This Giant Potato Named Doug Is Set To Break The World Record
Doug's New Zealand owners have taken to parading him around town in a custom-made cart.
In news that has me craving a giant bowl of hot chips on this fine Friday afternoon, a New Zealand couple have potentially grown the world’s largest and ugliest potato — which is quite literally the size of a small dog.
Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were doing a touch of gardening in their Wellington backyard when Colin’s hoe hit a big boulder-like substance under the soil. But after digging it up and having a taste — which isn’t exactly what my first thought would be after digging this monster out of the ground — they discovered it was a giant potato.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Donna said of the giant vegetable, which honestly looks like some sort of giant, deformed rat. “It was just huge.”
Funnily enough, the potato wasn’t even intentionally grown, with the couple being led to believe it could’ve been growing for a couple of years without their knowledge.
“It’s a mystery to me,” Colin said. “It’s one of nature’s little pleasant surprises.”
It hasn’t officially been crowned the world’s largest potato, but it weighed in at 7.9kg on the couple’s old set of scales, which is equivalent to multiple bags of regular potatoes. However, it’s worth noting that the heaviest potato on record — dating back to 2011 — is a 5kg beast from Britain. So unless the scale is considerably off, Doug is destined for a spot in Guinness World Record Book history.
The couple first made the mammoth discovery back on August 30 and have been parading it around their local neighbourhood ever since. Considering it has been a few weeks now, they have even named it — Doug — and built a small cart to tow him around the neighbourhood for all to admire.
“We put a hat on him. We put him on Facebook, taking him for a walk, giving him some sunshine,” the couple said. “It’s all a bit of fun. It’s amazing what entertains people.”
At first, my instinct was to judge this couple for naming, dressing and parading around their giant potato but honestly, who am I to judge? I have not been able to stop thinking about Doug the potato all day.
The couple have submitted Doug to Guinness for recognition but are yet to hear back. If you’re wondering what they’re planning on doing with Doug — who is currently stored in a freezer to prolong his life — Colin and Donna have been in touch with a local brewer to turn him into a huge bottle of potato vodka.