Gonville School harvests giant 280g feijoa

BIG 'UN WITH A LITTLE 'UN: Gonville School student Chelsea Moorhouse, 9, and the giant feijoa grown at the school.PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

They've grown a feijoa at Gonville School so big you could use it as one ingredient for a feijoa loaf, feijoa cake or feijoa crumble.

This whopper tips the scales at 280g and is one of the biggest harvested in the country this season.

Yesterday, Year 9 pupil Chelsea Moorhouse posed with the green giant and the match-up showed just how big the fruit is.

School caretaker Grant Winterburn said there were actually two feijoas of similar size on one of three feijoa trees at the school. The trees are about 6 years old.

"When I noticed someone had picked that and tossed it around the school grounds, I decided to pick this one," he said.

Mr Winterburn said the fruit trees grew naturally with no special care or attention, no addition of any secret formula or genetic modifying.

"I've never seen one this big before," he said. "It looks more like a big avocado than a feijoa."

He said they had heard of a big feijoa harvested in Hawke's Bay, but the Gonville one weighed in heavier by about 50g.

The feijoa, Acca sellowiana, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family and is native to much of South America but now grows globally.

While the Gonville giant might be the biggest grown this season, it's a lightweight compared to the 385g one grown by a Havelock North orchardist last year.