Ontario man gets worldwide attention for potential world-record-breaking zucchini

Is this the world's heaviest pumpkin? A massive pumpkin crushed records during the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off held in California.

An Ontario man’s gardening skills might have other gardeners green with envy as one of his vegetables could be the longest in the world.

While Henry D’Angela’s garden in Thorold, Ont., is filled with a variety of produce from tomatoes to fresh herbs, it is his Sicilian zucchini that might squash a world record.

“When this zucchini became very long I thought, ‘Oh, I wonder what the record is,’ and I saw the record, and I knew it was close,” D’Angela said. The current title holder is Giovanni Batista Scozzafava in Niagara Falls, who broke the record about nine years ago in Aug. 28, 2014 at 8 feet and 3.3 inches. D’Angela’s is measured at 8 feet 4.79 inches.

The city councillor says he became an avid gardener at the same time he became a homeowner, gaining his green thumb from his parents who always had a flourishing garden. D’Angela says he doesn’t do “anything special” for his – he cultivates the soil and uses a manure mixture in the springtime.

For his zucchinis, D’Angela said he grew them along the side of his house, which faces south, in a little strip that typically hosts his sunflowers and tomatoes – a first for him. He hung the zucchini on a manmade trellis to keep them off the ground, although he had to add a makeshift wooden support to lift it up even further so it could keep growing.

While his zucchini thrived, the other produce in that same garden did not grow nearly as well.

“This year, none of my tomatoes grew. I don’t know if it’s because the soil nutrients were brought up by the zucchini plant or if it was just because they were shaded from all the foliage of the zucchini plant,” D’Angela noted. “Then my sunflowers grew maybe about eight feet or so, not very high, not their normal size there … so I think the zucchinis had an impact on that.”

D’Angela’s potential new world record has even garnered worldwide attention, with late night talk show host Stephen Colbert exclaiming, “That's a lot of gourd.”

“I don’t pretend to be news, this is a late night show, ok? I try not to get swept up in the sensationalism of the modern news grind but when history is being made – I can’t ignore it,” Colbert said during the Nov. 2 episode of his titular show.

“Which is why tonight’s episode is an Ontario man’s eight-foot zucchini might be the longest in the world, which of course raises the question, ‘Is that a world record in your garden or are you just happy zucchini?’”

D’Angela submitted his zucchini for consideration to Guinness World Record, but said it could take weeks until he finds out if his summer squash is a winner. A spokesperson for the organization confirmed it did receive D’Angela’s application for this title and attempt.

“We are currently awaiting evidence to review,” the statement read, adding the standard review process takes up to 12 to 15 weeks. “Once received and reviewed, our Records Management Team will then confirm the success or failure of the record attempt.”

D’Angela says if his zucchini is crowned, he will put a challenge out – especially since the last extraordinarily lengthy courgette was from Ontario.

“We must have good soil, I find that a little strange and unusual,” he said. “Next year … I’ll put a challenge out to everyone in Niagara and see if they can grow a bigger one and keep us on the map.”