Twice a year, the earth is neither tilted toward or away from the sun and for just a moment, (this year, around 17:32 Coordinated Universal Time) the earth's equator aligns with the center point of the sun before it begins to list again. Darkness and daylight are in perfect balance for a day and for us in the Northern Hemisphere, this marks the beginning of spring.

The vernal equinox has been celebrated for thousands of years and there is no lack of traditions and rituals surrounding the coming of spring.

For most ancient civilizations, the vernal equinox was the start of the New Year. The Roman year began on the ides of March and the astrological year begins on the first new moon after the equinox, which brings in the first astrological sign Aries, the ram. The Greek God Ares, the god of the ram, is the equivalent of the Roman Mars for whom the month of March is named. The Persian New Year, Nawruz also falls on the spring equinox.

The Saxons had a spring festival celebrating the goddess, Eostre (from whose name we get the direction East and the holiday Easter). Eggs were one of the symbols of this festival and represented new life and potential. During the equinox, there’s supposedly a certain gravitational pull that makes balancing an egg on its point possible. Thus, we have the tradition of the Easter egg.

All these different cultures had their own food traditions based essentially around the same idea: They survived the gray and bleak winter! Time to forage for something that hasn’t been in the root cellar for three months.

Although it is often anything but springy here in the northwest in March, rivers are teaming with the Steel Head run and a couple edibles things are beginning to poke through the soil. Asparagus, rhubarb, young herbs, leafy greens, wild onions/garlic and fiddleheads are coming soon.

Winter is over. We made it. Happy Spring!