that some cases could last up to three days.

If you experience symptoms after eating fiddleheads, you should seek the advice of a health care professional and contact your local public health unit to report this illness.

Harvesting Fiddleheads

Harvest the tender little rolls of ostrich fern as soon as they are an inch or two above the ground. Carefully brush off and remove the papery brown scales. Before harvesting in the wild make sure that you can properly differentiate the ostrich fern fiddleheads from other fern fiddleheads. Not all ferns are edible; in fact bracken ferns are carcinogenic and should not be consumed. (See Bulletin #2540, Ostrich Fern Fiddleheads for more information.)

Tim and I went to visit some old friends and we had a wonderful time! They live in Steubenville Ohio and are a very faith-fill family of 8! 3 of the "children" are married and have children of their own and one is in Seminary...Praise be to God.