Woodland daffodils, tiny but hardy

Waves of grey cranes float like ribbons of pencil-dashes across the sky, sending their burbling cries, and always a frisson of delight down my spine:  nature is on time, for another season.  It’s not that frosty nights are over, but the daylight hours now let the vagabond dig in the garden until suppertime.  March means a list of favorite tasks can be ticked off – black currant bush and a merlot vine are pruned, old aster stalks are cut and borders cleared of dry leaves, while I note that red knobs of rhubarb and the earliest peony shoots are slowly nosing through. All these signs of spring are a little tardy this year, as are the greens in the market. For vagabondgourmand readers, March holds more on greens, a visit to a French country livestock fair, a peek at a Périgord cooking school, and some lamb and kasha to keep us fortified for longer hours outdoors.  Bienvenue mars!

Snowdrop lingering in a shady corner