Lady Lunchalot

I can taste it. The flavours of spring are everywhere, and even though tomorrow is the first official day of my favourite season, Mother Nature came out of Melbourne’s hibernation a few weeks ago when the unidentified tree on the nature strip in front of my house erupted in a pent-up frenzy of pink blooms.

Right now, every breath of blossom-scented spring air holds the promise of a new season of dishes to cook.

To some people, spring is synonymous with snuffly noses and itchy eyes. To others, it means frocking up and going to the races. To me spring is all about lightly sauteed asparagus spears with pine nuts, and spring lamb with braised artichokes and broad beans. It’s fresh peas. It’s the first smattering of berries at the market. It’s early zucchini flowers from the back yard stuffed with herby cheese.

Spring is resting my aching muscles on the lawn beneath my enormous rose bush after spending a Saturday resurrecting the veggie beds after a winter of neglect. It’s coming home from Bunnings with a carload of seedlings, chook poo and an impossibly long list of well-intentioned weekend projects. Spring is being gobsmacked at the speed with which couch grass can grow. It’s waiting expectantly for the first passionfruits to appear on the vine on my back fence, and it’s keeping an eye out for the first mangoes at the markets.

Spring is baking cupcakes and icing them in girly shades of pink and pistachio green.

Spring is football crowds giving way to cricket matches. It’s sponge cakes and strawberries served in the garden. It’s a rash of pink and white blossoms spreading throughout my neighborhood, making me think of all the cherries, peaches and plums that aren’t too far behind.

Spring is hypercolour daffodils, tulips and freesias nosing their way up from the soil in my herb patch, their cheery scent mingling with sage, rosemary and basil. It’s crisp glasses of floral rosé and barbecued lamb chops with mint. It’s strutting out the front door into the sunshine without a jacket and it’s putting away my heavy winter overcoat until next year. It’s lamenting the toll that a winter’s worth of puddings, roasts, stews and casseroles has taken on my hips, and vowing to eat nothing but brown rice and carrot sticks until Christmas.

But most importantly, spring is here! So take off that jumper, grab your sunglasses and get down to your local market to see what amazing produce we get to enjoy for the next few months.