Man snuggles huge 12-stone marrow under duvet to help it grow
A green-fingered dad who loves his massive marrow so much he tucks it up with a duvet is hoping to squash the competition at a giant veg contest.
Kevin Fortey has been tending to the mega-marrow for eight weeks, and credits this summer’s record-breaking weather – and his tender bedside manner – for its mammoth size
The 4.5ft long green squash, which is the height of an average nine year old, is to be formally weighed at Harrogate Flower Show’s giant vegetable competition today.
And Kevin has his fingers crossed that it will beat his 2010 record, which tipped the scales at a whopping 171lbs (12st 2lbs).
The dad of one from Cwmbran, South Wales, said: “These vegetables are like another part of my family, only they don’t answer back to me.
“My marrows are nurtured and taken care of, that’s our secret. We cover them in blankets and when it gets really cold they get tucked in with nice duvets to keep them warm.
“It’s important for their growth to keep them at an even temperature.”
The civil servant has been gardening with his younger brother Gareth, 38, since he was just four years old.
Their dad Mike Fortey kick-started the bizarre tradition over a pint in the pub in the 1980s, challenging his pal George Williams to grow the largest pumpkin he could.
Mike passed away in 1996 but the brothers decided to continue the family legacy and see how far they could take it.
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Kevin, who spends 35 hours a week in his garden, said: “We started doing this when we were just four years old.
“My dad would give us all the skillsets to be able to work with him and grow vegetables – it’s in our genes and in our blood.”
Kevin’s 12-year-old son Jamie Courtney-Fortey is now in on the act, too, and Kevin says: “Jamie absolutely loves the gardening because it is part of our heritage and our family history.
“He’s been helping in the garden while on all fours, he pretty much learned how to work in the garden before he learned how to walk.
“It’s just crazy, it’s about trying to grow something oversized – something that isn’t normal that you can’t get in the shops – and having fun in the process.
Kevin sometimes stays in his specially lit garden until the early hours to tend to the vegetables, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend of five years, 39-year-old Emma Thompson.
Kevin said: “I don’t do much else, really. I don’t watch much telly, I just go back to tend to my garden.
“Emma does enjoy it although she finds it crazy. She definitely doesn’t want to turn out like Margo [from TV sit-com The Good Life] but I couldn’t really hide these massive vegetables from her.
“My dad started all of this by growing with seeds and to do this every year is a great way to honour him. They’re bigger and better than he could have ever imagined.”
