I just discovered a patch of fiddleheads in a damp spot near my lawn. Everywhere else, the ostrich ferns have unfurled, but in this one spot, this late spot, the fiddleheads are just poking up. I harvested a colander-ful.
I love harvesting wild vegetables. Fiddleheads taste like a cross between asparagus and broccoli stem. They are crunchy like green beans. I like to stir fry them with pine nuts.
Fiddleheads are tightly furled spirals of ferns. A spiral is a symbol of connection with the divine. Although Buddhism is a non-theistic philosophy, it does offer the practices of the divine emotions–loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. Divine emotions you would expect any divinity to have.
While we are on our spiral, spiritual path, let’s stop for a meal of fiddleheads.