Record breaking giant vegetables coming to Peterborough

From super-sized spuds and swedes to massive marrows and colossal cucumbers – giant vegetables of all shapes and sizes are coming to Peterborough!

Growers from all over the country, including as far away as Hull and Cardiff, will be showcasing their heavy weight produce at the East Of England Showground’s Autumn Show next month.

Now in its third year, the Giant Vegetable Competition is one of the many popular attractions within the show, which is being held on Sunday 9 October.

Someone who certainly knows his onions, and many other root vegetables besides, is Northamptonshire giant vegetable grower Clive Bevan – whose skills have taken him around the world to advise growers in countries like China and Malaysia.

Competition organiser and committee member of the East of England Agricultural Society, Clive will be overseeing the weigh-in of the vegetables on the day.

He said: “We are expecting to increase our entries on last year, and have already secured growers of the recently-grown world record breaking swede (85.62lbs) and onion (18lbs) to bring them along to the show.

“It’s not a beauty contest! The vegetables don’t have to look pretty – it is all about the weight. The competition is a really popular feature of the show, particularly as more and more people are growing their own food in their gardens and allotments.

“Growers use all kind of secrets and tips – like putting weights on beans to make them grow longer – in order to try and out do each other,” said Clive – who uses his wife’s old tights as support for growing cucumbers.

However, all the veg will be scrutinised for battle for the best and heaviest commences!

The Autumn show runs from 10am until 4pm on October 9 – tickets information is available on-line at autumnshow.co.uk.