Meet Peter Glazebrook, Man Who Holds World Record For Growing Biggest Vegetables

In the world of competitive vegetable growing, Peter Glazebrook is a legend. The septuagenarian has many Guinness World Records in his name such as growing the heaviest potato (4.98kg/10lbs 14oz), heaviest cauliflower (27.48kg/60lbs 9.3oz), heaviest aubergine (3.362kg/7lbs 6.6oz), and most recently the heaviest bell pepper (750 g/ 1 lb 10.4 oz). Peter is a resident of Nottinghamshire in the UK. Today, he is known around the world for his massive vegetables that win at not just national but world-level competitions. The 79-year-old still grows all his vegetables in his half-acre garden and does not prefer depending on modern machinery.

He told The Independent, that he still manually waters all his produce from the recycled rainwater from his roof and does not use the automatic watering systems. While transporting his produce from his farm to the competition venue, Peter wraps up his vegetables on damp towels so that they retain their moisture and do not get harmed during the transit.

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Peter is a retired building surveyor. Today he takes part in several big vegetable categories such as cucumbers, onions, and aubergines. However, in recent years he has stopped taking part in the pumpkin category as the massive pumpkins are too much of a hassle to grow and carry from competition to competition.

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While talking to The Independent, Peter emphasised the importance of choosing the right seeds for the produce and said, “You must start with the right seeds, which you can get from other (giant veg) growers. Some seeds, such as kohlrabi are available as a commercial variety and you can buy them. For others, like cucumbers and onions, you have to have the right strain, which is basically in the hands of other growers. The best way is to go along to the shows, see what’s winning, and talk to the growers there. I’m sure they’d be able to fix you up with the right seeds.”

Peter personally makes sure to extract and save seeds from his winning vegetables so that he can sow them again. When asked if he eats all his large vegetables that end up winning at different events, Peter said that it depends on the vegetable. “Some, like giant beetroot, are just too old and will be tough and woody, so you wouldn’t eat those. But tomatoes will be fine to eat,” he said.