Shout Out To An Onion Shoot

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - What's that green thing? Peeking out from behind a wooden shelf where I keep some gardening stuff, a little green sprout was sticking up. I reached back there and found a tiny onion.

I'd put the onions on top of the shelves to dry last fall when I brought them in from the garden, and one of the teensiest apparently fell behind the shelves where it hibernated all winter. No water, basically no light, it sent a shoot up the past few weeks like a signal flare – "Yoohoo – anybody there?" That's how I saw it, because it started to grow.

So, I decided to pot it up now and keep it indoors until it's warm enough for it to be outside. Maybe I'll cut the greens when they're taller to enjoy like scallions in a salsa; or perhaps it'll produce a flower for seeds; or maybe it will be able to grow into a big sweet onion after all, to slice onto some burgers this summer.

Time will tell, but since that forgotten onion took all that energy and effort to send out a shoot, I think it deserves a shot.