This year is the 75th anniversary of the Alaska State Fair.
It’s held in Palmer and, after hearing about all the fun stuff that goes on there – all those funnel cakes, all the cute animals and all the wacky hair – I had to go visit.
I especially wanted to see the infamous giant vegetables made possible by Alaska’s long summer days.
Over the years, almost a dozen world records for giant fruits and vegetables have been set at the fair, including a 35-pound broccoli (1993), a beet that weighed 42.75 pounds (1999), a 64.8 pound cantaloupe (2004), an 82.9 pound rutabaga (2009) and a 127-pound cabbage (2009).
A ‘loser’ cabbage weighing less than 75 pounds was on display when I visited on Friday,
but two or three record-setting contenders – one measuring 7 feet across (!) – are supposed to show up next Friday, September 2nd, for the 16th annual Cabbage Weigh-Off.
Which cabbage will win? Maybe the Cabbage Fairies know…