Each year, both locals and tourists from around the world crowd into the farm exhibit building at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer to get a look at cabbages the size of huskies, carrots so big they seem otherworldly, and pumpkins that must be lifted by a small crane. With its fertile soil and summer days boasting close to 20 hours of sun, this region of Alaska, including Palmer’s Matanuska Valley, has garnered a reputation for producing huge, record-setting vegetables: a 138-pound cabbage, a 2,051-pound pumpkin, a 64-pound carrot. Encircled…
