Veggie grower accepts Snoop Dogg invite

CARDIFF, Wales, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A Welsh man who caught the attention of rapper Snoop Dogg by growing an 85.5-pound rutabaga said he has accepted the star's offer of free concert tickets.

Ian Neale, 68, of Newport, Wales, received a YouTube "shout out" from Snoop after he plucked the gargantuan vegetable from his garden last month, Sky News reported Tuesday.

"Man, I want to tell you something, when I do my show in Cardiff, I want you to come backstage and see me because I do vegetation myself and I want to know your secret," the rapper said in the video. "So Ian Neale ... come see your boy Snoop Dogg, I've got two tickets for you when I get to town. Ya dig?"

Neale said he was honored by the offer from the rapper to attend his Oct. 8 show at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena.

"I've never heard of him. ... I'm a country and western man myself," Neale said.

The grower, who has been producing oversized veggies for 30 years, said he initially planned to decline the offer, but he was convinced otherwise by a coworker.

"She nearly wiped the floor with me. ... So we're going to go along together," he said.

Neale said he would be happy to share his techniques with Snoop Dogg.

"You shouldn't let secrets go to the grave," he said. "When you get to a show, we all talk about how we plant them and what liquid feed we use."