VietNamNet Bridge - Known for his garden of giant pumpkins, originating from America, farmer Le Huu Phan in the resort city of Da Lat, in central Vietnam, has successfully planted nearly ten special varieties of fruits and vegetables. His garden has become a new tourist attraction in Da Lat.

The giant pumkins.

Phan said in his 4,000m2 garden, he has devoted up to 3,000m2 for growing vegetable seedlings to supply to other farmers. The remaining 1,000m2 is for trial plantation of strange fruits and vegetables that Vietnam does not have, including giant pumpkin from the US, purple kohlrabi, the 7-color cabbage, the back black tomatoes and others.

The farmer said the cultivation techniques of these crops are similar to those applied to existing vegetable varieties in Da Lat. The biggest difficulty is how to purchase the seeds. Phan said he bought the seeds of these vegetables through his friends abroad.

According to Phan, the cost of cultivation of these strange vegetables and fruits is not higher than that of domestic varieties so he sold them at reasonable prices, from VND40,000 to VND50,000/product or per kilo. Therefore, his garden has lured a lot of visitors and tourists, who come to see and purchase the strange vegetables and fruits.

Purple kohlrabis.

Currently, Phan only sells his unique products at his garden. He has not considered selling them to supermarkets or expanding the garden because of the huge cost for land.

Phan said in 2012, he accidentally read an article on the Internet about American farmers using machines to harvest the giant pumpkin, which weigh over 1 ton. He asked a friend in the US to buy the seeds for him and then he planted them in his own 150sq.m garden. The pumkin grew very well and yielded fruit after six months. However the biggest pumpkins weighed just 80kg.

Currently there are two varieties of giant pumpkin in Phan’s garden, yellow and white, with the largest fruit weighing 50kg.

Black tomatoes.

This product has sold very well. People usually buy giant pumpkins for display. Phan did not sell pumpkin by weight as usual but priced them from VND3 to VND4 million ($150-$200). On an area of 150m2, Pan harvested 10 to 15 giant pumpkins/crop.

Phan said he wanted to organize a pumpkin competition as an event to attract tourists to Da Lat.

Phan’s garden has over 10 giant pumpkins; the biggest weighs about 60kg. These pumpkins will be displayed at the upcoming Da Lat Flower Festival. Phan hoped that by that time, his pumpkins will reach the weight of 80kg.

Visit Phan’s giant pumpkin garden through photos:

Photo: Dan Viet