I want to grow giant veg..

[chriscross1966]

Bit of a query to those of you who do grow mamouth veg, do they taste of much? I only ask as with the stuff I grow, the smaller versions usually have more flavour so I've never seen any point letting them get bigger. Obviously different if you're in a competition but that's a different thing to growing to eat.

The giants I grow are onions, Kelsaes this year, got several to try next year.... They taste great, a bit fierce on the eyes early on but they cook to produce brilliant results, and you don't need to peel so many when you need lots of onions either.... that said they don't get anything like as big outdoors using normal growing techniques as they do using the proper heat/cover/lights competition ...... equally there's no mistaking them for a normal onion

chrisc

[Matt.]

Bit of a query to those of you who do grow mamouth veg, do they taste of much? I only ask as with the stuff I grow, the smaller versions usually have more flavour so I've never seen any point letting them get bigger. Obviously different if you're in a competition but that's a different thing to growing to eat.

You wouldn't want to eat most giant veg. Given that for mostly its down to the volume of water inside they would just taste balnd and insipid. Then again you don't grow gaint to eat more for the challenge and competition.

[Alison]

You wouldn't want to eat most giant veg. Given that for mostly its down to the volume of water inside they would just taste balnd and insipid. Then again you don't grow gaint to eat more for the challenge and competition.

That's what I was wondering about. As somebody who isn't remotely competitive I don't really understand the urge to do this but am glad I'm not missing out on something I would enjoy

[bluemoon]

I've never understood the urge to do it either, to a certain extent it seems that some people (and they're most often men) have to turn everything into a competition. Unless you have 12 kids what possible use is a giant cabbage? (make that 12 kids with defective taste-buds) I've confessed to growing giant onions, but I'd never show them.... Although we did enter some eggs at the local agricultural show, it was more a way to get involved for our grandson, we didn't expect to win anything, which is just as well because we didn't and I doubt we'd do it again because we had to be there far too early and were fed up with the whole show by the time anyone else turned up.

[chriscross1966]

I've never understood the urge to do it either, to a certain extent it seems that some people (and they're most often men) have to turn everything into a competition. Unless you have 12 kids what possible use is a giant cabbage? (make that 12 kids with defective taste-buds) I've confessed to growing giant onions, but I'd never show them.... Although we did enter some eggs at the local agricultural show, it was more a way to get involved for our grandson, we didn't expect to win anything, which is just as well because we didn't and I doubt we'd do it again because we had to be there far too early and were fed up with the whole show by the time anyone else turned up.

I'd suggest that Filderkraut is an excellent eating cabbage as well as being of enormous proportions.... some of the big squashes are very nice (Lunga Gigante di Napoli leaps to mind but there are plenty of others).... not all giant/show veg is inedible, it's just that it is rarely eaten....most of the carrots and potatos that are shown for form (not size) are rubbish to eat, whereas (as pointed out above) giant onions taste as good as any others and are very convenient if you're making onion soup where you'll only need to peel and slice up a couple of biggies instead of loads of small ones.... saves time and crying

chrisc