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["Wendy" <crazygardens AT verizon.net>]

Bev,
My grandmother and all the older ladies that used to live around here felt 
that all plants grew better when they were stolen.  We were always stealing 
from each other.  If you even asked someone for a start, they would give you 
a glower and turn away.  Plant starts must be stolen.  A friend at work and 
I often exchange plants.  We leave them in our unlocked cars or in the 
locker at work and hint that there may be something in the car or just leave 
them sitting on our locker bench and they just disappear.  lol   However, if 
you are going to steal a start, the trick is to take it from somewhere where 
the owner will not notice or mind.  I don't think your rue was stolen by a 
neighbor.  lol  I'm placing bets on either a squirrel, a raccoon or a rat.

Wendy


> Robert Walton wrote:
>
> > Yes...that is what I'm seeing. My friend gave me some herb plants
> > last year and I started a bed. I'm seeing the lambs ear taking up
> > about double what it did last year.
> >
> > Rob - Va
>
>
> I meant to answer this earlier...
>
> I have personally used lambs ear as a bandage when I stupidly snipped my
> finger while snipping my asparagus fronds.  Very soft. I just wrapped it
> around my finger and held it.  It absorbed the blood and was quite soft.
> I know it was called All-heal or self heal in the old days.  I can't say
> that it stopped the bleeding as I was applying pressure, too, but it was
> nice and soft and the cut did not get infected.
>
> I read something on lambs ear not too long ago, but now I can't remember
> where I read what.  I think it was about fever reduction.  I remember
> being surprised at just how many uses it had.  Oh, oh....I was thinking
> earlier today that it might make a good toilet paper substitute if you
> had a whole patch of it, which you could definitely have in a few years
> and good soil in a large bed.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stachys
>
>
> Violets:
> Upon reading my new favorite website, the Garden Path,
> http://oldfashionedliving.com/gardenpath.html
> I realized this evening that the smaller leaves were edible raw.  I knew
> that the flowers were edible, and I recalled that the plant could be
> cooked as a green, but I did not remember that the leaves could be eaten
> raw. I have an area near the garden that is literally all violets, about
> 20x50 in size.  The area is just covered with gill 'o'er the ground and
> violets.  At any rate, this evening, I was a bit short on lettuce, so I
> went out and picked some fresh lettuce and mesclun from the garden.  I
> also grabbed some spinach, and on the way back to the house, also tried
> a violet leaf.  To my surprise, it had a good flavor, not bitter at all,
> so I picked a handful of heart shaped violet leaves for the salad, along
> with some flowers.  Needless to say, we had a great salad this evening.
> Most people put herbicides out to kill the violets in their yard not
> realizing how great they are to eat!  BTW, you can also eat mouse ear
> chickweed, portulaca(purslane) and of course dandelion, but you probably
> already knew that.  I've also planted a bunch of peppery nasturtiums for
> salads, and tonight I learned that nasturtium seeds can be put in a
> pepper shaker and ground as fresh pepper.  Apparently they did this in
> war when they could not get pepper.  The nasturtium seeds are also used
> as a substitute for capers.    When it comes to edible flowers, don't
> forget borage.  Don't forget too that you can candy flowers.  Pick a
> borage or violet flower and with a small, fine paintbrush, paint on some
> egg white.  Then, lightly sprinkle on superfine sugar and place the
> flower on wax paper to dry.  It may take a day or two to dry, but once
> they are dry you can eat them out of hand or use them as garnishes on a
> plate or even as cake decorations.  Kids love to make them and eat them.
> I've candied borage flowers and rose petals...violets will the next.
>
>
> Okay, so now maybe someone here can help me solve a mystery.
> I had seeded several herbs last month and yesterday we planted some of
> them into the new herb bed.  One of the new herbs was rue.  This is the
> first time I have ever had rue or tried to grow it.  The plant was about
>  3-4 inches tall with several true leaves.  We planted it on the edge of
> bed, near the corner, oriented so that as it grew it would make a nice
> background plant.  To make sure we did not accidentally pull it as a
> weed, I set it out with a plant marker about 2" from the plant. Now mind
> you, there was also a 32" tall metal garden fence at the edge of the bed
> to keep the dog from cutting through.
>
> This morning, as DH left for work, he noticed that there was a plant
> marker laying on top of a landscape timber.  He walked over to discover
> that it was the marker for the rue.  He also noted that the plant was
> missing, and there was a hole where the plant had been-just a 4" deep
> hole.
> Now what would eat or take the whole plant, roots and all??  Deer?
> Raccoon?
> What would pull the marker out and lay it on the landscape timber??
>
> Now, here is the really weird part....
> In reading up on rue to try and determine what animal might have eaten
> it, I came across this passage in my Herbs book by Norma Jean Lathrop:
> "Greeks also believed that the secret of getting rue to grow well in
> your garden was to steal it from a neighbor."
> What the...???
> Can you believe that?
> Fact #1  No one, not even my best friend, knew I had rue
> Fact #2  I am the only person around here that likes growing herbs, and
> I can not imagine someone stealing a plant as obscure as rue.  If I have
> to mark it, it is not exactly a commonplace herb.
>
> I'm having a hard time believing that someone stole it, but what animal
> would neatly dig up only the rue, leave no tracks, and lay a marker on a
> landscape timber?
>
> I am considering two other possibilities...
> 1. That I sleepwalked out there and dug up the plant-God only knows what
> I would have done with it....it is nowhere to be found
> 2. A ghost dug it up
>
> So, my friends, help me solve the mystery of the missing Rue..it is a
> whodunnit..
> a. animal
> b. neighbor
> c. sleepwalker
> d. ghost
>
> :)
>
>
> Bev
>
>
>
> --
> "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public
> debt  should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered
> and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed
> lest Rome become bankrupt.  People must again learn to work, instead of
> living on public assistance."
>
> --Cicero, 55 BC
> http://erthnsky.blogspot.com/
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