Gathering on a Rainy Morning

Last night's rain made many of the irises droop, so I cut some more for the kitchen.  Before they made it to the vases, I thought the shadows while the flowers were still in the pail looked pretty enough to picture.

 Those in full sun and not too crowded withstood the rain quite nicely, like these salmon orange ones, one of my favorites.

I put them with a bicolor iris of orange and violet in a cobalt blue vase.  Crazy!

There were lambs' quarters galore around the firepit for the chicks, so I picked them a big bucket full.  The babies LOVE fresh greens!  Then I picked some greens for us in the kitchen.  Fresh buttercrunch lettuce and baby beet tops in the salad spinner below.

Also in the greens aisle of my rainy grocery store were the young Swiss chard.  Rain-drenched, first pick of this planting, they could not be more perfect or more tender.  Not a lot, just enough to sauté and place beside brown rice and an egg (one of which was waiting for me this morning.  More when the hens get busy!)

 

Inside, I have to brag about my lemon project.    Lemons are a blog unto themselves, but the abbreviated version is that I got another seed to germinate (first pic below).  It doesn't look like much, but it is the third!  The germination miracle happens on the dining table, then the wee seedlings are moved to my window nursery to sunbathe (second pic) until they are tough enough to go outside on the porch.  After proving they can handle conditions on the front porch, they go out to the garden, and here are my first two lemon babies from seed (third pic below).  So excited!