fiddle head ferns

This week, Patti invites us to join in for LAPC #146, Focusing on the Details. We can include photos of details from one subject (a person, a place, an object) or many subjects.

The beauty of life is in small details, not in big events – Jim Jarmusch

I want to take you along with me to a 10x10m area along this trail. Maybe it doesn’t seem to have much of interest…looks rather empty except for the trees, doesn’t it… But, let’s start looking for details – and this time I know what I am looking for.

The first details I see are these late blooming twigs…and I notice that the trunks reflecting in the water, show the sandy waves at the bottom of the creek instead of the patterns on the trunks.

What we are looking for in this forest is the **fiddlehead fern** or **ostrich fern**, 100–170 cm (39–67 in) tall and 20–35 cm (7.9–13.8 in) broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the tip, so that they resemble ostrich plumes. They would have been very difficult to find if last year’s leaves hadn’t been sticking up like brown feathers.

They are giving me the fern look…- I am being watched. They know I will soon be coming for them, because these ferns are edible, and absolutely delicious. It’s the only edible fern in Sweden. Here, in this wet area, they grow abundantly and in a couple of weeks, they will cover the whole forest floor below the trees. They should be picked when new and fresh, like the tallest ones in my images. Boil and eat, maybe with some delicious meat…soon!

Details are important, always.

A special thanks to Priscilla of Scillagrace for her fabulous Getting to Know You! challenge last week. As always, your posts were varied, surprising, delightful, and inspiring. On Saturday, May 8, Amy will host LAPC #147, so be sure to visit her beautiful and thoughtful site for more inspiration.

Until then, have a wonderful creative week and please stay safe.