Nursery owner reclaims world's heaviest celeriac title

A Berkshire nursery owner has broken the record for growing the world's heaviest celeriac.

Curtis Leach, who runs the Wargrave Plant Nursery Centre, grew the root vegetable to a weight of 14lb 8oz (6.6kg), beating the previous record of 13lb 15.3oz (6.3kg).

That had beaten an earlier record Mr Leach had set himself - but proof of his latest success arrived on Thursday when he received his Guinness World Records certificate.

Mr Leach said he "just can't resist the challenge of growing plants" and has set his sights on growing a champion giant squash.

“There’s something unique about trying to grow giant veg. It doesn’t have to be pretty; it hasn’t got to be tasty. It’s just got to be big. You get to see the results of your endeavours on the scale,” Mr Leach said.

He was driven to grow celeriac after enjoying celeriac chips.

"I thought: these are fantastic, I must grow these vegetables. I did... and then last year one of them seemed to grow particularly big.

"I looked online and there didn’t appear to be a world record for celeriac so I thought I’d submit it [to Guinness World Records]. Sure enough, it was accredited with the world record," Mr Leach told BBC Radio Berkshire.

"Once there’s a world record it grows attention so a lot of growers thought: that’s quite a low bar to beat. Sure enough, somebody beat me [in September].

“Fortunately I’d got a bit of a trick up my sleeve. A week later I presented one that was heavier and reclaimed the world record.”

According to the Royal Horticultural Society, celeriac looks like a "pale, knobbly swede" and, while it "won't win any beauty contests", it can be served raw, diced, grated, steamed or cooked.

It takes about six months to mature and does not like cold temperatures so should be sown indoors initially.

Mr Leach also grows massive pumpkins in what he described as "a six-month endurance".

Grown in polytunnels, they are protected from the severest weather but Mr Leach said the heatwave at the end of June was a "real struggle".

They will be showcased at the nursery's open weekend, which starts on Saturday.

He has already grown a large giant squash - which he said is "effectively a green pumpkin" - which weighed in at 1,100lb (499kg).

But he said the record is double that and breaking that is what he is "really aiming towards".

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