October 5, 2013 - Super Veggies

[CaliforniaMama]

September 2013

Meet Peter Glazebrook, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK. He entered his onion in a veggie contest and trounced the competition with a 7 kg onion, which was bigger than his own head.

He is in his 70's and retired. His hobby is to grow veggies and he likes to grow them big. Really, really big. Then he enters them in competitions. He likes to win and likes to break world records, even if they are his own.



September 2011

With this giant potato, he has just beaten his own world record, plus he won best in show with wins in six classes — heaviest onion singlet and clutch of three onions, longest runner bean, longest parsnip and longest beetroot.



He already held the world records for the heaviest parsnip and for the longest beetroot, which root to tip was 21 ft.

“I’m retired now, which helps because I can devote more time to it. It is a year-long hobby and very rewarding.

I began producing the largest without even ever trying and started with heavy marrows and onions.

“There is no secret ingredient in what we use. The secret lies in the methods we use to grow them and how we feed them.

“There is a lot of skill in it. It doesn’t all rely on luck.”



His potatoes just keep getting bigger and heavier. He began with a 4 lb one, then 6 lb, before the 8 lb 3 oz world record, and finally this year’s whopping 11 lb.

And, he says, giant vegetables taste just as good as their tiny counterparts.

“You might not want to eat the bean, parsnip or beetroot because after three days at the show they are dried out but everything else we bring back and either eat or use for the seeds,” he said.

In September 2012, he won all six classes in the giant vegetable competition. His world record breaking onion that weighed in at 18 lbs 1 oz, beating his previous world record by almost 2 ozs.

This giant cabbage weighed 81 lbs and 6 ozs.



Fact and Photo credits:
Newark Advertiser
Produce Journal.com
BBC
Zimbio
ITV News Central