Inside the Gently Competitive World of Giant Vegetable Growing

atlas obscura ^ | 2/24/2021

[ETL]

[real saxophonist]

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum!

[littleharbour]

The Canadian pumpkin master: the late great Howard Dill of Windsor, Nova Scotia http://www.howarddill.com/

[real saxophonist]

I once grew a zuccini that was about 2 1/2 feet long and weighed about 10 pounds.

I get a lot of seed catalogs, and some of the giant vegetables are ridiculous. 1500 pound pumpkins, 800 pound watermelons, 30 pound onions...

[mylife]

♪♫ 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 ...

[mylife]

"That's a Lot of Potato's!!"

[Joe 6-pack]

A long time ago I dated a gal whose father was an obsessive pumpkin grower. The Adams County Fair was his Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby and Indy 500 rolled into one. An inordinate amount of his life was spent each year, gently turning and nurturing his pumpkins, identifying which ones were going to get the biggest, and talking to them like champion race horses.

Eccentric, yes, but he grew some pretty darned big pumpkins.

[mylife]

Brits are an odd bunch, but we do it to LoL

[mylife]

Amazing what people do for fun and sport.

[W.]

His first 6 movies were the best!

[srmanuel]

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...

[MHGinTN]

‘Leviathan produce’ ... how very accurate!

[mylife]

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..

[Old Yeller]

Now Gov. Cuomo has something to talk about with his young female employees. “What did you think about that giant cucumber?”

[mylife]

[mylife]

Benjamins Giant Onion

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Ping

Also see related article (Same website):

Jefferson's Farm at Monticello - The first Seed Vault
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/farming-gardens-at-monticello

[PghBaldy]

Giant veggies made me think of the movie, "Night of the Lepus."