A FEW SPRING "FIRSTS," AND A FIDDLEHEAD RECIPE

MARSH MARIGOLDS ALONG TURNER ROAD

SWEET CHERRY TREE AT APPLE HILL ORCHARD

SWEET CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Sunday, 9:00 AM.  45 degrees F, wind NE, very light.  The sky is cloudless but very hazy.  The barometer is trending down, at 30.34 in.  The humidity is 76%.  There is probably some rain in our near future.
   The marsh marigolds, Caltha palustris, are blooming in roadside ditches and marsh areas.  They have been blooming for about a week but this was the first photo I was able to take.
   We saw our first bear of the spring yesterday morning out on Hwy. K.  He was coming up from the Sand River at the bridge.  He saw us and ran back down the embankment before I had a chance to take a photo.  He was a good sized bear but thin from his winter's sleep and looked all legs and head, more like an Irish wolfhound than a black bear.
   The cherries are just now beginning to bloom in the orchards...very late!  The apples will bloom in a few days.  It has been a long time coming but it is a beautiful spring, all the early blooming plants lasting a long while in the cool temperatures.
   I have an improvement on the ostrich fern fiddlehead recipe, after experimenting a bit more:
 

• Pick a good sized handful of 6" long fiddleheads per serving.
• Wash well and drain, place in pot, cover with water.  Add generous amount of salt to water and boil until tender, about three minutes.  Do not overcook.
• Cut one slice bacon per handful of fiddleheads  into bits and fry in pan until crisp.  Place fried bacon bits on paper towel to drain, save bacon grease.  Sauté boiled fiddleheads for a minute or so in the hot bacon grease.  
• Mix bacon bits with sautéed fiddleheads, pace in serving dish.  Salt and pepper to taste.