Peter Rabbit Days: Lettuce, Parsley, and Lavender

It used to be that you would find Arden out in the sun, rabbit tobacco hanging from his mouth at a rakish angle. Rabbit tobacco is lavender in the world of Peter Rabbit, and the rabbit tobacco is flourishing this year. I had put a handful in a vase and mistakenly discovered how easy it is to dry lavender (though I can't recommend it as a godly character trait there are occasional benefits resulting from sloth), so for the first time I am harvesting my own lavender to use in sachets. Granted, it smells nothing like the lavender from France that I bought last year. Still, I was pulling it off the stalks in the living room while Bryan was reading The Hobbit and the living room did smell heavenly. I have a very earthy closet that can use a little bit of heaven.

Parsley seeds are almost ready to harvest.

The secret to gathering all those lettuce seeds is to pretend you have nothing better to do than sit in the sun and pick at your plants. I tried shaking the stalk upside down in a paper bag and was not getting much, so I moved to hand picking. I suppose my seeds could use some winnowing, but the reality is I do have better things to do. So I'll just try tossing these in the ground and see what grows, for my family and some to share. With Peter Rabbit.