We spent Saturday enjoying beautiful sunshine at the 20th Malvern Autumn Show. The Harvest Pavilion was full of stunning flowers and the most amazing vegetables that have been lovingly grown by gardeners who certainly know what they’re doing in the garden. It’s an inspirational show, ideal for the professionals and the amateurs and for those who are just starting out. You can’t help but be impressed and wonder what delicious recipes you could come up with using the colourful veg on display.
Then there are the giant vegetables. These are impressive specimens that would often require a mini crane to lift. There are also some amazing facts that the team at the Malvern Autumn Show put together and we thought we’d share a few with you.
- The world’s largest cauliflower was grown by Peter Glazebrook, a regular at the Malvern Autumn Show. His cauliflower was 6ft wide and weighed an outstanding 60lb.
- The longest carrot in the world was grown by Joe Atherton, it was 5.83 meters long. Joe is trying to beat his record.
- Some vegetables are easier to grow in giant sizes than others. If you want to give it a go we recommend starting with the Atlantic Giant Pumpkin, Mammoth Zeppelin Cucumber or the Old Colossus Tomato.
- Growing giant vegetables requires some specialist kits, including uniquely designed greenhouses, polytunnels, irrigations systems, infrared cameras and temperature control.
- Growers of giant vegetables are very protective over their techniques and secrets. If you want to try your hand at nurturing giant veg you’re pretty much going to have to go by your own trial and error.
- In 2014, two Guinness World Records were smashed at the Malvern Autumn Show; a giant cabbage weighing more than 130lb and a pumpkin weighting 1,200lb. Both of these giant veg were grown by David Thomas.
We’re looking forward to an autumn full of foods gathered in the harvest and plenty of pasture fed Hereford Beef. Visit us on Facebook and tell us your favourite beef recipes that use seasonal vegetables.