Meet the Farmers Who Broke ‘Guinness World Records’ at Giant Vegetable Contest

An annual competition for giant vegetables in Britain was conducted which resulted in 4 Guinness World records being broken: Heaviest eggplant, Heaviest marrow, Heaviest broad bean pod and Longest leek. 

Size definitely matters in this competition, where expert farmers battle it out to present their heaviest and longest vegetables. However, the growers are not just competing for the 1^st prize in their respective categories. Guinness world record titles regularly change hands at this annual event and 2021 edition was no different. 

Heaviest Eggplant: 

The girthy brinjal weighs 3.12 kg and was grown by Peter Glazebrook, from Nottinghamshire, UK. Peter also holds current records for heaviest onion, heaviest potato, longest beetroot and longest parsnip. As the most accomplished growers of Giant vegetables ever, he’s broken 17 records till date. 

Heaviest Marrow: 

The world’s heaviest marrow, weighs 116.4kg and was crowned at this year’s event. Smashing the previous record by 22.7 kg, it is equivalent in weight to a giant panda or a baby elephant. This monster marrow was grown by Vincent Sjodin, from Barry Island, South Wales. He attributes its superlative size to fish heads & guts in his compost, in addition to liquid seaweed & “plenty of love & care”. 

Longest Leek:  

Known as the king of long veggies, Joe Atherton broke the record of the world’s longest leek. Joe’s Leek measured to be astonishing 1.36m. The record was previously held by Peter, who grew leek measuring 1.22m (4ft) in 2020. 

Heaviest Broad Bean:  

Weighing 106g, this is the world’s heaviest broad bean pod (also known as Faba bean). It was grown by Joe Atherton, who is more than just a broad bean breeder. The man from Mansfield has broken 16 Guinness World record titles to date.