This plant kind of sums up my feelings about many events at FAR Manor: it came up in an odd place, nobody has any idea where it came from, cutting it down just seems to encourage it, and after a while you just want to sit back and see what it’s going to do.To give an idea of the scale, the highest part is nearly six feet high. It sprang up from under the cross-ties between the driveway and the back yard, and it doesn’t look like anything else we’ve planted. The bulbs like of look like onions until they tear open, and it’s obvious that it’s some kind of flower.
Now that I’ve given up trying to kill it, I’m looking forward to seeing what it looks like when it opens up. It would be nice to know what it is, though. Help?Speaking of weird things, The Boy had his first public performance last night. He’s officially part of the band after their concert last night, but they had him come along and do a solo piece by way of introduction. He wanted us to be there, we wanted to be there (and get video for his Myspace page), but as usual the chicken houses got in the way. He called just before he was to go up on stage, and Mrs. Fetched said he sounded really excited. He’s supposed to have an outing in the 'burbs later this month, so we’re going to go to it.
Chicken houses… what would a weekend be without them getting in the way? They’re bringing a new flock in tomorrow morning (as in, early tomorrow morning) and so there are certain things to be done to prepare. One of those is to run feed — and it would have really helped if they’d brought feed Friday night like they were supposed to instead of 5 p.m. yesterday. We managed to run feed through one last night (which is why The Boy had to perform without us), and everyone else is over there doing the other three now. Being the song leader at church sometimes has its advantages; I can’t just blow off church.
I’ve been needing to do some drill work, and Mrs. Fetched reclaimed the drill I put together when cleaning up the fireplace insert, so I’ve been needing to do something. Home Despot had a sale on Ryobi drills (with two batteries) for the same price as it would have cost to order a new battery online for my Skil, so I went ahead & got it. I hate doing that, but I can still get a Skil battery later.
It is an onion. The onion is in the ground. When those pods open up, thousands of little seeds will ensure the propogation of the plant.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably a wild onion, the kind that farmers hate because it spoils the cow's milk; however, if you recycle or dropped the garbage one night after the Wild Turkey gave out, an onion might have escaped and rooted itself there.
Onions sound good. We've got scallions that did the same thing. The b2 boy eats pieces right from the plant. It's actually the only green vegetable he eats.
ReplyDeleteNew power tools, oooh!
Wow, Rick, I've never seen an onion grow THAT tall — let alone a wild one; around here they're usually chives. I like a good hot onion for cooking — that sucker might be worth digging up! I'll have to see about catching those seedlings… but a six-foot stalk? Are you sure it's not some kind of radioactive mutant onion from outer space?
ReplyDeleteHey Boran, if B2boy likes his scallions he can't be all bad. And yeah, when it dries up a bit this week I'll be putting that new drill to work. :-)
Sprouted from a seed from the planet Zorbik , no doubt. DO NOT take pictures of it. They are huge egomaniacs, and will pester you to take their picture daily....also don't feed it squid.
ReplyDeleteActually, I suspect the bulb isn't very big at all because most of the energy is growing up and getting the seed pod ready so it can sprout and take over you and your family.
ReplyDeleteI have a few about 4.5 feet tall, but that is a ripe big 'un you have there.
I doubt it will taste good...then again, Vidalia onions come from south Georgia. Perhaps this one just ran away from the farm.
Wow FAR, never a dull moment at the Manor, eh? Agree w/Rick, it's definitely some kind of Allium (let me hunt a bit to see if I can ID for you). Does the foliage smell at least vaguely onion-y? The dead giveaway is the bloom bud... let it go, you might end up with a nice globe allium! Or maybe a non-descript white one that will drop tons of seeds in your yard, lol.
ReplyDeleteI do know that you do not want Egyptian Walking Onions in your yard! They're invasive as all get out (at least here... a neighbor has some and we fear them migrating here) and will cover a lawn in a matter of a couple of years. I hear some people eat them, but wow, they're so potent that they make you weep while you gag on them.
But 6 ft??? Wow, have never seen an allium that big, so maybe it is a wild onion. If I find anything, will get back to ya!
Hi cephlo, and welcome to the manor. Those are some funny pics on your blog — do you do those? I'll remember to not toss leftover calamari over that way, but it's already too late for not taking a pic. I wondered what that noise was last night… sounded like tiny onion seedlings bouncing off the bathroom window…
ReplyDeleteRick, as I understand it, Vidalias are sweet because of the soil composition in the area. You can transplant a Vidalia elsewhere, but its produce has a regular onion flavor (it's been tried). Ah well, this time I'll just dig the sucker up instead of whacking it with the weed-eater.
Hey IVG. You know, I tried getting a scent off the plant & couldn't. I'll try again though. I found a pic of a globe alliumand it looks pretty cool. I'll keep it if that's how it turns out. I also found a pic of an Egyptian Walking Onion & the top doesn't look anything like this guy, so maybe we'll be OK in that regard. :-)
Mrs. Fetched's mom opines: "It's a wild garlic. It'll spread everywhere when it shoots its seeds."
ReplyDeleteGarlic would be good. I like garlic. I like to taste it when I make stuff. Strong would be good. :-)
Mrs. Fetched's mother is very wise, it is indeed a wild garlic.
ReplyDelete