March is soon to be upon us. The first of March signals the start of a traditionally ‘mad’ month. When March hares leap through the grass in search of a partner. When stiff breezes may rattle the cheerful heads of newly sprung daffodils. Perhaps even when the country is covered in a white blanket of snow…. who knows what this month will throw at us weather wise, and it has happened before! But we hope not this year! The middle of the month signals the biggest national festival of the year. St Patrick’s Day on March 17th is celebrated up and down the land. The Patron Saint is lauded and applauded and cheered and saluted. Parades and concerts and Irish dancing displays abound. It’s all in the planning as we speak! But this date is also very significant in the growing and farming calendar. If weather allows and the ground is soft enough, March 17th is when growers and small holders will plant the first of the season’s potatoes, which have been left to ‘chit’ and sprout  over winter. Other crops are prepared for or planted in mid March. Bee keepers traditionally feed their stocks for the first time on March 17th. Before the Patrick’s Day celebrating begins – you can be sure there will be a lot of work done on the land by our dedicated band of farmers. We wish them every success for this coming growing season. And we hope you will be finding lots of their produce in Good Food Ireland shops and farm shops throughout the island of Ireland, as the summer comes rolling in. .