Now is the time for “Fiddleheads” in Vermont. In the cooler regions these spring treats are available for just a short time and like that other so called “springtime,” the dandelion greens, they are a must of country families.

Fiddleheads are the curled tips of ferns. They are covered with a layer of soft wooly material which is removed by hand and the stalks bunched together like asparagus. Fiddleheads are called fern croziers. They may be steamed or boiled in salted water, and served with salt, pepper, and butter.

Patience is the word when gathering a big batch of dandelion greens. They must be washed carefully and I used to soak and crisp them before cooking on a hot stove a little longer than a batch of spinach. While visiting an aunt in Flushing one year, she served them sprinkled with chipped up hard boiled eggs and butter.

When I think about the bountiful garden produce we grew for many years, I best remember two things; the year of the peas, and the Brussels sprouts. My husband declared he had never had enough fresh peas, so instead of a modest package or two he bought a pound or more. He prepared a proper trench down two full rows of our large garden.

Determined to raise a good supply of this favorite vegetable he cut and put along the trench the brush needed by peas to grow on. As they matured and blossomed, they were as pretty as any garden planting. And the peas grew, and grew and grew. At first we had peas every day, and then I canned about 30 pints. When friends came to visit, they were given a bag of peas to shuck into a pan, and a paper bag full to take home. It got a little ridiculous, but we managed to use and give away the whole crop. Needless to say, my husband had all he wanted, that year.

The Brussels sprouts were my idea. We had a most successful garden that summer and my six plants were a picture of good health. Having never grown them, I waited to find a cluster growing on top, like a broccoli or cauliflower. It didn’t happen.

We had a warm summer rain that produced a crop of the purslane. I couldn’t stand to see the neat garden full of weeds, so I took a basket and began pulling out the purslane. Half a row weeded, I sat down to rest and next to me, the big Brussels sprout plant was covered under the big leaves, with Brussels sprouts growing along the stems!!! What a sight!

The weeding was abandoned for a bit, while I got a pan and harvested a wonderful bounty. I suffered a lot of good natured kidding over that experience, but the Brussels sprouts were delicious.

One other project was successful. My husband was working at the Stevenson Power Plant where hundreds of fish would be caught in the headgates and around the spillway. When it was time to plant sweet corn he decided to do what the Indians did. He ploughed a big burrow down each row and put the fish alongside the hills. The season was right; the fish did their job and we had a bumper crop of corn. I remember one group coming to get 300 ears for a picnic at the height of the season.

Such are the happenings that make memories!

The quote last week that ended the column was by Shakespeare, from Hamlet.

Who said, “A bargain is something you can’t use at a price you can’t resist”?