What Causes Odd-Looking Vegetables?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit gardenbasics.substack.com This journey into the odd and slightly obscene world of misshapen vegetables was inspired by Sacramento County Master Gardener Peter Horton, who wrote this article for the October 2025 Sacramento Co. Master Gardener newsletter. The article made me harken back to the days of the popularity of Richard Nixon lookalike vegetables, odd-shaped tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and squash that had appendages - that to some - resembled the former President in profile. Eggplants, in particular, seem to favor this aberration, according to Facebook and Google AI: “Commenters who see Nixon in eggplants often cite specific aspects of his facial features that irregularly shaped eggplants can evoke: * Prominent nose: Nixon was known for his prominent, sometimes described as “ski slope,” nose. Certain eggplants can have a rounded, bulbous end that people interpret as a large nose. * Distinctive jowls: Nixon had sagging jowls, particularly later in his career. The shape of some eggplants, with a wider base and some lumps or folds, can be reminiscent of this feature. * Overall shape: A purplish, somewhat lumpy or distorted eggplant can vaguely suggest a human face, and for some, the specific characteristics align with the common caricature of Richard Nixon. This phenomenon is an example of pareidolia, where the human brain perceives familiar patterns, such as faces, in random or ambiguous stimuli.” At the very least, today’s newsletter has introduced you to a new word, “pareidolia”. The term, according to the National Institute of Health , originally implied the observer may be a bit touched in the head: “The term was coined by German psychiatrist Klaus Conrad in 1958 and comes from the Greek words “para” (beside or beyond) and “eidos” (form or shape). He used it to describe the initial stages of schizophrenia, though it is now understood as a normal cognitive function.” Are gardeners a bit touched in the head? If you see two baby chicks kissing in this photo, the only thing that will save you from a life of depravity and isolation is a paid subscription to the Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter! After the paywall: More deformed vegetables! A transcript of our chat with Gail Pothour, who explains more about locules, and why they happen (hint: IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT). And, she answers the question: are those appendages edible?