Weird Universe introduces us to gardening enthusiast and toy designer Richard Tweddell III of Cincinnati, Ohio who, in 1987, patented a method to grow squask, cucumbers, and other fruit in the shape of faces and other objects.
“A clear two-piece plastic mold, VegiForms are secured over a vigorously growing fruit or vegetable while it is still on the vine,” explains the company’s archived website. “In about a week, the vegetable grows to fill the mold, permanently taking the shape of the mold.”
The molds were “available in five basic shapes: the Garden Elf, the Pickle Pusses, and Ear of Corn; and, for the gourmet gardener, the Heart and Diamond, which yield heart and diamond shaped slices when cut.”
While VegiForms were featured in People magazine and on television, it never really took off. Tweddell, who later worked as an engineer at Procter & Gamble, died in 2018 at the age of 66.
