Harry grows five-foot king of the carrots, but he's keeping magic formula a secret

Harry Crawley, pictured with his five foot seven pound Carrot at his Walkinstown home yesterday

By Adam Cullen

Gardener Harry Crawly has brought super- sized vegetables to a whole new level.

The Walkinstown granddad hit the headlines in November with his five-stone marrow, but his latest serving is even more impressive - a five-foot carrot.

Harry said he grew the monster root in a six-inch diameter pipe.

But when it came time to harvest it at the weekend, he had to smash it free with a hammer.

"It was stuck," said Harry. "It took me a good half-hour to get it out. I had to smash the plastic with a hammer and then hose it down."

The carrot, which took five months to grow, is a tiddler compared with Harry's biggest achievement.

outrage

"I've grown a 10-foot-seven carrot, a parsnip the same size and a 39-inch runner bean," he said, "and I once had a radish nearly 15 feet long."

Carrot soup won't be on the menu in Harry's house this week as he wants to use the giant specimen to grow others.

The carrot is one of 32 different types of vegetables grown in Harry's 200-foot garden, and he hopes his over-sized examples will help children take an interest in gardening.

"Horticulture should be taught to kids in school. It's an outrage that these youngsters don't know where a spud comes from," he said.

Harry says the secret to giant vegetables is in the combination of minerals he puts into the ground - but he won't be giving away any tips.

"I don't want people to start at the top, they have to learn," he said. "When I started out, I accidentally grew a cabbage upside down."

hnews@herald.ie