The entries are in, and we're delighted to present the wonderfully weird submissions to our latest competition! Thank you to everyone who shared their quirky harvests – we hope you enjoy browsing this collection of garden oddballs as much as we have.
A huge congratulations to Anne from VIC, who has won this competition with her "He went thataway!" carrot.
Stay tuned for more exciting competitions and opportunities to share your gardening journey with our community! Happy gardening!
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Farmer Kel (VIC)
Farmer Kel said: Pinocchio eggplant, long purple variety from seed.
The shape did not matter as I grow my eggplants predominantly to make Baba Ganoush. But this one was photographed and sent to family & friends for fun :-).
Native Lover (SA)
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Native Lover said: My garden is flowering a little out of season.
I was very surprised with this cosmos flower, the plant had self seeded.
Alas, it didn’t produce any seeds.
Anne (VIC)
This month's winner!
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Anne said: He went thataway!
From Chantenay Red which had gone to seed and spread throughout all the beds in the vegie patch. It was great! Non-stop carrots and they helped to aerate the soil.
This guy ended up with friends to make a delicious spicy carrot and pumpkin coconut soup.
Ayme Limmer (VIC)
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Ayme Limmer said: Our hefty black beauty. Kid for scale! Using the seed collections 2025 black beauty zucchini seeds to grow a huge corp including this one we kept going until it decided it was time for show and tell. It’s still sitting in our kitchen 2 months later, a decorative piece as it’s a bit tough on the knife!
Teigen (QLD)
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Teigen said: My wonky Genovese Zucchinni harvested 20th of June I have mine growing in Kmart flexi tubs with holes drilled in the bottom…this beauty got chopped up and added to the slow cooker with other veg to make “Mexican chicken” so have on wraps for dinner
Carla (VIC)
Carla said: Snake beans really are snakey in length! Grown from red dragon snake beans. Saved plenty of seeds for next season and looking forward to making some spicy bean curries with an even bigger harvest this Summer.
Carla said: Home grown zucchini bommy-knocker. Black beauty zucchinis grown from seed.
Carla said: Giant sunflower smiles. Can't remember the variety, but grown from seed. Birds had a ball eating these!
Pottage Cottage (WA)
Pottage Cottage said: True love can’t stay buried forever!
I was growing a row of baby carrots and this little gem emerged from the soil. I took it to our local Saturday morning produce swap and a local cafe owner fell in love with it and set it up on her cafe counter in a glass of water.
Marina (TAS)
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Marina said: "The tomatoes were grown from seed and if they tell you any different you will know they are lying….their little Pinocchio noses are growing!!"
Marina said: The beans were given an unexpected “dressing” by the grand daughter….
All eaten…and delicious!
Emma (SA)
Emma said: Romanesco broccoli tips from a plant that traveled with me in tubs that have helped me garden in rental property/properties. I had forgotten the exact nature of the brassica amidst movement and change and was so excited to see the fractal/spiral crowns.
Mick (QLD)
Mick said: Look, I'm not a tomato from our garden....
I'm a Snuffle-up-agus tomato.
Wasn't happy being an ordinary tomato.
Grown from seed, heirloom variety, through winter in Toowoomba region.
Ann (NSW)
Ann said: This is what happens when you’re running a little late with your harvest! The zucchini and sweet potatoes were still delicious and kept our neighbours well fed, we made giant stuffed zucchini boats, sweet potato chips and a LOT of mash.
Antonia (NSW)
Antonia said: The 'I have a great personality' purple sweet potato - This sweet potato was grown from a sweet potato slip and it was my first time growing this variety. We used the sweet potatoes as beautiful sides in the oven roasted. Fun fact about these vines- I removed them when harvesting and put the vines in my compost corner... and now they have rooted there and are growing in there in the middle of winter in Sydney....
Ginger Ninja Nat (NSW)
Ginger Ninja Nat said: Carrot on the move.
Grown by seed. Enjoyed in a Slaw.
Katrina (VIC)
Katrina said: First homegrown sweet potatoe duck!
First time growing sweet potatoe, Grown from a slip.
Susan (SA)
Susan said: Radish. It’s a boy!
Karen (VIC)
Karen said: The front and back of my recently harvested Nantes Carrot.
Almost an Octopus carrot
Think I may have forgotten to thin them out :-)
Gourdous Marsharl (VIC)
Gourdous Marsharl said: Alien lemon grown in Melbourne. This big beauty was cut up, made into a piece of botanic art, then squeezed and made into a delicious margarita.
DH (SA)
DH said: All grown from seed from The Seed Collection of course!
Aasta (VIC)
Aasta said: Painted by Nature. Approved by Bees.” Peppermint Zinnia grown from seed, enjoyed by all.
Kellee (SA)
Kellee said: This cute fella is from a grafted lemon/lime tree that was already established when I moved here. Used in a hot lemon drink on a cold winter's day.
Cyndie (NSW)
Cyndie said: Root Cause: Too Much Personality
This home-grown purple carrot skipped the straight and narrow and opted for a full pretzel impression. Proof that not all garden produce reads the rulebook.
Cyndie said: From Courgette to Marrow in Record Time
Every gardener has done it: blink and suddenly your courgette has become a monster. This one outgrew my 9-year-old’s arm and became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the vegetable patch.
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Cyndie said: The 400g Vitamin C Megapack
This homegrown orange tipped the scales at 400g and looked more like a small melon than a citrus fruit. Sweet, juicy, and worth the wait.
Graeme (VIC)
Graeme said: "Pumpkin from self sown seedling"
Granny’s Garden (QLD)
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Granny’s Garden said: Grown in a pot, from planting the bottom cut off part of a store bought spring onion. And no I haven’t fed it steroids, even though it looks like it . Used it in my Asian salad to have with dinner.
Mick & Natalie's Garden Harvest (VIC)
Mick & Natalie's Garden Harvest said: We grew this seedless cucumber from seed in our backyard and in return got this three finger cucumber. We used this unique shaped cucumber in a refreshing summer salad. Favour and texture wise it tasted just as good as a normal cucumber.
Joey (SA)
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Joey said: I was growing cherry tomatoes by seeds. It was just volunteer seedlings by bird that dropped the seeds around the garden and one of them grew to be a devil tomato! I used it for cooking a beef stew.
Joey said: These were dutch carrots grown by seeds. I used it for baked honey Carrots
Tineke (SA)
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Tineke said: All grown from seed. Did use all the cuchinni in soups and stews.
Merilyn Whittaker (QLD)
Merilyn said: My neighbour gave me 7 tomato plants. I cannot believe how they have grown. I say,I cannot grow tomatoes, but these are unbelievable. I did not prepare soil I did not stake them properly, and tall enough and they come in large heavy bunches, thus breaking off limbs. I have not fertilised, hardly watered and planted them in a garden of campanula ground cover. I only normally grow flowers. No damage of insects only a little white mildew. Grown from old wild dying plant seed in my neighbours garden. Waiting for them to ripen.
Wilhelmina Duncombe (QLD)
Wilhelmina said: Nasturtium gleam scarlet was grown by seed in a seed raising mixture.
They have just started flowering.
I am planning to grow them in a hanging basket in full sun.
veggiemaniac (NSW)
veggiemaniac said: I always thought I had a green heart, but today's cooking preps revealed a soul mate.
This winter we are lucky that our capsicum keep bearing, we grow them from seed which I have just planted for the next crop and keep warm on the kitchen window sill. So the old plants will soon have to go...
