Unyuns by the ton

Today more fruits of earlier labours. The onions harvested last week are now nicely dried off and ready to be stored.

Good crop, nice firm flesh and quite a sweet taste.

The word onion derives from ancient English unyun, through oignon (f) right back to the Latin unio, meaning pearl or white pearl.

Hugely useful in cookery, faking emotion, and warding off unwanted affection the onion should be a fixture in every mans back pocket.

Medicinal uses include fighting off common colds, and the pulped flesh of roasted onion is recommended as an emollient poultice for suppurating tumours.

The onion is believed to have originated in Eygpt, where in pre Christian times it was worshipped (as was the cabbage). It is widely held to improve retention of facts hence the expression "to know ones onions" and has been long used in memory training.