To make nature's wonders just that little bit more wonderful, man's helping hand may be required. For example, Gao Xianzhang of Hexia, northern China, has spent six years developing bizarre baby-shaped pears, carefully crafting each one inside an individual mould as it grows...
...Locals snap them up, despite the hefty £5 price tag. Now Gao is planning to export the pear-babies to the UK and the rest of Europe
Watermelons seem to be a popular choice for novelty adaptation, Japan is home to the square watermelon...
...watermelon hearts...
...and even watermelon faces
Stickers placed on apples as they ripened created these Apple Mac apples. They were made by an apple-grower, and major Mac fan, in Fuji, Japan
Cucumbers grown in moulds, shaped like hearts and stars, add a little extra sparkle and love to an ordinary salad
Often though, mother nature will do her own experimenting on her healthy snacks. These bizarre creations all brought a smile to our faces...
...not least this little fellow with a smile of his own
A duck-shaped cucumber found in Skegness, Lincolnshire
A snake-shaped marrow found in Montreal, Canada
A tomato with a phallus-shaped growth, which was grown by George Findlay of Essex
A devilish tomato with horns, grown by a Bury pensioner, in Lancashire
Farmer Ernie Crouch (73) from Tasmania, Australia, with his potato man Tassie Tater
A cuddling carrot found in a Plymouth garden
A potato shaped like Sooty the bear, found by Michael Audus in Cambridge. Mr Audus decided not to eat it
A sweet potato that bares a resemblance to a rat
A heart-shaped potato, found in a sack of potatoes, in Wales
A heart shaped potato found in a sack of potatoes, discovered by staff at K's cafe in Wales
A rabbit-shaped ginger root
Tomato shaped like a rabbit, grown by David and Audrey Maber in Gosport, Hampshire
Then there's those vegetables that could feed an army. Farmer Simon Goldsworthy, 23, from Hayle in Cornwall, produced the largest pumpkin at the annual Bath and West Gardening Show - at 304kg...
...Amateur horticulturalist Ian Neale, 66, shattered the world record with a pair of super-sized swedes, each weighing 37kg. The previous record was 34kg
...Other scale-busting produce on show included carrots, beetroot and cabbages. Stacey Humphries poses between two huge cabbages
...A young boy with a giant cucumber, grown in Petah Tikva, Israel
And, of course, the ones from the opposite end of the spectrum. Here are some miniature versions of Parisienne carrots, placed next to ordinary-sized carrots
But mother nature doesn't just experiment with shape and size, sometimes a fruit's colour or veg's pigmentation is the root of its weirdness, like these red bananas - a rare breed from Colombia
The Purple Jewel sweet potato, which has an overwhelming creamy and nutty taste, are grown in volcanic ash in Hawaii
Purple betasweet carrots, farmed as Islehah by Tomsett Burgess growers
Some people believe that a creator is present in all things, well this aubergine might agree. A Hindu symbol was discovered within it. The symbol, AUM, is the most sacred sound in the Hindu religion and is considered the root of the universe and everything that exists
To make nature's wonders just that little bit more wonderful, man's helping hand may be required. For example, Gao Xianzhang of Hexia, northern China, has spent six years developing bizarre baby-shaped pears, carefully crafting each one inside an individual mould as it grows...
...Locals snap them up, despite the hefty £5 price tag. Now Gao is planning to export the pear-babies to the UK and the rest of Europe
Watermelons seem to be a popular choice for novelty adaptation, Japan is home to the square watermelon...
...watermelon hearts...
...and even watermelon faces
Stickers placed on apples as they ripened created these Apple Mac apples. They were made by an apple-grower, and major Mac fan, in Fuji, Japan
Cucumbers grown in moulds, shaped like hearts and stars, add a little extra sparkle and love to an ordinary salad
Often though, mother nature will do her own experimenting on her healthy snacks. These bizarre creations all brought a smile to our faces...
...not least this little fellow with a smile of his own
A duck-shaped cucumber found in Skegness, Lincolnshire
A snake-shaped marrow found in Montreal, Canada
A tomato with a phallus-shaped growth, which was grown by George Findlay of Essex
A devilish tomato with horns, grown by a Bury pensioner, in Lancashire
Farmer Ernie Crouch (73) from Tasmania, Australia, with his potato man Tassie Tater
A cuddling carrot found in a Plymouth garden
A potato shaped like Sooty the bear, found by Michael Audus in Cambridge. Mr Audus decided not to eat it
A sweet potato that bares a resemblance to a rat
A heart-shaped potato, found in a sack of potatoes, in Wales
A heart shaped potato found in a sack of potatoes, discovered by staff at K's cafe in Wales
A rabbit-shaped ginger root
Tomato shaped like a rabbit, grown by David and Audrey Maber in Gosport, Hampshire
Then there's those vegetables that could feed an army. Farmer Simon Goldsworthy, 23, from Hayle in Cornwall, produced the largest pumpkin at the annual Bath and West Gardening Show - at 304kg...
...Amateur horticulturalist Ian Neale, 66, shattered the world record with a pair of super-sized swedes, each weighing 37kg. The previous record was 34kg
...Other scale-busting produce on show included carrots, beetroot and cabbages. Stacey Humphries poses between two huge cabbages
...A young boy with a giant cucumber, grown in Petah Tikva, Israel
And, of course, the ones from the opposite end of the spectrum. Here are some miniature versions of Parisienne carrots, placed next to ordinary-sized carrots
But mother nature doesn't just experiment with shape and size, sometimes a fruit's colour or veg's pigmentation is the root of its weirdness, like these red bananas - a rare breed from Colombia
The Purple Jewel sweet potato, which has an overwhelming creamy and nutty taste, are grown in volcanic ash in Hawaii
Purple betasweet carrots, farmed as Islehah by Tomsett Burgess growers
Some people believe that a creator is present in all things, well this aubergine might agree. A Hindu symbol was discovered within it. The symbol, AUM, is the most sacred sound in the Hindu religion and is considered the root of the universe and everything that exists
