How’d This Weird Looking Root Get Here?

I enjoy growing radishes. They’re easy, they’re quick to grow, and there are many radish varieties to choose from. Of course, I like choosing the unusual radish varieties like black radishes, daikon and watermelon radish. But recently this choice was made for me.

One Weird Radish

I have no idea where it came from. I wasn’t even certain what type of weird looking root vegetable it was at first. It was big. It was ugly. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. I immediately thought aliens had landed, choosing my garden to grow some kind of strange body snatcher type pod for cloning us. Okay, a bit over the top I know, but this was one odd growing root.

I looked around for more but found none. Just this one grotesquely large root crop growing out of place among my flowering plants. Clearly, it was related to the radish family. Although the monstrous looking root was bizarre, the foliage was definitely reminiscent of radish leaves. But I didn’t plant any radishes in this part of the garden. So how did it get there? Apparently, the volunteer plant had found its way into this garden bed of its own accord.

Upon further investigation, however (researching Google for similar oddities and turning to plant experts for help), I discovered that it was, indeed, just your average radish – possibly white or yellow. It had become hideously overgrown is all, as I hadn’t noticed it before. Growing near the outer edge of a huge hosta plant and within the understory of the sunflowers and zinnias next to that, this little radish plant was basically hidden from sight… until it wasn’t. Somehow a little radish seed made its way into this garden bed unbeknownst to me. Perhaps, a neighbor was planting a crop and a few stragglers got left behind. Did the wind carry it? Was someone playing a trick on me? Who knows, but it’s certainly a mystery.

Strange looking as it was, the large bulbous root sticking up from the ground kinda grew on me. In a way it was sort of interesting. I’m known for digging anything weird, so I decided to leave it as is. Let’s just see what it does. It’s much too large to eat. At the time of this writing, nearly six months later, the overgrown radish plant is still there. Its unusual looking root has gone soft, yet it continues to put out leaves. Quite mysteriously, though, is the fact that there is now a lovely kale plant growing next to it. Just what in the world is going on here in this little patch of dirt?