Every summer the Farmers & Consumers Market Bulletin
brims with photos
of someone’s overgrown produce. County fairs award blue
ribbons for the largest and
heaviest vegetable in the show.

Monster
prizes

Then there’s the big league. The real prize-winning,
take-home-the-cash, scale-busting
contests. Take Robert Ehigh of St. Clairsville, Ohio, for
example. In 1994, he won $10,000
from Miracle Gro for growing a 4-pound, 6.5-ounce
tomato.

That same year, Herman Bax of Brockville, Ontario, got
almost $15,000 for his 990-pound
pumpkin. The Dill’s Atlantic Giant variety averaged
gaining 31 pounds per day. It topped
the record of 884 pounds set in 1993.

Growing record
produce

GROWING WHOPPER VEGGIES takes patience and a lot of TLC. Jessica Milligan, a White County 4-H’er grew this 140-pound pumpkin whopper for a Georgia 4-H contest.

So how does anyone grow such gargantuan produce? Most
of the ones in the local paper
happen through unusual circumstances. However, they can be
planned, with the right
nurturing and attention.

This type of gardening has become the rage in some
areas. Big leaguers can attend
competitions such as the United Kingdom Giant Vegetable
Food and Flower Championships in
Weston, Lincolnshire. It’s like setting new standards in
the pole vault. Records are made
to be broken.

So who can compete in this sport (or art) of giant
vegetable production? The late
Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame was one such competitor.
But everyday folks can compete
for fun, ribbons, cash and, yes, even personal
satisfaction in growing prodigious produce.

Secrets for
success

Each crop has special secrets to success.

Carrots

For instance, to break the carrot record of more than
158 inches, you might try this
recipe. Start with a deeply turned raised bed. Build a box
up to 9 feet high on top of the
bed.

Fill the box with five parts soil, one part leaf mold
and one part coarse sand, plus
superphosphate and sulfate of potash. Actually, this
mixture should sit over the winter.

In early spring, add 4 ounces of calcified seaweed per
square yard. Make holes 3 feet
deep and 4 inches in diameter and fill with potting soil.
Soak seeds, and plant them 1
inch deep, three or four to each hole.

When the plants are 2 inches high, thin to the single
strongest plant. Feed, water and
protect this plant from pests.

Some growers use special secrets in this phase. One was
known to crush birth control
pills and add them to the water, hoping the estrogen would
make the vegetables drink more
water.

Pumpkins

For pumpkins, prepare a sunny site. Till in 5 gallons
of composted manure, 1 pound of
10-10-10 and 1 pound of lime in a 1.5-cubic-foot hole.
Leave at least 20 feet between
hills, and plant two seeds per hill.

Water to a depth of 2 inches. Feed each vine weekly
with 5 gallons of liquid fertilizer
solution. Water as needed. Keep the foliage dry.

After the vines set several pumpkins, remove all but
two from each. That will allow the
plant to devote its resources to the size, not the number,
of pumpkins.

Wide load
guidelines

Follow some general guidelines in producing these wide
loads. Select seed of varieties
bred for size, and give special attention to each plant.
These specimens require daily
care. Supply extra space, fertilizer and water. And space
them wide enough to prevent
competition between plants.

Hand pollination or extra bees may be needed.
Obviously, the crop must be protected
from insects and diseases and have a weed-free
environment.

All your care can go for naught even under the best
conditions. Then again, you may
take home the ribbon from the county fair.

What about eating them? Oh, shudder at the thought.
Some consider these large produce
quite good. Others think they’re only for looks. But you
might as well try it.