The 1.01 kilogram effort is his best to date. But he wants to throw out a challenge to other backyard vegetable growers; can you beat this effort?

“Does someone locally have a larger specimen? he said.

“We have grown big ones before, but never over the kilo mark.”

And while many a backyard gardener is reticent to give away their growing tips, Mr Hewens has happy to share his trade secrets.

“The growing tip to get tomatoes this size and flavour lies simply in the soil. We are great believers in the old ways of gardening and the use of animal manures and the addition of saw dust.

“Saw dust is basically a raw form of the element carbon, most plants just love soils rich in carbon.

“My advice to gardeners is to avoid artificial fertilizers where ever possible.”

And his final tip – you will need a sturdy support for each plant.