'Giant' parsnip turns out to be 4 inch tiddler

An amateur gardener thinking he was on to a winner called in a camera crew to capture the moment he pulled up a parsnip with massive 7ft tall leaves -- only to find the root was smaller than a baby carrot. Usually, parsnip plant leaves that grow to a maximum of around 60ins above ground -- and the taller they are the bigger the edible root vegetable is. So when keen gardener Don Dover discovered one of his prized parsnips had grown to a whopping 84ins tall, he reckoned he was on to something special. Don, 86, got so excited he called in a local camera crew to his back garden allotment in Aylesbury, Bucks., to capture the moment he pulled up his 'whopper.'