Skip to main content

Mystery Bulbs of the Balcony Garden

You know you've gotten old when excitement comes in the form of a bag of mystery bulbs. 

We start of our tale in the best of all possibly places... Chinatown. Your plucky heroine had a hankering for wonton noodles that needed to be appeased.  Having escaped from babysitting duty, I made my way through the post-Thanksgiving crowds, browsing the open air markets for any goodies that might be on offer. Throughout the market, I noticed a few places offering what looked to be little, mesh bags of small onions. We're talking about something the size of a small shallot, but not as long. 

At one stall, these little bulbs were just laid out on take out containers, and had started to sprout. Very intriguing! On my way back home, wonton dreams realized, I circled back to the market hoping to get some answers. One very confusing exchange later in which no information was gained, I ended up with a bag full of bulbs.

Mystery bulbs for the win! I asked the little old lady what the bulbs were for and the only thing I really learned was that they'll grow to be very pretty for me if I put them...somewhere? Considering that I only paid $1 for what I later counted to be 24 bulbs, I'm ok with the ambiguity. 

Once I got home, I took a closer look at my unexpected bounty. It was a literal mixed bag. Some where in great condition, some were decidedly not. They smelled a bit like onion, but didn't look like onion starts. That being said, they had sprouted a bit, and it was out of season for onions to grow, so I'm not sure where that left me. 

Do I know you?

Is it just me or is it a little crowded in here?

I sorted through the bulbs and tossed out all the moldy ones, leaving me with still more than I should have planted in the space I had, but oh well! I planted the viable bulbs in a grow bag, and covered it with some mulch. We're in Zone 7, so our winters can be hard on vegetables, especially when they're on a balcony. 



I also planted one of the bulbs in a pot and brought it inside, to act as a control. Just in case our NYC winter kills off the ones on the balcony, at least this one might make it to spring.

I'm not sure why, but I am very excited by this purchase. I have no clue what I bought into my home, with my best guess being some sort of onion (shallot? potato onion? not actually an onion?), but I love the mystery of planting my mystery bulbs, and not knowing what will come up in the spring. 

That being said, if you can identify what we have on hand, please comment! All comers and guesses welcomed! 






Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Minimalism and the February Shopping Ban

So it a bit obvious that I am a rather sporadic blogger and haven't updated in the last decade or so. That being said, let's begin anew! Minimalism I've dabbled in minimalism for over a year at this point. At some point, I'll go much more in depth about my experience and how it began, but for the sake of this post and actually publishing something, I'll just give a quick overview. It all started when I listened to Marie Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up  as an audiobook. I was so inspired that I decided to go through everything I owned and ended up donating 32 bags of clothing, books, craft materials and general paraphernalia to Goodwill. The change in my mental state was incredibly startling. The lack of clutter had such a calming effect on my mind that I began to crave it. At that point, I was still living in my parent's attic, and I would just sit in my cleared-out space and relax. I would sit and read, or go through a yoga routine, or s...
2 comments
Read more

Why I Quit the Internet

Hey everyone! So, if you’re reading this, you probably know me personally. (I have absolutely no illusions about the popularity of my blog.) Therefore, let it be known to everyone who visits my apartment that: I don’t have Wi-Fi anymore! Yep! You read that correctly. The last day I’ll have Wi-Fi available in my studio is February 13. Cue the shouts of horror. Everyone's reaction to the lack of WiFi Why did I do this? Why would I put myself through this? I’m just as much of YouTube addict as every other internet obsessed nerd my age. I do 95% of my shopping online, including a bit of grocery shopping. I’m on every social media platform you can shake a stick at. Even the UN, the UNITED NATIONS themselves, have declared internet access to be a human right!* So why would I willingly give up it up? Well, if you read my previous blog entry, I’m sure you can come with a logical reason. BECAUSE I’M CHEAPPPPPPPPPP You’d be only partially correct. While the economics of the...
3 comments
Read more

The End of the February Shopping Ban

Oh dear god, that was difficult. I never want to do a shopping ban again. That was probably the one of the more stressful months of my life. I’m not talking, “Oh noes! I have to write a thesis” stressful; I’m talking “I know I’m not supposed to buy it, but now I want to buy it MORE because I CAN’T” psychology torture stressful. Here’s the thing. On a typical month, I don’t consider myself a big spender. I usually talk myself out of buying stuff. I don’t go looking for gadgets to buy and I don’t usually spend time on retail websites. Yes, I’ll go on Slickdeals a few times a week, but for the most part, looking at shopping sites isn’t on my deal To-Do list. All that changed while I was on the shopping ban. It was like some hidden streak of masochism rose from the depths of my soul to torment me. Suddenly, I’m looking at wool jackets and sample sales (Yes, I’m looking for one, but very casually. I wasn't  actively pursuing this.) I’m thinking about what I want in a perfe...
1 comment
Read more