MARTIN Fish doesn’t think much of daft EU rules – especially ones that outlawed strange shaped vegetables.
For him there is nothing finer than a curvy courgette; the sort that made commissioners in Brussels spout.
The mandarins may have begun to see sense, but Mr Fish, the director of Harrogate’s Autumn Flower Show, isn’t taking any chances.
For this year’s event he is celebrating a cornucopia of oddities, from mammoth marrows to colossal cabbages in a new series of classes for giant vegetables to mark the 100th anniversary of the North of England Horticultural Society (NEHS).
And, he says, the bigger the better.
Yesterday Mr Fish proudly displayed some of the monsters that will be on display next month and he also announced the show will launch a new Master Gardener class, where the NEHS will be looking for the nation’s greenest fingers.
Mr Fish said: “The giant vegetables should literally add a spectacular new dimension to the harvest celebration for our visitors to enjoy, while the Master Class will give gardeners the opportunity to demonstrate their skill across a broader range of plants and produce, rather than specialising in just one or two.”
Peter Glazebrook, a regular champion at the flower show and member of the European Giant Vegetable Grower’s Association, says he welcomes the new classes for giant varieties.
“Traditionally giant vegetable growing has had a reputation for being shrouded in secrecy,” he said. “But people are becoming more willing to share their experience and even their plant seed.
“I would encourage anyone who is interested to just have a go and try it.”
Those willing to take up his challenge might benefit from a visit to the show to take away some of the guesswork. Because in the past growers have tried everything from vacuum cleaner fluff to volcanic dust in their quest to find the perfect recipe for whopping veg.
Surely one of them will have found a better way by now.
• The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show will run from September 16 to 18 at the Great Yorkshire Showground. The ticket hotline is 01423 546157 or book online at www.flowershow.org.uk
Closing date for entries to the fruit and vegetables classes is September 10.
Being biggest
HARROGATE is famously another floral town going for gold and not surprisingly, it’s also home to the north’s premier flower shows at the Great Yorkshire Showground. But at this autumn’s event, prize chrysanthemums, geraniums and roses will get a run for their money, because mammoth marrows and colossal cabbages are coming to town in a new series of classes for giant vegetables to mark the 100th anniversary of the North of England Horticultural Society (NEHS).
And organiser Martin Fish can’t wait.
He also thinks its time we started growing our own whoppers and despite the secrecy surrounding the giant vegetable growing community, Mr Fish enlisted expert advice to share.
Who knows, it might catch on, and in a few years Britain in Bloom judges could be admiring titanic turnips on the Station Rise flower beds, rather than a sea of pansies. At least they would withstand the rain more easily.
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