A Kelowna man is moving on up to the gardening big leagues, after he managed to grow a massive cucumber nearly four feet in length.
Daniel Tomelin has been an avid gardener for most of his life, but is just now claiming gardening fame with his 44.5 inch painted serpent cucumber.
Photo Credit: contributed.
“It just got longer and longer until it started getting so long that it was touching the ground,” said Tomelin.
After doing a bit of research, Tomelin discovered that he might just have an award winning cuke on his hands.
According to the masters of record setting themselves—Guinness World Records—the longest cuke was discovered in England and reached 41.5 inches long.
Realizing he had a real shot at breaking a world record, Tomelin had his cucumber documented by the Kelowna Masters Gardeners Association and filled out the necessary paperwork to apply for the World Record title.
So how did Tomelin manage to grow such a massive vegetable? What are the tricks of the trade when it comes to gardening?
“Deep mulch gardening,” explained Tomelin. “That’s where you never have the soil exposed, it’s always covered up by organic matter. And as the worms and microorganism are eating it, you keep on applying more to it. The soil is never exposed to the open air.”
Moving forward, Tomelin is planning on preserving the cuke with a home-made, custom-designed pickling jar.
“I’m getting ready to pickle it, so it’s going to be the world’s largest pickle as well,” added Tomelin.
Tomelin is hoping to hear back from Guinness World Records in the next month.
