CHARTIERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) – Even a home gardener takes great pride in his harvest, and one Washington County man has some vegetables so big, you have to see them to believe them.

At the Washington County Fair you can see a variety of vegetables, many of which have won awards, but Justin Lint’s vegetables stand out from the crowd.

They stand on a low platform in one of the exhibition buildings and cannot be overlooked.

A pantheon of truly astonishing produce, including giant pumpkins, onions the size of bowling pins and an eggplant of biblical proportions – all from the same man’s garden.

Justin Lint and his wife Michelle have been growing gigantic vegetables over the past few years.

Inspired by his grandfather, Justin began experimenting with mega vegetables and he says his secret is that everything is in the ground.

“I use natural soil, but always improve it with green manure and cover crops in winter,” said Lint.

Whatever he does, it seems to work.

“Every year I take a vegetable and try to perfect it and make it bigger and bigger,” said Lint.

Justin says he has an eggplant at home that he thinks would even set a world record.

Since there are many deer and wild animals in the gardens that occasionally appear as predators, Justin uses rubber snakes to keep mice out of his garden.

This year, Justin won 14 out of 15 categories for the largest vegetable at the fair. Garlic was the only category he didn’t win.

Lint hopes more young people will take up gardening, and yes, they say the giant vegetables taste great.