Really, y'all are just cracking me up with your comments on this post. Some of you suggested it might be edible (scary weed pie, anyone?), others said to keep it away from my kids because it's toxic. And an alarming number of you agreed that the Pod People have landed in my front yard. I was particularly fond of the idea that Tom Cruise might be inside.
Thankfully, I have a local friend who is a master gardener--she saw this picture and assured me it is a "weed seed pod". She explained in an e-mail:
As the pod dries out it will begin to resemble a misshapen okra pod. It will pop open at the ribs to expose fluffy seeds that will land everywhere and sprout like mad for next year. (The invasion theory was not far off.)
But, being your Trusty Investigative Blogger, I must see this for myself. So, donning my gloves for safety (I don't want any alien juice on my hands) I decided to cut into it. I even used my beloved Cutco knife, because if I'm going toe-to-toe with the Pod People, I want only the finest weaponry:
Now, I've been joking about this, but I will confess that there was just a teensy part of me that was nervous as I sliced into it. I halfway expected to hear an inhuman scream coming from the bowels of the mother ship. But no screaming, and no alien lifeforms battling my Cutco. Just a bunch of what are clearly little seeds. Interestingly, the
thing has an edible smell--kind of like cucumber. But NO, we will not be having pod salad for Thanksgiving, thankyouverymuch.
