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Ben White | Veg Growing 🍅

@bwhitesveg

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Ben📍 Essex, UK | Vegetable Grower 🥕
🌽 Growing at Third Acre Farm
🌱Ordinary growing 🎃Extra-ordinary Veg

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The sun might not be shining quite as brightly as we head into autumn… but Gladys certainly is! 🧡🎃 What a view to pull up to at the pumpkin patch 💪

All from one tiny seed…🌱

#GiantPumpkin #pumpkinpatch #pumpkin #GardeningUK #GrowYourOwn by @bwhitesveg

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a month ago

🌱 Welcome to Day 36 of growing a 1,000lb giant pumpkin... and Gladys just keeps on delivering! 🎃💪

Another huge day of growth! 🤯 We've now recorded 7 consecutive days of 40lb+ gains, and today was no exception. Every day I head down to the patch wondering what the tape measure is going to reveal... and Gladys keeps exceeding expectations.

Growing a giant pumpkin isn't luck. It's daily watering, feeding, monitoring, pruning, protecting the fruit, and giving the plant everything it needs to turn sunlight into pounds. The dream of 1,000lb is pretty much alive... and we're getting closer every single day. 🎯

👇 What do you think Gladys will weigh at Day 40?

#GiantPumpkin #growyourownfood #pumpkin #GardeningUK #GrowYourOwn by @bwhitesveg

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2 months ago

🎃 GLADYS — DAY 42 | HALFWAY POINT! 🎃
We’ve officially reached the halfway point of our Road to 1,000lb… and what an incredible journey it’s been so far! 💪🎃

📏 DAP 42 stats:
➡️ Circumference: 142"
➡️ OTT: 332"
⚖️ Estimated weight: 855lb / 388kg 🤯

From a tiny pollinated flower on 1st July to an estimated 855lb in just 42 days. The last few weeks have been absolutely mental...huge daily gains, plenty of nervous moments and a bit of blossom-end surgery thrown in for good measure. 😅🔪

Now we enter the second half. The growth will eventually start slowing, but we only need another 145lb to hit the magic 1,000lb. 👀

Massive thank you to everyone following Gladys, commenting, sharing and checking in every day. It genuinely feels like thousands of us are growing this pumpkin together now. 🫶

🎃 NOW I WANT TO SEE YOUR PUMPKINS! 👇
Whether you’re growing one with the kids, commercially, for competition, for Halloween or for winter storage... share a photo in the comments! 📸🎃

Big, small, weird, wonderful… let’s fill the comments with pumpkins and get this rolling! 💪🔥

#allotmentlife #GrowYourOwn #Pumpkinpatch #GardeningUK #giantveg by @bwhitesveg

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2 months ago

🎃 GLADYS — DAP 64

Day 64 of growing a giant pumpkin to a 1000lb outdoors in the UK 🇬🇧

We’re definitely entering the final stretch now.

Powdery mildew is spreading across the plant, temperatures have dropped and the light levels are falling as we head into September. All of that means the huge daily gains of summer are behind us.

From here until Gladys is cut from the vine, I’m expecting much slower gains. The priority now is simple... keep the plant ticking over, keep the fruit healthy and get her to the finish line intact. 🤞🎃

Every extra pound from here is a bonus.

22 days until cut day. ✂️🎃

#giantpumpkin umpkin #pumkinpatch #allotmentlife #growyourown #VegetableGardening by @bwhitesveg

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2 months ago

🎃 DAP 31 UPDATE 🤯

I had to double-check the tape... these numbers are getting crazy.

📏 OTT: 267"
⚖️ Estimated Weight: 447 lb

That's a gain of around 44 lb in 24 hours. Peak growth is well and truly here. Every day now is about consistency...watering, feeding, checking plant health, training vines and making sure Gladys has everything she needs to keep pushing.
To put it into perspective...

The last time I grew an Atlantic giant 📅 2021 🎃 DAP 33: 269 lb

📅 2026 (projected) 🎃 DAP 33: Around 500 lb

This season is on another level, but there's still a long way to go. The next few weeks will tell the real story. Fingers crossed she keeps piling on the pounds! 💛🎃

👇 Drop your prediction... How heavy do you think Gladys will be by DAP 40?

#giantpumpkin #pumpkinpatch #growyourown #vegetablegarden #gardeninguk by @bwhitesveg

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3 months ago

From 400lb to over 1,000lb in just 19 days 🎃

Watching this back is absolutely mental. At her peak, Gladys was putting on 40lb a day!

19 days of sunshine, watering, feeding and some ridiculous daily gains 💪 all condensed into a few seconds.

And 1,000lb wasn't the finish line…

Gladys has kept steadily growing and we're now sitting somewhere in the 1,200lb region 🎃💪

All grown outdoors here in Essex 🇬🇧 no greenhouse, no heated structure. Just a big patch, plenty of graft and one increasingly enormous pumpkin.

Now it's less about chasing huge daily gains and more about getting her sound and safely to the scales. 👌🎃

#giantpumpkin #pumpkingrowing #growyourown #vegetablegardening #gardeninguk by @bwhitesveg

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2 months ago

What do you do after growing a 1,307lb giant pumpkin? 🎃

Head to Romania to visit the family and get stuck into making something a little stronger! 🇷🇴🥃

We've been picking plums to make Pălincă, a traditional Romanian fruit spirit and a proper staple in many Romanian households.

The process starts with harvesting ripe plums, which are then left to ferment naturally. The sugars in the fruit turn into alcohol before the fermented mixture is distilled, often twice, to produce a clear, strong spirit.

And when I say strong, I mean strong! 😂 Pălincă is typically around 40–60% alcohol, and I've been drinking it all day 🫡

It's a tradition that's been passed down through generations, with families making their own batches from their orchards.

From growing giant pumpkins in Essex to picking plums and making Pălincă in the Romanian mountains. Not a bad way to spend a few days! 🇷🇴

#romania #palinca #romaniantradition #gardening #growyourown by @bwhitesveg

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8 days ago

I started the year with one goal...grow my first 1,000lb pumpkin outdoors.

Gladys ended up weighing 1,307lb (593kg), taking 2nd place at the CANNA UK National Giant Vegetable Championships and picking up the Howard Dill Award along the way. 🥈

It's been brilliant catching up with growers, chatting about everything growing, swapping ideas and probably talking about vegetables far more than any normal person should!

The biggest reward has been seeing just how far my growing has come. When I look back at where I started and how much I’ve learned along the way, this season means a lot to me. There’s always more to learn and plenty I can improve, but that’s what keeps me growing 💪

I've put a ridiculous amount of time, effort and commitment into growing Gladys this year, but one of the best parts has been seeing how much people have enjoyed her. She always seems to bring a smile to people's faces.

Next stop is back home in Essex, where I'm hoping to put Gladys on display in the run-up to Halloween and raise some money for Essex & Herts Air Ambulance. 👊🚁 Let's see if the neighborhood is ready for Gladys 🎃🤣

#GiantPumpkin #pumpkinpatch #pumpkin #GardeningUK #GrowYourOwn by @bwhitesveg

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18 days ago

Well… I had one goal this year... grow a giant pumpkin over 1,000lb 🎃 Safe to say, I smashed that one.

Gladys officially weighed in at 1,307lb — 593kg 💪🎃

I’ve put so much time, effort and commitment into growing this pumpkin. Early mornings, lunch breaks, late evenings, weekends. Constantly checking, feeding, watering..the list goes on 😂

To be standing there with Gladys at the CANNA Giant Vegetable Championships after everything that’s gone into this year grow has genuinely blown my mind. It’s still sinking in 🤯

And to come away with 2nd place… that’s something else. 💪🥈

What a year...and what a pumpkin! Thanks to everyone that's cheered me on..it means the world 🤟

Gladys, you’ve done alright girl. 👌🎃

#GiantPumpkin #pumpkinpatch #pumpkin #GardeningUK #GrowYourOwn by @bwhitesveg

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22 days ago

DAP 85 🎃 Gladys is officially off the ground! 👌

After 85 days of watching her grow, Wednesday was finally cut and lift day. Safe to say seeing her hanging in mid air was a slightly nerve racking moment..but we bossed it... team effort 💪

Thankfully, Gladys behaved herself and the lift went perfectly... Next stop… Malvern for the CANNA National Championships. 👀🎃

#GiantPumpkin #pumpkinpatch #pumpkin #GardeningUK #GrowYourOwn by @bwhitesveg

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24 days ago

We've been checking over Gladys, having a look around the stem and blossom end and making sure everything is as it should be before the big day. 🎃

After five months of watching this thing grow, I reckon I know every lump, bump, crease and leaf on the plant now 😂 Come Wednesday Gladys will be 85 days old.

Tomorrow she gets cut from the vine. Thursday we hit the road for Malvern.

Not long now until we find out what she actually weighs… she could go light, exactly to the OTT measurement or even heavy 🪨 Either way, We've grown a belter outdoor grown UK pumpkin!

#GiantPumpkin #pumpkinpatch #pumpkin #GardeningUK #GrowYourOwn by @bwhitesveg

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a month ago

Two lovely young men and a pumpkin 😂🎃

Great to catch up with Matt Oliver, Robyn and Rosalie down the pumpkin patch today.

The second photo was taken five years ago by Gardening Legend Peter Seabrook at the Chelsea Flower Show with Matt and Greta, my giant pumpkin from 2021.

Fast forward five years of not growing a sausage, then getting the giant pumpkin bug again this year... and here we are with Gladys...

It’s always good catching up with people who are genuinely passionate about growing, and Matt certainly knows his pumpkins!

Quite a lot has changed in five years, but here we are...still standing around taking photos with ridiculously large vegetables 😂

Really good to see you all today. Thanks for coming down to meet the big girl 💪🎃

#gardening #allotmentuk #giantpumpkin #pumpkinpatch #growyourown by @bwhitesveg

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