Help: Looking for Fern Propagation Information

I found a broken discarded branch from a Haresfoot fern at one of our garden centers. The leaf has numerous brown spores on it's underside. Can these spores be used for germination? I've never worked with ferns and haven't any idea of what I need to do. I would appreciate any advice or hyperlink to information about fern propagation that someone may have.
Thank You.
Renee O. (zone 4b)

Ruby

Tap the leaf over some white paper (previously folded for ease of moving the spores. The spores should fall off easily.

Get a super clean pot or tray with drainage holes, and I mean clean, wash it in a solution of jeyes fluid or a tiny drop of bleach and water, rinse well. If you don't the tiny proto ferns will suffer from the fungi and bacteria on the pot.

Fill the tray with sterile/clean sowing media, i.e. bagged peat or preferably a similar peat alternative.

Soak the filled tray from the bottom and sprinkle the spores on the surface of the sowing media and cover the top of the tray with a sheet of glass or with a clear lid

In a few weeks little green prothalli will cover the surface of the media and develop into sporeling ferns. Once you see a couple of definite fronds they are ready to pot on.

Baa.....Thank You a bunch ! I can hardly wait to get started! I recently moved and my yard consists of about 3 acres. A good portion is located in front of a tree line and is mostly in shade so, being able to start ferns etc. should save me a whole lot of money. I have tons of seed from my old home to use in the sunny areas but, nothing for shade except a few hostas. Hopefully, I will locate seed or divisions for some helleborose (spelling ?) to define a border for ferns and hostas. The whole project seems daunting right now but, I think if I keep looking and getting ideas from others, I will end up with a decent looking yard. Thanks again for the input...
Renee

My pleasure Renee!

I forgot to add ... you will need to mist the sown spores a couple of times a week, keep them in cold greenhouse if you can. Also, it's quite possible that your first attempt will fail (no reflection on you!), it seems everyone I know who's attempted this has fungal or baterial problems first time around, so save some spores if you can.

Hellebore seeds need to be super fresh to germinate well, it's best if you can get them from a local gardener.