Gargantuan grower: Cokeburg man’s veggies crush competition at Washington County Fair
About seven years ago, Justin Lint visited the Washington County Agricultural Fair and was fascinated by the sight of an enormous onion that captured first place in the fair’s “largest vegetable” category.
He decided he’d like to grow an even bigger onion.
Boy, did he.
This year, Lint grew a 6½-pound onion that not only earned first place at the county fair but also may have set a Pennsylvania record.
“That record stood for a long time. It was a 6-pound onion that someone grew in Alaska,” said Lint.
In fact, Lint nearly swept the largest vegetable competition at the fair this year, claiming first place in 14 out of 15 categories. He was edged out in the largest garlic competition, earning the second-place ribbon.
“It all started here. I stopped by and saw the largest onion, and now I’m growing everything,” said Lint, of Cokeburg, who grows the vegetables in his small, backyard garden. “It’s an addiction. I like to show people what can be done with time and a little bit of effort. If you put your heart and soul into something, anything is possible. Mine just happens to be gardening.”
Lint pays attention to all of the details when he’s growing, and credits his giant vegetables to two things: good soil and seeds.
“It’s all in the soil and the seed genetics. I think I have it down to perfection,” said Lint. “I use a mushroom and leaf compost.”
Lint holds nine Pennsylvania records for largest vegetables, and later this month he’s entering an eggplant into a world competition. He thinks the eggplant he plans to weigh has a good chance to beat the world record of 8.33 pounds.
For the fair, Lint’s eggplant weighed in at 7.1 pounds, the third-largest eggplant ever grown in Pennsylvania, he said.
His girthy cabbage – bigger than Lint’s head – came in at 25.1 pounds (Lint said he and his wife, Michelle, can make about 100 cabbage rolls from the leafy green), and his beet (8.1 pounds), potato (1½ pounds), carrot (8 pounds), red tomato (3.4 pounds) and green tomato (2.9 pounds) also topped the competition.
Fairgoers oohed and aahed over Lint’s 173-pound watermelon and 55-pound zucchini.
Remarked one woman who stopped to look at the oversized gourds, “That onion! I got a blue ribbon 10 years ago for the largest onion, but it wasn’t THAT big!”
Lint said he can’t wait to grab the seeds from the watermelon, and he studies voraciously to improve the size of his humongous fruits and vegetables.
“Through the winter months, I’m always going to seminars, and I’m reading all the time and trying to get better, trying to learn different techniques, tips and tricks. I learn from other growers. I talk to other growers all over the world,” he said. “You can always learn from someone else.”
His goal is to get others, especially children, interested in growing vegetables.
“My goal is to try to get other people involved, with the growing or with competitions here, like with live weight-offs to get children interested in gardening and growing,” he said. “It’s starting to be a lost art. There aren’t a lot of younger people who want to go into it. But if it’s in you, it’s in you. It really is a total addiction for me. It’s awesome.”