in the green

How green can anything possibly be? Here are three sprigs each of lemon balm and mint to make herbal drinking water, sort of like sage water, only different. Added to a 1/2 gallon jar of cool water and refrigerated overnight, I can't get enough of the stuff -- it tastes so fresh and green. 

You can tear the leaves, bruising them as you do, to make the flavoring process go a little faster. I left these intact for this batch. The difference is time and whether or not you want a little bit of leaf to nibble on with every sip or so.

Yesterday it rained. And it rained and rained. It's still raining. Loving every minute of it. Looking out from our front porch doesn't usually look this bright green but right now it's a feast for the eyes. We have a fair amount of bluegrass that I'm slowly digging out for more plantings. I'm learning that people feel strongly about their grass lawns, there's lawn pride, lawn hate, and lawn guilt for starters. In its defense, I have to say a lawn is a pleasure to walk barefoot on and for kids to run and play on; and it cools the ground surface around the house lessening that alarming heat-transfer issue. Bluegrass is surprisingly drought tolerant -- one year this lawn was only supplementally watered twice (my teenagers were deeply embarrassed).  My mantra was "dormant, not dead." I once visited a garden that had an expansive clover and violet lawn and it was heaven -- that would be the ultimate.