Alchemist Mother Apothecary

Seasons · March to June

Spring

The first green things. Nettles, new leaves, seedlings on every windowsill, and birds coming back.

Spring in an herbal kitchen starts before anything is really growing — with seed trays on the windowsill and the first sharp green shoots of nettle and chickweed in the corners of the garden. After a winter of dried things, everything fresh tastes like a revelation.

In the old calendar, spring was "called in": children climbed on roofs with lark-shaped buns, singing for the birds to bring the warm weather home.

In the garden

  • Sowing calendula, chamomile and herbs indoors
  • Dividing lemon balm and mint
  • Cleaning the beds and turning the compost

In the wild

  • Young nettles (with gloves)
  • Dandelion leaves and flowers
  • Birch and pine tips

In the kitchen

  • Green soups and spring greens
  • Lark buns
  • Dandelion flower syrup

In the apothecary

  • Fresh herb vinegars
  • Using up last year's dried herbs before the new harvest

The folk calendar

  • 20 MarchSpring equinoxEqual day and night, and the start of the growing year.
  • 22 MarchSorokiThe day of the larks. Bird-shaped buns (zhavoronki) are baked to call the spring back.
  • 7 AprilBlagoveshchenieThe Annunciation. By old custom, caged birds were set free — "spring has opened."
  • 1 MayMay DayFlowers, green branches, and the first outdoor meals.

Plants