While many of us are happy to grab our fruits and veggies from the local supermarket, there’s been an increasing trend over the past few years of people heading out into their garden, allotment, or even just to their window sills, and growing their own produce.
The benefits of doing this are pretty obvious. You spend more time in the fresh air, you get some all-important exercise, it’s relaxing, it’s good for your mental health, and then of course you get to use only the very freshest ingredients in your cooking. Granted, it’s not quite as quick as popping to the shops, but you get an enormous sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
However, forget all that, because we’re not here to talk about your average vegetable plot - this is all about the wacky world of giant vegetable growing. This infographic from Sun Leisure digs a little deeper into this most obsessive form of growing your own, dishing out a whole host of handy tips and tricks for some of the most commonly grown veggies, including pumpkins, cabbages, leeks, and many more. It shows what time of the year you should plant them and what pests to look out, as well as advice on the kind of seeds you should be using, how much to water, what type of fertilizer to use, and even information about the slightly odd process of hand pollination.
Of course, there’s also some some fun to be had with some of the world record breaking veggies and just how big or heavy they can get. For example, the world’s heaviest pumpkin would make a polar bear look on the skinny side, while a giraffe would look up to the world’s longest parsnip.
Take a look through the graphic and you could start to grow your own giant veggies, but be warned, it’s a pretty full-time commitment, and by all accounts, giant veggies don’t taste that great either.
Chris Thomson is a freelance writer with an interest in all things healthy, from vegetable growing to yoga and everything in between. You can often find him at the end of the garden tending to his prized rhubarb.
