Faithful gardener Salim James said it was the grace of God that brought him one of the most fruitful harvests he has ever seen.
In his backyard garden, the 66-year-old Joliet man, a native of Pakistan, nurtured a 59-inch-long squash–a giant by any standards.
And James figures his massive squash, identified by local experts as a calabash gourd and measuring 2.5 inches in diameter, tops the current world record of 53 inches for longest zucchini recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. The current record was measured in October 2002. Guinness researchers have not yet validated James’ entry. Once a potential record-holder has submitted a claim, it takes about 10 weeks to confirm it, according to the company website.
James has been gardening since he moved into his Joliet home in 1978. He said he didn’t use any fertilizer or plant food to help along the squash. He simply watered his garden every other day.
“There was no chemical,” James said. “I don’t want to ruin the ground. I only use the pure water.”
And he said a small prayer, “In the name of Jesus,” before planting his garden.
Three weeks after planting, James said there was nothing. But by mid-July the squash measured 19 inches.
“This is God,” he said. “God is doing everything.”
James believes it would have grown even longer, but once it grew past the 53-inch record, he decided to cut it from the vine because he was concerned mice would eat it.
“I was scared,” he said, explaining he had noticed a small hole on the squash.
Since then, James has kept the garden giant on his kitchen floor, which has been inconvenient for his wife to cook and clean around. It has to stay on the floor, he said, because there isn’t enough room for it on countertops or the kitchen table.
“I have to protect it all the time,” he said, adding that friends and neighbors have been taking peeks at and pictures of the oddity.
The plant was a gift from his sister, Farhat Roberts, who also lives in Joliet and bought it from a store in Chicago. The squash, James said, is commonly called a “snake gourd” in India.
Henry Boi, secretary and treasurer of the Illinois Vegetable Growers Association, said he has seen some large zucchinis in his time, but called the 59-inch squash “out of the ordinary.”
Boi, a retired commercial farmer from Woodstock, said zucchini traditionally grow 6 to 12 inches in length. He attributed James’ giant to his frequent watering.
Boi noted that once squash such as zucchini get too large and old they become seedy. However, he said, this one might be suitable for cooking.
James said when the time is right he and his wife likely will cook up the giant squash.
“We can make a lot of food,” he said.
