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LETTUCE CELEBRATE 10 FUN FACTS ABOUT GIANT VEG

The Malvern Autumn Show returns this September to celebrate the great British Harvest Festival with a feast of family entertainment, artisan produce, and food and gardening royalty.

The CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship returns to headline the Harvest Pavilion. Back, bigger and better than ever before, 2016 saw four World Records smashed and two new UK records with more expected for 2017.

  1. Every year the UK National Giant Vegetables Championship is held at the Malvern Autumn Show, 2017 introduces two brand new categories; the Heaviest Chilli and the Longest Chilli.
  2. The World Record for the Heaviest Red Cabbage was set by Cornishman, David Thomas last year, beating a 90 year record. The colossal cabbage weighed the same as the average 7 year old child. The World’s Longest Beetroot was set by Malvern Autumn Show regular Joe Atherton in 2016. The beetroot measured 7.21metres, which is longer than the average Great White Shark.
  3. Snoop Dog, the infamous American rapper, once scooped up some growing advice from Malvern Autumn Shows’ very own record breaking veg grower, Ian Neale. Snoop congratulated Ian on his supersized Swede, giving him VIP tickets to his tour.
  4. The world’s largest White Truffle, a 1.5kg beast, sold for £160,000 at Sotheby’s New York in 2014.
  5. A humongous fungus in Oregon is the world’s biggest living organism. The monster mushroom, popularly known as the honey fungus, can be found in The Blue Mountains in Oregan. The giant fungus stretches 3.5 miles, covering an area as big as 1,665 football fields.
  6. The world’s largest Marrow weighed in at over 14st, which is equivalent to the weight of a baby rhinoceros.
  7. In the 1980’s the National Giant Vegetables Championship had to move to a new venue because the pumpkins were getting too big to fit through the door. The current record was set in 2014 by a German gardener and weighs just over one tonne.
  8. Most giant vegetables are grown for bragging rights alone and are not usually eaten. Many growers donate their voluminous veg as feed for livestock.
  9. In 2012 vegetable grower star and Malvern Autumn Show stalwart, Peter Glazebrook grew an oversized onion, weighing in at an eye watering 8.16kg world record, the equivalent of a Canada Goose.
  10. The process of growing giant vegetables involves effectively growing the produce to breaking or bursting point, before carefully transporting it to be weighed or measured by the official Giant Vegetable adjudicators.

A mountain of monster veg can be seen at the Malvern Autumn Show, which takes place on Saturday 23rd September and Sunday 24th September at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern. Tickets are now on sale. Advanced tickets are priced at £16 for adults and £5 for children. Tickets are available on the gate at £20 for adults and £7 for children. Family and group tickets are available. For information please visit www.malvernautumn.co.uk or call 01684 584924.

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