The Bible Garden: Onion

Vidalia onions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost — also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic." Numbers 11:5 give the only mention of the onion, but coupled with leeks and with any knowledge of Mediterranean food, we know the Israelites ate onions.

Did you know?

• Onions are rich in vitamin C
• wild onions grow on nearly every continent, but here in northern NY, it's best to grow them from sets
• old English folklore says you can predict the severity of the winter by the onion's skin. ()r by the wool on a wooly bear.)
• Onions are the state vegetable of Georgia and Texas (Vidalia and Texas Sweet, respectively).
• They make you cry because of the sulfur released into the air.
• The first Thanksgiving feast sported onions. The Natives had their variety, the pilgrim the European styled onion.
• In ancient Egypt, where the Israelites longed to return, the onion is a symbol of eternity because of the rings inside the rings.
• Pharaoh Cheops paid the pyramid workers in onions
• Pictures of onions appear on the pyramids
• Mummies were buried with onions

As wordy Polonius says in Hamlet, brevity is the soul of wit. Therewit--I'll be brief. I've read of odd ways to use an onion: to clean your grill, heal a fever, help gladiators firm their muscles and much more.

What are your favorite onion facts?