The HERBE. Market Guide: March

Seasonal ingredients are always the best ingredients. They arrive more fragrant, more flavorful, and more aligned with how the body wants to eat this time of year.

March is the month the market tips. Artichokes arrive in earnest. Asparagus builds toward its main season. And beside all of this, the last of winter lingers: Meyer lemons in their final weeks, chicories beginning to lose their cold-weather edge. The produce this month tells you exactly where you are: not quite spring, but no longer winter. That in-between quality is worth cooking with rather than waiting out.

Here is what is in season now, and the most intuitive ways to welcome these ingredients into your kitchen.

Peak Now

• ARTICHOKES

  March marks the beginning of peak artichoke season in California, which produces nearly all of the country's supply from its coastal fields around Castroville. Nearly a third of the annual crop is harvested between March and May.

  Try: steaming whole with good olive oil and flaked salt, working through the leaves one by one; braising halved artichokes face-down in white wine, garlic, and olive oil until completely tender; shaving raw baby artichokes thinly over dressed greens — note that only the small, undeveloped baby artichokes are tender enough to eat uncooked.

• ASPARAGUS

  Early harvests begin in the warmer parts of California's Central Valley from late February. By March, the crop is building toward its main season and the quality is strong.

  Try: roasting at high heat until the tips crisp and the stems caramelise; shaving raw with a peeler over a lemon vinaigrette; cooking quickly in a hot pan with butter and flaked salt, nothing else.

Last Call

• MEYER LEMONS

  Meyer lemon season peaks from November through January, with the season running through March and occasionally into April. By now we are in the final weeks. Sweeter and thinner-skinned than standard lemons, with a floral quality that standard lemons entirely lack, they are worth using in every possible way before they disappear until next winter.

  Try: zesting directly over pasta, risotto, or roasted vegetables as a finishing move; using the juice in dressings where you want sweetness alongside acidity; making a simple curd for yogurt or toast that will carry the season a little longer.

• WINTER CHICORIES

  radicchio, endive, escarole

  The cold-weather intensity of the chicory family softens as temperatures begin to rise — March chicories are at their most versatile, still bitter enough to be interesting, mild enough for raw preparations. As spring proper arrives, these will give way to sweeter, less complex greens.

  Try: halving radicchio and grilling until the outer leaves char and the centre softens; braising escarole slowly with white beans, olive oil, and chili; separating endive leaves for crudités alongside a white bean dip.

First Sightings

• RAMPS

  late March onward, depending on elevation; later further north

  Ramps emerge from the forest floor in late March in the lower elevations of the Appalachian region — Tennessee, West Virginia, the Carolinas — with the season moving northward and to higher elevations through April and May. A wild-foraged allium with a flavour that sits between garlic and spring onion, they are available only for a few weeks each year and in limited quantity. When you see them at market, buy them.

  Try: wilting quickly in butter over high heat — they need under a minute, not five; blending into a ramp butter for pasta, eggs, or good bread; pickling the bulbs in a light brine to extend the season by several weeks.

• ENGLISH PEAS

  first arrivals in warm growing regions

  The earliest English peas of the year, from California and the South — small, sweet, nothing like the frozen alternative.

  Try: eating a handful raw while you shell the rest; adding to risotto in the final minutes off the heat; tossing briefly cooked peas with good butter and torn mint, served alongside anything.

• MOREL MUSHROOMS

  late March onward in the South and Pacific Northwest lowlands; April at higher elevations and further north

  The first morels of the year appear in the mid-South — Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky — from mid to late March, with the Pacific Northwest seeing first sightings at lower elevations around the same time. The season progresses northward and upward through April and May. Earthy, meaty, and deeply flavourful in a way that cultivated mushrooms are not.

  Try: sautéing in butter with shallots, finishing with a small amount of cream and fresh thyme; adding whole to a risotto; cooking simply in olive oil with garlic and serving on toast.

Notes for March Cooking

Cook the transition.

Balance the deep, concentrated sugars of lingering winter citrus with the high-vibration crunch of early spring greens.

Lean into the bitter-sweet balance.

Use the floral sweetness of late Meyer lemons to temper the fading winter bite of March chicories.

Respect the wild-foraged clock.

Treat fleeting arrivals like ramps and morels with minimalist reverence—short cook times and high-quality fats.

Don’t over-process the new arrivals.

Prioritize raw shavings or quick sautés to preserve the delicate natural sugars of early peas and baby artichokes.