Posted on 03/01/2021 6:01:03 AM PST by mylife
FOR PETER GLAZEBROOK, THERE WAS one bright spot to 2020. A leek he entered into last year’s Mansfield Grow Show, which judges declared to be a monstrous four feet long, won him a new world record. “That makes 16 world records I’ve held over the years,” Glazebrook wrote to me recently, via email. “However, it’s a competitive hobby, so I currently only hold three.” Today, he is the proud grower of the world’s heaviest cauliflower (60 pounds), potato (10 pounds), and, as of 2020, the longest leek.
Glazebrook, a lithe, 76-year-old former building surveyor from Nottinghamshire, England, is one of the most decorated competitors in the world when it comes to the uniquely British sport of growing giant vegetables. For years, he has dominated a competition that’s grown from a Welsh bar bet into a massive online community of giant vegetable enthusiasts with participants on every continent. “It’s expanded beyond all recognition,” says Kevin Fortey, the unofficial spokesperson for the ‘giant veg’ community. But if 30-foot-long beets, 10-pound tomatoes, or one-ton pumpkins sound like a waste of food and time, government researchers around the world are now taking a serious look at leviathan produce.
(Excerpt) Read more at atlasobscura.com ...
Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum!
http://www.howarddill.com/
I get a lot of seed catalogs, and some of the giant vegetables are ridiculous. 1500 pound pumpkins, 800 pound watermelons, 30 pound onions...
♪♫ In Beeding-on-Wold a sight to behold
Is Benjamins overgrown onion plant
It’s taken him years and gallons of tears
Producing an onion so grand
Some men sail across the ocean in a tug
Risk life and limb for no one
Some men bounce around in spacesuits on the moon
But Ben grows onions instead
Come rain or come shine he spends all his time
And energy nursing his pride and joy
The lady next door can’t stand any more
It’s driving her out of the neighbourhood
Now Ben’s life is ruled by onions (What a shame!)
His clothes they reek of fertiliser
All his family are leaving (Fancy that!)
But Ben is blind to it all
Take care my friends the onion doesn’t get you in the end
Take heed from Ben onions sent him right round the bend
Take care my friends the onion doesn’t get you in the end
(Be very very careful)
Take heed from Ben onions sent him right round the bend
Benjamins’ days are happy they say
His onions grow down on the funny farm Come rain or come shine he spends all his time
And energy nursing his pride and joy
Now he’s lost in conversation with his friends
All alone in the greenhouse
And Doctors say “Quite frankly he’s insane!”
Just then the onions arose ...
Eccentric, yes, but he grew some pretty darned big pumpkins.
Brits are an odd bunch, but we do it to LoL
Amazing what people do for fun and sport.
His first 6 movies were the best!
I grew up in a farming community where Watermelons were the biggest cash crop...
Every year at the local Watermelon Festival, a largest watermelon contest was held, some farmers did devote a ton of time in cultivating the largest watermelon...
‘Leviathan produce’ ... how very accurate!
Apparently pics from the source are verboten so go to the link for pics.
I think its funny that this entire thing sprouted from a bet in some pub in Wales.
I have won a few bucks betting I could make an Electric Pickle.
Do this outside or the entire bar will smell funky..
Now Gov. Cuomo has something to talk about with his young female employees. “What did you think about that giant cucumber?”
Also see related article (Same website):
Jefferson's Farm at Monticello - The first Seed Vault
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/farming-gardens-at-monticello
Giant veggies made me think of the movie, "Night of the Lepus."
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