Fern Care

The Edible Fiddlehead Fern
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

While the stories about cats getting sick from eating ferns may be part of folklore, the stories about people getting sick from eating ferns are actually true. Why would anyone want to eat a fern? Well, because they are good for you.

Okay, if they are good for you, then why do people get sick from eating them? Because not every fern is meant for human consumption. The key is knowing which ferns are fine for human dining.

The types of ferns that are edible are known as the fiddlehead fern. However, only three types of these ferns are edible. The species of the fiddlehead fern that is okay to eat include: the cinnamon fern, the bracken fern and the lady fern. Now, any other type of fiddlehead fern is completely off limits for anything other than hanging from your ceiling! If you are looking for a fiddlehead fern to ingest, pick one of these three or any combination thereof.

Now, there is a fourth of these ferns, the ostrich fern, that is marginally edible. That is, it is primarily used as a seasoning when used in small doses. Eating too much of these types of these ferns will make you quite sick.

Of the three previously mentioned edible varieties of this fern, they can be eaten in many ways. They are eaten raw or cooked and eaten by themselves; they can be put into soup or stew; they can be cooked with meat. The number of ways they can be cooked is quite varied and some creativity has been used in the common fiddlehead fern recipe. But, despite the apparent popularity of the fiddlehead fern as a dietary item, the fern is never going to be offered at any McDonald’s anytime soon. It’s an acquired taste.

So, if is not your personal taste, you can always hang it from your ceiling like the rest of the ferns.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.