Tuesday, September 13, 2011

  Heaviest swede: Ian Neale set world record

 NEWPORT, UK -- Green-fingered gardener Ian Neale, 68, from Newport, South Wales, has grown an 85.62lb (38.92kg) swede – just over six stone – setting the world record for the Heaviest swede, according to World Record Academy (www.worldrecordacademy.com).

  Photo: Ian Neale struggles to lift the World's Heaviest Swede. ( enlarge photo )

  The Guinness world record for the heaviest swede weighed 37.6 kg (82 lb 14 oz) and was presented by Scott Robb (USA) at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, Alaska, USA.

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the largest tomato plant - it covers an area of 56.73 m² (610.63 ft²) at the Epcot Science project at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA .

  He said: "You have got to put a lot into it, you've got to let it take over your life. If you are not going to try to win, then don't do it."

   The swede is also known as yellow turnip, Swedish turnip and Russian turnip and, in America, rutabaga.

  The keen gardener, whose passion for giant vegetables started with a bet between friends over who could grow the biggest onion 30 years ago, grows everything from giant melons and tomatoes to carrots and parsnips.

  He spends up to 70 hours week perfecting his crop during the peak of the gardening season and will wind down the season at two shows in Malvern and Peterborough this month., The South Wales reports.

  Mr Neale will now take clippings and seeds from the vegetables ready for next year's crop and feed the rest to livestock on a local farm.

Related world records:   
Largest Fungus: Tropical Chinese fungus

First all-black petunia: Black Velvet

Largest maple leaf: Eve Steel

Largest puffball: Finley O'Neill

Largest Pumpkin: Chris Stevens

Longest cucumber: Clare Pearce

Smallest Waterlily: Nymphaea thermarum

Most diverse repository of crop seeds: Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Biggest Mango: Sergio and Maria Socorro Bodiongan

Oldest Living Palmer's Oak: Jurupa Oak

Tallest Zinnia: Everett Wallace Jr.  and Melody Wagner

Tallest living Christmas tree: Coeur d'Alene

Smallest orchid: Lou Jost

Largest maple leaf: Hailey Nickolson

Most tomatoes grown on a single truss: Graham Tranter

Tallest rose bush: Robert Bendel

Largest pumpkin: Christy Harp

Heaviest gooseberry: Bryan Nellist

Tallest Cactus: SDM College of Dental Sciences

Largest rutabaga: Scott Robb

Largest cabbage: Steve Hubacek 

Longest Cucumber: Yitzhak Yazdanpana

Largest organic cucumber: Segee family

Largest potato: Khalil Semhat

Largest rutabaga: Norm Craven

Most cobs on a maize plant: Mark Wozencroft

Longest cucumber - Alf Cobb

Largest marrow: Ken Dade

Longest Spaghetti Bean: Toni Velardo

Longest water spinach: Li Hui

Largest horizontal wall of flowers: Thompson and Morgan

Tuesday, September 13, 2011