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A Guernsey grower will be presenting his giant veg at this year’s Harrogate Autumn Flower Show.
Gareth Griffin is a world record breaking grower who said a fascination with giant veg runs in the family.
“There is no secret ingredient to success. It’s a matter of choosing the right seeds, giving them good soil and light and looking after them,” he said.
“Achieving the world record last year was the culmination of more than 30 years of trying and is no guarantee of future success.
“I was lucky that multi record-breaking Peter Glazebrook shared some onion seeds with me helping to set me on the path to success. You never really know how big your produce is going to be until the week of the show owing to factors such as pests and splitting so it is a tense time.
“The giant vegetable growing community is highly competitive, but it is a friendly rivalry and that is a big part of the appeal for me. My fellow enthusiasts were the first to congratulate me on breaking the world record and there is a real camaraderie, with growers sharing their seeds, tips and ideas.”
His recent record breaking vegetable was an onion [pictured top] which weighed 8.9kg. This year he is taking a super sized cabbage and tomatoe to the show.
He said the wet weather this year has put a stop to his attempts to grow another large onion.
He’ll be presenting his giant veg during Harrogate’s show on 13 – 15 September.
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