What a year 2024 was!
The summer months seemed to fly by. We had one of the most changeable summers in living memory. Then all too soon we were heading into the winter months after an autumn of harvests out in the garden.
What have you been your highlights in the garden in 2024?
In this article, we will take a look at some giant harvests and kitchen garden harvests.
We’ll also look at our trip over to the US where I spoke at Baker Creek’s Rare Seeds Exposition and a recent visit to the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society’s Autumn Fair.
Growing Giant Cucumbers
This season, we trialled a new intelligent watering system.
The cucumbers have grown incredibly well in this system using automated technology. We used a 450 litre reservoir filled with Plant Magic nutrients.
The cucumbers were that heavy that we needed to support them in slings to prevent the fruits from falling to the floor!
As we headed towards the end of the season, the powdery mildew started to show so we used an organic spray to help slow the spread.
Giant Sunflowers
Our Guinness World Record breaking Giant Sunflowers brightened up the garden and matured nicely.
Towards the latter stages of their growth, in an effort to increase the size of the blooms, we fed them with Plant Magic PK twice a week. The feeding programme worked well and the flowers were huge.
The Kitchen Garden - Keder Greenhouse
Back in The kitchen garden tomatoes, sweet peppers and chilli peppers finally started to ripen and, with a little finger crossing, they kept growing over the next few weeks in the unheated Keder Greenhouse.
The tomatoes were late this season, due to the unseasonable variations in temperatures at the start of May and lack of sunlight here in Wales.
However better late than never - they soon were ripening in abundance and always add a lovely flavour to pasta dishes or sliced in sandwiches and salads.
Runner Beans
Runner beans have grown very well in the cooler conditions.
The runner beans were set up on an automatic, battery powered, timed watering system. A 250 litre reservoir provides enough moisture for the beans for up to 2 weeks.
Below are a number of images of the beans from this season. Some are over 26 inches in length. Only a few are needed for the dinner plate so lots to share with family and friends!
The harvest of the seeds then began in earnest in early November.
In the Garden : Bees
During the summer, we picked up a few balcony containers with the aim of brightening up the summer relaxation area.
The bees have been attracted to this space. Without the bees we will have no planet, so it’s important to grow as many pollinators as possible.
Towards the end of the season is the pefect time to start to prepare the containers for next years Spring display. It’s relatively straightforward, purchase some bulb compost from your local garden centre, pick up a selection of bulbs, pansies and polyanthas and layer the bulbs for bursts of colour over the coming months.
In the Garden : Garden maintenance with STIGA
Stiga offer a wide selection of garden machinery. Garden maintenance has been made much easier with our STIGA tools. Starting with our Stiga petrol brushcutter. This machine has incredible power with reduced noise making it a winner in the garden.
Hedges enjoyed having their final haircut for the season thanks to our Stiga long reach hedge cutter from the range of 48V ePower handtools, with its excellent power and battery life, cutting through the laurel hedges with ease!
Another favourite is our STIGA battery powered ride-on mower that has continued to keep the lawns in tip top condition.
With not enough hours in the day, I’ve managed to extend them and mow in the evening with the benefit of the LED lights, it’s led to some interesting comments from the neighbours!
Giant Veg goes global : Rare Seeds Expo, Ventura, California USA
In early September, I was invited to talk at the Rare Seeds Expo, in Ventura, California.
An amazing event, full of inspirational international visitors, speakers and continuous blue sky.
From the famous gourd tower, to table after table of fresh fruits and vegetables, kids areas and lots of trade stands sharing their innovations, it was an incredible event. Below are a few images from the event.
The UK Giant Veg Championships : Malvern
Another highlight of the season was the UK Giant Vegetable Championships. This event brought together growers from all over the UK to the Three Counties Showground in Malvern. The event attracted many visitors and entries in the Giant Vegetable competition.
Two NEW Guinness World Records
This year, we managed to secure two new Guinness World Records.
Amazingly, we have achieved 11 Guinness World Records in our growing endeavours.
At the start of the season, we set out to attempt to secure the World’s Tallest Cucumber Plant and World’s Longest Aubergine.
The Cucumber plant measured 6.497m (21ft 3.8 inches) and aubergine measured 41cm (1ft 4.1 inches).
It was a challenge to get the cucumber out of the greenhouse. A number of neighbours helped to get it into the van.
The aubergine was a challenge with Chris Fowler and Dasha from Cefn Mably Farm Park. Inspiring the next generations will hopefully lead to even more gardeners of the future.
A giant radish grown by Paul Rochester secured a new UK and European record.
It weighed an amazing 20.122kg just over 44.3 pounds. Paul puts his success down to growing in his previous year’s leek beds and a dash of fairy liquid to clean the roots.
Giant Veg judging in Jersey
Recently, I was invited to Jersey to judge their horticultural competition, including a talk at the Royal Jersey Showground on Giant Veg.
The event started on a Friday when, throughout the day, exhibitors packed into the hall with their creations. When I entered in the evening, I opened the door to a sea of Autumnal, colourful harvests.
It was my first judging of such a large event, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. A number of other judges assessed the flowers, fruits, preserves and cake creations.
On the Saturday, the Lieutenant Governor of the Island, Vice Admiral Jeremy Kyd CBE and Dr Kyd, including several guests were taken on a tour around the event and all were amazed at the size of the Giant vegetables.
The Jersey cows were fascinating and many families watched the judging of the cows.
The history behind the Jersey cows was fascinating, with all milk products on the island supporting only Jersey milk production. Milk is filled into sustainable cartons, reducing the amount of plastics, which very often end up in our oceans.
From growers to the event organisers, so much effort went into the planning of this event.
One of the highlights was an amazing cake auction that generated over £800 for the Jersey Dogs Charity and over £11,000 has been raised for this charity over the past few years.
Presenting the children’s prizes was both inspiring and rewarding and seeing the future gardeners made it all worthwhile.
A real intergenerational event that showcased the amazing community on the Island as well highlighting its rich history in farming and engagement throughout the world.
What an incredible year in the Giant Veg growing community! As we enter the new growing season now is the time to reflect on last years growing successes and failures and start planning for a fruitful 2025....and maybe another Guinness World Record or two!
Thanks to Kevin @giantveg
Photos : credit to Kevin Fortey
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