A GROWER of gargantuan vegetables is celebrating a successful September after visiting the USA to deliver a talk at an exhibition before breaking a British record.

Cwmbran’s Kevin Fortey has become one of the biggest names in the world of giant vegetable growing, along with Newport’s Ian Neale.

The pair visited California earlier this month, to deliver a speech at the National Heirloom Expo - described as the world's pure food fair.

On returning to the UK and his vegetables, Mr Fortey broke the British record for the heaviest bell pepper, at the Malvern Show. It weighed in at 560g.

The father-of-one said it has been quite a month. “It was a great experience for Ian and I to go to the USA – in fact it was Ian’s first time on an airplane as he’s been so dedicated to growing his vegetables," he said.

“We were invited to give a talk at the expo and judge one of the categories. In America, some of the first prizes are around $2,500, or even cars.”

On returning to the UK, the duo, joined by Mr Fortey’s son, Jamie Courtney-Fortey, entered their produce into Malvern Show at the Three Counties Showground, in Malvern, on September 23 and 24.

Of the 25 classes in the giant vegetable competition, seven categories resulted in victories for the Gwent growers.

“My son Jamie won first place in the Sunflower cross competition, measuring 165.1cm in circumference," Mr Fortey added. "I won three categories – heaviest radish (6.9kg), heaviest cantaloupe melon (9.4kg) and the British record in the bell pepper (560g),” said Mr Fortey.

“Ian also claimed three wins – the heaviest swede, the heaviest celery and the heaviest watermelon.”

Mr Fortey added that the Gwent growers are set to feature on the Countryfile Diaries section of the BBC programme, and received a recent visit from presenter Margherita Taylor, signifying the rise in popularity of their hobby.

“I remember about five or six years ago, there were just five or six people entering at the giant vegetable shows," he added. "At a recent show, there were 85 entrants and from all over the UK – Scotland, Cornwell and so on.

“Our Facebook page has around 3,000 worldwide members so it is amazing to see how much support has grown for our giant vegetables.”

To see more of their giant vegetables, search Giant Vegetable Community on Facebook or giantveg.co.uk