Mammoth 9kg potato unearthed
VIEWED from the street John Nelson’s garden is indistinguishable from those of his Middle Ridge neighbours.
But out the back John and his wife Liz have transformed their small patch of dirt into a rich veggie farm, fertile enough to grow a whopping 9.7kg sweet potato.
What is more impressive is that the fibrous beast gained its mass with little care or attention, except for an occasional lashing of Seasol.
“I dug the bed up in December and planted tomatoes and I thought there was nothing in there, but then this little sweet potato shoot came out of the ground,” John said.
“I let it grow, thinking if it produces something it’ll be right.
“Anyway, the vine gradually took over the whole side of the house.
“It started to die of this earlier this month and I asked my wife Liz to see if she could find any sweet potatoes and this is what she pulled out.”
John’s theory is that the sweet potato was left over from a crop he planted three years ago and had remained dormant through the dry 2019 seasons, waiting to sprout when the rain returned. “I honestly don’t think it is more than eight months old,” he said
The couple’s suburban block is host to abundant beds of garlic, kale, ginger, rhubarb, corn, broccoli and other assorted veggies, alongside stone fruit and avocado trees.
John has even built a garden bed on top of his water tank to make the most of every ray of sunshine that graces his property.
“I love fresh veggies,” he said.
“I have a green juice every morning and I loving coming out to the garden and picking some fresh kale or some other leaf.”