Housewife Maria Desimone was left stunned after she planted her first ever courgette earlier this summer and watched it grow to over five feet long.
Novice gardener Maria, 43, was given a cutting by her father and planted it in her back garden in June.
The courgette flowered in July before growing rapidly and by Thursday, it had reached 5ft 6in in length - three inches taller than her - and a width of 2in.
Monster vegetable: Maria Desimone, who is 5ft 3in, planted the courgette in her garden in June but had no idea it would reach 5ft 6in - and it's still growing
The original plant, believed to be a white courgette, was grown from seeds brought over from Italy by her father Benito Maio, 72, in 1982.
Maria hopes that the courgette will reach more than 6ft before she harvests the mammoth vegetable to create a traditional Italian feast for friends and family.
She said: 'For the first time, I have outsmarted my dad in the garden. I always wanted to grow courgettes but this is the first year I have tried using my dad's plants.
Maria with another one of the giant courgettes she has grown - not quite as big as the 5ft 6in monster
'This one just kept on getting bigger and I think it might even grow some more - it's got another two feet to grow before it reaches the ground.
'It's a wonderful thing to be in the garden and to see things grow. I believe every gardener should talk to their plants - they are living things after all.
'When it's grown as big as it can I'm going to share it with my aunties and use it to make a traditional recipe from my village in Italy.'
Maria lives in Cambridge with her husband Antonio, 45, who is self-employed, and has two daughters, Laura, 19, and Angela, 17.
They have been helping her in the garden to grow courgettes along with beans, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers and chillis.
Maria's father, Italian-born Benito, who has lived in Cambridge for nearly 50 years, is proud of his daughter's green fingers.
He said: 'She's got a lovely, long marrow in her back garden. It's beautiful. I taught her all about how to grow them.
Green fingers: Maria surrounded by the courgette plant in her garden in Cambridge
'I have been growing them for many years now.'
The courgette - technically a fruit - is a member of the cucurbit family related to watermelons, gherkins and cucumbers.
They were first grown in Central America more than 8,000 years ago and in 2005 a poll of 2,000 people showed the courgette was Britain's 10th favourite vegetable.
Although courgettes are often described as marrows harvested young, marrows are noted for having a thicker skin.
The longest courgette ever recorded was grown in India and measured almost 8 feet in length.
Liz Gage, of Scotsdales Garden Centre in Great Shelford, Cambridge, congratulated Maria on her growing skills.
She said: 'I wouldn't want to meet that on a dark night. It's got courgette foliage so from what I can tell it is a giant courgette.
'Good on her for growing it. It's huge. I wouldn't want to buy the mince to stuff it.'
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