By B.C. Manion
He didn’t grow it himself, but Ken Copeland is pretty darn proud of the 5 1/2-pound broccoli he recently plucked from a vegetable harvester at a farmer’s market at 30th Street and Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa.
Copeland was so smitten by the unusually large vegetable that he shelled out a few bucks to buy himself some bragging rights.
Copeland has the super-big broccoli at Land O’ Lakes Farmers Market, which he operates at 21329 Carson Drive in Land O’ Lakes. When it’s not on display, it’s in a cooler to prolong its longevity.
He has no plans to sell it but he does intend to eat it. He says that’s one of the advantages of running a fruit and vegetable stand – he has plenty of good food for meals.
Copeland’s broccoli is nearly triple the size of an average broccoli, according to Danielle D. Treadwell, associate professor and extension specialist in organic and sustainable vegetable production at the University of Florida.
An average broccoli weighs less than 2 pounds, according to Treadwell, who works in the department of horticultural sciences.
No doubt Copeland’s broccoli is large, but it is nowhere near the size of the largest broccoli on record grown in 1993 by John and Mary Evans of Palmer, Alaska. That broccoli weighed 35 pounds, according to Guinness World Records.
