HARVEST time is here and gardeners across the city are proudly picking their produce. But some growers have a gargantuan goal. On the eve of the UK’s giant vegetable competition,
Environment Reporter Mary Griffin finds out how to crop a whopper.
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THIS weekend Britain’s biggest gardeners will gather for a fruit and veg extravaganza where size really does matter. Gigantic pumpkins cradled in huge nets will be carried into place by forklift trucks at the UK National Giant Vegetable Championships. And, thanks to the rainy summer, there could be some mammoth specimens and new records. Never satisfied with last year’s performance, the competing growers who have made an extreme sport out of gardening will each be hoping that this year’s crop is bigger – and better. Midlands man Peter Glazebrook is a double Guinness World Record holder. Peter, 66, who has been growing giant veg for decades, holds the record for the world’s heaviest parsnip (at 13lb or nearly 6kg) and the world’s longest beetroot (at 21-feet or 6.4 metres). He is the undisputed king of giant veg, and having won ten years in a row, this weekend he will once again be entering the UK National Giant Vegetable Championships. “The secret to success is starting with the right seed,” says Peter. “It’s learning how to grow, putting a lot of effort in and picking up tips from other growers and reading what you can about it. “People generally get into it after entering local shows with ordinary veg. “You often find classes for the heaviest marrow or the biggest runner bean in the little shows.” Because of their eventual size, Peter grows only two long-rooted beetroots each year. His parsnips are so long they have to be grown in tubes running up the side of his house. Peter has to climb a 20-foot ladder each time he wants to water them.
The retired buildings surveyor says the good soil and moderate climate provide good conditions for his garden near the Trent Valley in Nottinghamshire, where his crops don’t have to contend with temperature extremes. This, he says, is vital because if the weather is too hot, onions and leeks will stop growing and start to ripen early, and if it’s too cold, growth will slow down. “That’s what sorts out the keen growers from the normal gardeners,” he says. “It’s a case of trying to grow veg steadily right through until harvesting. You’re constantly monitoring temperature, ventilation and watering. “When they get too big in pots in the greenhouse you then have to transfer them to their growing areas. “You have to plant them under a tunnel to grow them on or home-made enclosed structures made of timber and polythene where you can take the sides off when summer arrives.” As well as needing a greenhouse, there’s a wealth of other potential expenses such as under-soil heating, costly polytunnels, heavy frames and sturdy supports. But many of the champion growers have come up with innovative home-made contraptions to allow their vegetables to grow to their optimum size.
And before you stock up on synthetic plant foods and pesticides to get your gigantic growing going, our local expert says there’s no reason giant veg can’t be grown organically. Andy Strachan, head gardener at Garden Organic in Ryton, said: “It’s absolutely possible with organic growing, it all comes down to technique. “For example, really long carrots and parsnips can be grown in tubes. It’s mainly about getting the right seed.” Some companies, such as Exhibition Seeds, sell seeds specifically designed to produce behemoth veg.
And the craze can also go in the opposite direction.
Before taking up his current post in Ryton, Andy was running the biggest micro salad nursery in the country. He still produces his own micro salads for dinner parties, germinating seedlings two weeks before the party and growing leaves to just two-inches before cutting them fresh for dinner.
He said: “I like my carrots small so I harvest them quite young. I find it negates pest and disease issues because the plants aren’t in the ground long enough to be affected.
“And by harvesting that way you can get four or five crops of carrots out of a single pot.”
Restaurants have also turned to serving mini vegetables, offering “baby” leeks, courgettes, carrots and onions. “I think that trend comes down to a combination of looks and flavour,” says Andy.
“The flavours are often more intense in younger veg.”
So, does that mean giant veg are superficially satisfying but lacking in taste?
“I really don’t think they’re the best tasting veg. The onions and the leeks are good, and giant pumpkins tend to work, but the carrots and the parsnips tend to go too woody.”
Len Parnell, secretary of Coventry Allotments and Gardens Council, agrees.
He said: “For these competitions carrots, for example, are measured by either length or weight, which I don’t really subscribe to.
“I grow them to eat and obviously the giant veg are not going to taste as good as the smaller, fresher vegetables.”
So if flavour isn’t the attraction of these monster crops, what is? Len said: “I’m sure some people are pot collectors and just want to win a cup, but most people do it for fun rather than prestige.
“It’s a good way to get kids interested and involved.”
Andy added: “I’m sure when you come away with a ‘Best In Show’ for your giant parsnip there’s a huge sense of achievement.
“It’s a very, very competitive world. This is not stuff people take lightly.
“Growing beautiful and perfect veg is something we all aspire to do and that’s a challenging thing in itself.
“But growing beautiful and perfect and giant veg – well, you can see why it draws such a lot of attention.”
* The UK National Giant
Championships takes place at the National Gardening Show, which runs from September 3-5 at The Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset.
