Salads, Flowers, and a Mystery

I was reading the Garden Path website, looking for information on nasturtiums and got sidetracked by the article on violets, sweet violets. I learned or relearned (that's what happens when you get old-you aren't sure whether or not you are learning something for the first time or the second...lol) 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. I even added some chopped ham, asparagus tips, and boiled egg.
It amazes me that eople 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 y'all 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 or even collect rose petals and with a small, fine paintbrush, paint on someegg 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.

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 the 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 Skyguy 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....upon researching 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 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

Now, if you don't believe in ghosts, then you mostly likely will believe that I sleepwalked. I'm almost 1000% sure that I did not. The original owner of this property loved gardening. Two of my neighbors are his daughters. They believe that his spirit is still here, and in the past they say there have been unexplained happenings in and around the house. I happen to believe in ghosts, and while I have not seen John, I have felt his presence. I know he likes what I've done with the place. As a fellow gardener, I seriously doubt John would have pulled up the rue. What would he have done with it?? LOL I just don't think that is the answer to the mystery either. I keep coming back to an animal...

This is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy wondering what happened. Oh well, life needs a bit of mystery now and again, I suppose.