Lenctenmonath – lengthening month, when the days start getting noticeably longer
It’s practically impossible not to feel positive in March. The first month of spring brings with it longer days, warmer sun and the beginnings of new growth all around us.
As if to hammer the point home, we’ve artificially created one of the most abrupt seasonal changes with British Summer Time, when, at the end of the month, the clocks suddenly reward our patience through the dark winter months with an extra hour of evening sunlight. It almost, but not quite, coincides with the vernal equinox, which for many of us represents the natural start of spring and reignites a sense of optimism that has been absent for the past few months.
Unfortunately, all that positivity is bound to suffer a set-back at some point. The one thing you can guarantee about March weather is that there are no guarantees; one day it’ll be bright sunshine and the next we could have torrential rain or even a blanket of fresh snow. No, there’s simply nothing predictable about March.
Nevertheless, whatever twists and turns we experience along the way, we know we’re heading in roughly the right direction. The first spring lambs will be out in the fields by now, daffodils will definitely have flowered and we’ll see the early green shoots of the summer crops. It’s no coincidence that every religion that’s ever been prevalent in the UK has some form of celebration of birth and new life around this time.
And so it is in the kitchen – optimism and a sense of expectation abound. February and March are comparatively lean months, but by the time the clocks go forward, things start to look up a little as the first crops of broccoli, spinach and early lettuces all arrive. It’s a pretty good month for seafood, too and although the feathered game season closes at the end of January, there’s still good meat in the wild larder, with rabbit and venison both on the menu.
It’s also the time when we can start to think about going outside without looking like we’re planning an assault on Everest, and with the new growth all around us, it’s usually a good month to start foraging for some wild ingredients, including nettles, dandelions and that pungent perennial, wild garlic.