Occasionally we all find them, those oddly shaped vegetables in the garden. Taking on strange twists, they resemble faces more than fruit, animals more than plants, or fuse to become beautiful flower-like sculptures. Carrots are well known for this, and I’ve pulled a few twins entwined in an embrace suggestive enough that I stand there wondering if I should tuck them back into the soil to give them some privacy.
They’re fun. And we can’t help parading them around the house to show off to loved ones, sharing a chuckle over Nature’s sense of humor. On the threshold of the big harvest season, where we spend every spare hour picking and preserving, we all need a good laugh.
A friend of mine, Jodi Torpey, is holding a contest with a wacky twist: she wants to find the weirdest growth in the garden. Jodi’s a writer – you may be familiar with her book, The Colorado Gardener’s Companion, or her articles in Horticulture magazine, American Gardener, or the Denver Post.
Blogging her way through the challenges of Colorado gardening, Jodi’s celebrating her 100th post by hosting a Weird Veggie and Funny Fruit Contest, offering as grand prize a signed copy of “Wicked Plants: A Book of Botanical Atrocities,” by Amy Stewart.
All you have to do to enter is send her a digital photo of your strange veggie or fruit before September 4. For more information, check out her blog.
Gardening after five 