| Giant
of Gardening World Takes on Dole's Pineapple Challenge |
By Jim Witty,
Star-Bulletin - 5 / 27 / 1997
John Evans, the sultan of big, is in town
to work some of his agricultural magic.
His quest, which begins today, is to help
the Dole Plantation produce the world's largest pineapple. Evans won't
rest until he coaxes a hunker specimen from the Wahiawa loam.
That would be anything heavier then the
17-pound, 12-ounce sumo cum laude of pineapples grown in Papua New Guinea
and listed as the largest ever in the current Guinness Book of World
Records. |
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Evans was to be guest of honor this morning at the blessing of the state's
first giant vegetable garden at the Dole Plantation.
At the Dole site, outsized pineapples will
share garden space with a cornucopia of other horticultural anomalies,
including giant pumpkins, squash, watermelons and cabbage, said
spokeswoman Susan Martinson.
Evans credits special nutrients, intensive
crop management and a (large) green thumb for his whopping success.
A longtime master gardener now living in
Alaska's Matanuska Valley (the mecca of giant vegetable growing), Evans
has grown a 35-pound head of broccoli, a 451/4-pound red cabbage and a
713/4-pound Swiss Chard -- all world records. His 53.35-pound rutabaga is
a national record holder and his 27.75-pound cauliflower, 13.35-pound
sunflower (with a head 23 inches in diameter), 4-pound leek and 6.24 pound
onion are all Alaska State records.
Who is this guy and why is his Kohlrabi so
huge? |
Because he has been gardening "all his life" in places as
diverse as India, Belgium, Wales, England, Montana and Minnesota, Evans
said.
"I've done it so long, I just got good
at it," said Evans, who will be at the plantation building garden
beds all this week.
"Nothing we raise goes to waste.
Everything we can't use is donated to a local senior citizens center and
served fresh or turned into soups, breads or preserves."
Evans and his wife Mary experienced early
success as amateur gardeners when they entered some of their vegetables in
the state fair and won 21 ribbons.
"That was the real start of our
fascination with growing giant vegetables," he said.
Since then, Evans has accumulated an
extensive inventory of gardening lore, including essential information on
seeds, plants and fertilizers. |
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