The couple lives in Monteagle on the homestead Karl grew up on, where rows of vegetable gardens and berry patches surround a large greenhouse.
This summer the Douglas’s noticed some turnips were larger than usual in their garden, including one exceptionally large one.
MooseFM asked what might have caused the extra-large turnip season.
“The only thing i can think is the crazy summer we had. Cold, then warm, rain.”
Dawn emphasized how unusual the turnips size was.
“We’ve never seen one that big let alone had one” she said.
Moose FM learned of the jumbo turnip in August when interviewing Dawn about her home business Dawns Home Grown where she sells produce as well as fruits and vegetables preserved fresh from their farm.
The couple had been waiting until after the first frost to pick the turnip, as this makes the root vegetable sweeter.
Just after picking the turnip, MooseFM asked Dawn and Karl what they were planning to do with it.
“Jack-o’-lantern!,” they said, with a laugh.
Dawn then heaved the heavy-looking turnip over to a table by the greenhouse to be measured, saying that, despite its large size, she could manage it.
Michael Reilly of Bancroft This Week helped Karl measure the circumference of the turnip which came in at 36.5 inches around its widest section.
Everyone there wished there had been a scale on site to weigh it.
Later that day, however, Dawn phoned MooseFM to say they had found a scale.
And the turnips weight?
Twenty-two pounds.
