Home Made, Home Grown, Home Crafted

March On

Posted by BCM on Sunday, February 26, 2017 Under: Seasons
March is a belter of a month.

Full of promise, it heralds the arrival of spring and the season of renewal and growth.

The name comes from the Latin Martius, the first month of the ancient Roman year, which was dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war.

Strong and fearsome, Mars was also a great defender and protector. People prayed to him to keep storms, disease and famine at bay and promote bountiful crops, animals and farms. 

This association with battle and struggle fits well with the English proverb describing March and the changeability of the weather at this time of the year:

Comes in like a lion, Goes out like a lamb 

We’ve all had enough of winter now and look eagerly for the first signs of spring.

Well, they’re there.


March is the month of the daffodil and swathes of yellow are now brightening up our gardens and public spaces.

On the Common you’ll hear woodpeckers drumming on trees with their powerful bills to attract a mate.  

You’ll also see red-brown sticky buds breaking out from the Horse Chestnut trees.

Increased daylight hours mean our growers can get back into the garden to dig over the soil ready for sowing broad beans, planting strawberries and chitted potatoes.

There’s a host of other things happening in March that make it an extraordinary month.

On the 4th there’s National Pound Cake Day.  

The name comes from the recipe : one pound each of eggs, flour, sugar and butter. 

That’s easy enough to remember but do you really want a cake that big?

Get round this by dividing the ingredients to make two cakes and share them with others - an idea very close to the heart of our producers at the Balham Country Market.

St Patrick’s Day on the 17th will bring the Irish communities together to celebrate their patron saint.  

It’s not a public holiday here but there’ll be fun and celebrations especially on the weekend closest to it.

London will host its own St Patrick’s Day Parade on the 19th with elaborate floats and marching bands ending with a huge céilí in Trafalgar Square.  

Why not partake of some Irish Soda Bread to help soak up the Guinness?

You’ll find it in abundance at the Balham Country Market.

Another day observed in March might also get your mouth watering - Pi Day on the 14th.  

Wait though. This is not a culinary celebration.  

As any mathematician will tell you, Pi is an irrational and transcendental number that represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and continues infinitely without repetition or pattern.  

You’ll be forgiven for not getting over excited about this.  Like most of us, you’ll probably prefer to eat cake.

In which case you know where to find us.

In : Seasons 


Tags: march spring