ALMOST 60 years ago Luciano Salvo came to Werribee to set up his home and raise a family.
With him he brought six marrow seeds in his pocket from Italy on a boat ride that took 26 days.
Those seeds were planted in his garden in 1959 and today their offspring are potential world record breakers.
Over the last two months Mr Salvo has lovingly grown a marrow that dwarves him at 2.25 metres long.
It is so long he has had to tie it to a plank of wood that he rests on boxes to stop it from touching the ground.
“It looks like a big gun,” Mr Salvo said.
“I don’t want it to touch the ground otherwise it will bend like a pipe.”
Mr Salvo, who turns 82 this week, still maintains a full garden, with about 1000 tomatoes crowding his backyard along with eggplants and chillies.
He believes his marrow could take out the world record for the longest one ever grown.
“I don’t think anyone has seen this many tomatoes,” he said.
Mr Salvo attributes his impressive garden to using chicken manure and planting the seeds at least 18 inches apart.
“I give them plenty of space to breathe and I always trim the tomatoes so they only grow on two branches,” he said.
His daughter Tina said her father could always be found in the garden while her mother Giovanna would turn whatever he grew into a beautiful home cooked meal.
Mr Salvo also said his garden was one of the reasons he is still so healthy.
“I don’t go to restaurants and I never eat junk food,” he said.
“I only eat what I grow.”
