One of the really neat things about growing hydroponically is the extremely high percentage of perfect produce that you get.  In our case, we've found that over 95% of our tomatoes are graded as #1 quality by USDA standards.  This means a higher percentage of our produce brings a premium price when sold at markets and farm stands. 

 

We have very few #2's and even fewer oddball tomatoes.  Number 2 tomatoes are the ones that aren't quite perfect while oddballs are something else.  You see, a tomato blossom has multiple compartments that all have to be pollinated in the correct order in order for it to develop into a perfectly round tomato.  If some compartments get skipped or if they get pollinated out of order, you get a tomato with an oddball shape.  Some of them have missing or open seed sections, and some have really strange shapes.  Regardless of their shape, they taste fine...they just look weird. 

 

After you've raised a few thousand tomatoes, you're bound to come up with a few oddballs.  The #2's quickly become salsa and spaghetti sauce but what do you do with the "oddballs"?

 

Some people would just throw them away but, if you're like us, you grab a magic marker and celebrate the different shapes of the oddball 'maters! 

 

Click on the slideshow button below to see some of our favorites...