Size Matters

     Alaska's agricultural industry ranks 50th in the United States, dead last.  At last calculation it was valued at only $50 million annually.  Compare that with the $27.8 billion in revenue that California receives.  But what Alaska lacks in volume they make up in size.  The 49th State can claim record breaking produce.  Even though the growing season is stunted, the vegetables are not.  With rich glacier ground volcanic soil and long summer days providing up to 20 hours of sunshine the Matanuska Valley is home to gardens of the giants.

     Consider some of these record breakers:

64 pound cantaloupe

18 pound carrot

63 pound celery stalk

39 pound turnip

75 pound rutabaga

105 pound cabbage (6 feet across and 4 feet high)

23 foot high cornstalk

1,019 pound pumpkin

67 inch long gourd

And each year gardeners haul their produce off to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer where they are weighed and judged around Labor Day as they attempt to set a new world record.

     A potato plant in the "lower 48" normally produces around 8 spuds.  But in Alaska it is not uncommon for that same plant to provide 40 potatoes at harvest time.  

     It wasn't until I was walking down the street in Skagway that all this came to my attention.  As I turned the corner I was confronted by  some rhubarb that was eye-level.