A man broke a Guinness World Record after growing the ‘longest, sweet pepper’ at the Giant Vegetable Championships.
Kevin Fortey, from Cwmbran, now has 13 Guinness World Records for various vegetable and plant-growing achievements.
The 47-year-old has continued to follow his family’s tradition and is hoping to claim a 14th Guinness World Record in the future.
Kevin said: “It’s our 13th Guinness World Record. Unlucky or lucky, but hopefully we will get 14 soon. We won the award for the longest, sweet pepper.
“Growing these vegetables is a family tradition. My dad started off the original UK Giant Vegetable Championships in the early 80s in Cwmbran in South Wales.”
It was a difficult season for growing vegetables, but Kevin revealed a system he used that allowed him to succeed.
He continued: “It’s been a culmination of quite a difficult season with the weather and trying to keep on top of watering. This year we had a secret ingredient, which is solar-panelled timed watering. It was called the Watermate system from Harvst.
“This made a massive difference. It works from your phone, so you don’t need to be there.
“To water plants, there’s so many different technologies within that system which help to keep the plants nourished and provide them with the essential nutrients to continue to grow.”
Kevin believes anyone can be successful at growing vegetables and plants with the right attitude.
“Anyone can have a go at growing. It just takes time and perseverance. You don’t always have successes every year. You get failures. But most importantly, just enjoy the great outdoors as gardening is good for you.
“It’s good for you overall health and wellbeing. It helps to keep you focused and gives you a sense of purpose. It also provides us with opportunities to connect with people from all over the world.
“I had a meeting with some growers in Chile and the US, so we have tried to show our love and our passion right across the globe.”
The farmer has been nicknamed ‘Mr Giant Veg’ for previously breaking world records for a tomatillo plant, potato plant, heaviest cantaloupe and sunflower heads.
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