Extreme gardening takes root

Vegetable gardening took off this year, partly because the pandemic stoked fears of food shortages and partly due to the fact the people had a lot more time on their hands and needed a good socially-distant hobby. People proudly posted photos of their tomatoes, carrots, beans, and squash on social media. But the twee harvests of these nascent backyard horticulturalists pale in comparison to the output of a small gardening subsect that focuses on raising giant fruits and vegetables.

Growing enormous vegetables is not a new trend – I remember posing for a contest photo when I was a young girl, holding an onion that was much larger than my head. I think the onion weighed about six pounds, but that would be considered puny in today’s giant-vegetable competitions. Interest in these competitions exploded this year, as budding gardeners looked for ways to expand on their new hobby. “Our website crashed this year from the demand,” says Kevin Fortey, who lives in south Wales and serves as the unofficial spokesperson for the UK’s giant-vegetable-growing community.

2020 has been a banner year for enthusiasts, especially in the UK. Three world records were set this September: the world’s heaviest red cabbage (31.6kg), the world’s longest salsify (5.6 metres) and the world’s longest beetroot (8.6 metres). The UK’s largest ever pumpkin, which weighed a whopping 1,176.5kg, was also grown this year.

People who practice this hobby are always on the lookout for ways to support the enormous weight of their giant vegetables, which can easily cause them to fall off the plant. Using tights, which are strong and expansive, is a popular trick. There is a little irony in the fact that it’s mostly men who are using an article of women’s clothing in the garden. “It’s a macho thing, isn’t it?” says Fortey. “Who can grow the biggest vegetable?” Fortey does try to recruit female growers, often sending them seeds to get them hooked on the hobby.