July 28: Beatrix Potter was born on this day in 1866.

July 29: National Lasagna Day. Also, St. Martha's Day. She is the patron saint of housewives. It's said that she once took time out of her sweeping to put out a dragon's fire with holy water.

July 30: National Cheesecake Day

August 1: The ancient Celtic festival of Lugnasadh (pronounced loo-na-sa), anglicized as "Lammas."

A Peter Rabbit Garden would be a lovely project for you and your children (or grandchildren) to share—or just for you, if you're a fan of Miss Potter's work. The garden could be a container on the deck or a corner of your garden, or a larger area with a piece of garden art in the middle: Peter himself, perhaps, or a wheelbarrow with his coat on it? You might want to put a little wooden fence around it (like the fence around Mr. MacGregor's garden), or perhaps a low stone wall, such as the one that Tom, Moppet, and Mittens sat on in The Tale of Tom Kitten. And certainly you'll want to read Miss Potter's "little books" (as she liked to call them) and pick out the flowers you see growing in the pictures she painted with such care—some of them in her very own garden at Hill Top Farm.

Peter's Plants
These plants are all mentioned in the Little Books. These would all be appropriate for Peter's garden.

Lemon Balm Mint Chamomile Tansy Lavender Sage Thyme Rosemary Parsley

Strawberry Lettuce Beets Radish Rhubarb Onions Roses Pinks Pansies

Miss Potter's Garden
Miss Potter's garden at Hill Top Farm included a great many herbs and flowers, many of them passalong plants. "I have been planting hard all day—thanks to a very well meant but slightly ill-timed present of saxifrage from Mrs. Taylor at the corner cottage." In the hedgerows, she found violets, daffodils, primroses, wild strawberries, and wood anemones, and wall-rue fern from an old bridge. She completely redesigned the garden, making it what it is today: a beautiful cottage garden brimming with color and foliage.

Read more about the estimable Miss Potter:

• The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, by Susan Wittig Albert
• Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature, by Linda Lear
• Beatrix Potter: The Complete Tales

Don't let National Pickle Month go by without reading (or rereading!) China's pickle queen adventure, A Dilly of a Death. It's a dilly of a mystery, especially if you like pickles. And even if you don't, you're sure to smile (and maybe hiss) at China's sweet-sour pickle jokes.

Observe National Lasagna Day (who thinks up these things?), and use some of that wonderful basil that's flourishing in your garden. Bake a Creamy Basil Lasagna and serve with salad, hot bread, and lemonade at your picnic table. (July is National Picnic, too--you knew that, didn't you?)

Celebrate Beatrix Potter's birthday by taking a virtual trip through her garden at Hill Top Farm. Then spend the evening watching the film Miss Potter. (You can read Susan's review of it on the film's Amazon link.) Or invite your friends a Miss Potter Tea Party. Well, my goodness! You might declare the day a major holiday and do all three!

Before you invite folks over for a tea party, your house may need a quick cleaning. Make St. Martha proud by using some herbal techniques for "greening" your household tasks. You'll find plenty of ideas in the book by Susan Belsinger and Tina Marie Wilcox, The Creative Herbal Home.

Learn about the ancient festival of Lughnasadh and its Christianized celebration, Lammas, or Loaf Mass Day. Most of us don't raise our own grain, but how about creating our own yeast for the loaf? Here's an easy recipe for sour-dough starter and a sure-fire recipe for sour-dough bread.

For more about herbs and the passing seasons, read China Bayles' Book of Days.

To find out what's going on in Susan Albert's life in the Texas Hill Country, read Susan's blog.