Entering the land of the giants

Last weekend was the Malvern Autumn Show which i mentioned in my last post one of the competitions that takes place is The National Giant Vegetable Championships.

457kg Pumpkin grown by David Thomas

The show takes place in the Wye hall at the top end of the show ground where the Floral displays are held. I am always amazed by the shear size some of these vegetables can grow too it is like Entering The Land Of The Giants. Where the Pumpkins are big enough for cinders to use as a carriage and cucumbers so big they would make a Nun blush. Now i was inspired to have a go at growing some giants after visiting the show last year and  although what i grew did well they where no where near big enough. To have a chance of competing with the big boys at Malvern but i must admit after visiting Malvern this year my Pot Leeks would not have  embarrassed me. So with a bit more effort next year should see me placing some monsters on the bench although i am going to hold off booking the folklift and artic lorry until nearer the time.

New world record long beetroot and long parsnip

This year was another good year for new records it is amazing that these growers still keep on managing to grow them bigger and bigger every year. This year saw two world records and one British record where smashed. David Thomas managed to grow the UK's biggest cabbage a whopping 56.4kg. Which is big enough to keep a small town in cabbage for there Sunday lunch.

David Thomas 56.4kg cabbage

But the highlight had to be the two world records Joe Atherton managed to grow a beetroot 667.30cm long and he also managed to grow a whopping 628.10cm long parsnip. 

Heaviest 3 onions 20.20kg grown by Peter Glazebrook
All the results of this years Giant Veg Championships are available on Giantveg.co.uk website. This is also a good site to get all your growing information and also where to get your giant seeds from.

There where many entry's in the Tomato class

Leek 6.2kg by J Dirden

You will need a lot of stuffing to fill one of these marrows