Biker grows giant vegetables

IT MAY be safer than riding a motorcycle, but his wife does not understand this Somerset builder's strange hobby – growing giant vegetables.

Ian Stott, of Shepton Mallet, devotes all his spare time to nurturing enormous cabbages and pumpkins on a patch in his back garden.

This 6ft-wide cabbage was a labour of love for the 36-year-old amateur gardener. He grew it for display at the UK Giant Vegetable Championships at nearby Royal Bath and West Showground, which took place earlier this month.

He said his partner Sarah did not understand his obsession.

"She's pretty well into growing flowers and plants for the kitchen. She can see the point to that but she can't see any point to giant vegetables yet," said Mr Stott.
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"It's a safer hobby than motorcycle riding. It could be worse – I could be down the pub all the time. I just want to sneak it into a conversation.

"You can be talking about the weather, road traffic, anything, and I will say 'have I told you about my cabbage?'"

Mr Stott and his cabbages appeared on Channel 4 last night in a documentary entitled Half Ton Veg.

The avid gardener was followed by a film crew over three months as he prepared for his big day.

The Channel 4 crew filmed Mr Stott from June until September in the build-up to the championships, which were part of the National Amateur Gardening Show. Unfortunately, he only came in fourth and fifth place.

With one of the wettest summers on record, Mr Stott had to protect his huge cabbages from the elements, as well as the bugs and caterpillars eating holes in them. However, the heavy rain actually helped his crop to grow bigger.

Viewers watched the moment Mr Stott cut his cabbages out of the ground with a saw before transporting them to the showground in a flat-bed truck.

Mr Stott does not see an end to his green-fingered hobby any time soon.

"If I did not have my garden, I would have an allotment, and when I'm 80 I will probably still be struggling to grow something," he said.

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