Muriel’s Eccentric Atomic Occasions Round 2: An Irradiated Peanut Dinner
In 1959, Muriel first held irradiated seed in her hands, an occasion she described with breathless wonder. They were NC4x peanuts from Dr. Walton C. Gregory of North Carolina State University, and her first thought was not to plant them but to eat them. And not to reserve such an experience for herself, but to serve them to her dinner guests.
The best account of this unique occasion is in Muriel’s own words, from her self-published Atomic Gardening for the Layman, available for the first time as a download from this site.
Prior to her peanut dinner, Muriel had hosted a meal of foodstuffs preserved by radiation. The menu included potatoes and onions made imperishable with a pinch of radioactive sodium. This was far more dangerous fare than her irradiated peanuts.
Image of decay in a ‘normal’ potato as compared to one preserved by radiation.
Muriel continued serving her atomic peanuts to guests. Their reactions are lost to history.