David Thomas from Leedstown in Cornwall said he “couldn’t be happier” after beating a 91-year-old record for the world’s heaviest red cabbage.
His 23.2kg entry at this year’s National Giant Vegetables Championships at the Malvern Autumn Show in Worcestershire smashed the previous record, set in 1925, by over 4kg.
Thomas, who has been growing vegetables competitively for more than 15 years, already holds the official world records for the heaviest cucumber (12.9kg) and the heaviest parsnip (7.85kg), according to ABC.
But his whopping veg does not just grow itself. The cabbage took “hours of work”, ABC reported he said. “There's no big secret to growing giant veg,” the grower added. “You just need the right seeds to start with, plenty of room, good soil and a bit of luck.”
Thomas’ winning entry is yet to be verified by the Guinness World Records. But the dedicated cultivar is already looking ahead to next year. 'I can't wait to get cracking on next year's crop and see what that might bring.”
Another star of the show was veteran grower Joe Atherton from Mansfield, who won in three categories, with a 6.245-metre-long carrot, a 7.9-metre beetroot and a 5.023-metre parsnip.
But it was a disappointing year for Dale Toten who only managed a third place finish in the heaviest cabbage category after a chef used part of his vegetable for a confit.
Toten, a senior gardener at a country house hotel in Somerset, said he gave the hotel’s chef an “earful” when he discovered his prized vegetable had been cut into, the BBC reported.
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