So, you've already heard about all the things I ate at the Alaska State Fair, so now I want to talk about all the local farmers whose products we saw at the Fair, including both animals and produce. We saw some great livestock, with a huge showing of 4-H project animals. There were a lot of goats, including a lot of Nigerian dwarf goats, but some Nubians and other breeds too. There were a few sheep, which we especially noticed because there were several Icelandic sheep, which had lots of poofy wool and looked like they would be right at home in Alaska. Most of the cows were Holsteins, but there were some other breeds too. There were several large lady cows that looked like they were going to calve any minute now, and did not look particularly comfortable, but how many full-term ladies are? There were several pigs, including one that was freaking gigantic, and one mom with a whole herd of piglets had drawn quite a crowd. There was also a very nice looking yak. There is at least one farm raising yaks (I was looking into their CSA) in the Valley- another animal that should be well-suited to the Arctic. I only saw one alpaca on this particular day, but I know there are several people who raise them. There is also a petting zoo, of course, so the kids can feed and pet some goats and other farm animals.
The selection of rabbits and poultry had much more variety than the larger animals. There was a huge selection of chickens, and so many breeds, including Rhode Island reds, buff Orpingtons, and many that I'm not familiar with. There were some really beautiful birds. There were also a lot of turkeys, also generally raised by 4-H kids. There was actually a room where a lot of them were loose, and several were strutting around, puffed up and showing off to us and the other birds. There were some roosters, pheasants, and ducks, too, to round out the poultry. There was also an incubator with chicks and ducklings that was a total kid-magnet. It was put on by Triple D Farms, and I was surprised they had so many chicks, because they actually just said they were going to stop selling butchered chickens, meaning that as far as I can find there is not a single place to get locally raised chicken meat in Alaska anymore. There are still people that will sell you chicks to raise yourself, I believe, but nowhere that will butcher and sell you chickens. If you want to learn more about this issue, there is a great article about it in the Alaska Dispatch, which explains that it's basically about not being able to get insurance for your farm because the government can't afford to inspect small farms. I've been looking into this, trying to find local poultry, possibly a co-op where you own the chickens and are paying for their care, but so far I haven't found one. There was a huge amount of aaaawww-ing coming out of the fair-goers for the rabbits on display. There were giant ones, teeny ones, long tall ears, short ears, floppy ears, and they were all super-cute. A lot of them were show or pet breeds, but there are several places here that raise meat rabbits. It's better than buying meat from a big factory farm Outside, but let's just move on, shall we?
Of course, if there is one thing people want to see at the Alaska State Fair, it is the giant vegetables. We are famous for our large produce up here. Of course there are varieties of plants that are suited to growing very big, but we usually credit our 18+ hours of summer sunlight here in southcentral Alaska for helping our vegetables to grow so large so quickly. Among the vegetables this year were a couple of cabbages over 100 pounds, I believe the winner was 126 pounds, which was so close to the world record of 127. So, cabbages that weigh as much as a person. There were also some zucchini, squash and gourds that were pretty amazing. Alaskans also hold the world records for carrot (just under 19 pounds), kale (105.9 pounds), kohlrabi (96.95 pounds), celery (63 pounds), broccoli (35 pounds), root beet (42.75), rutabaga (82.9), and turnip (39.2). So you see, this is serious business. In the room where the giant vegetables are displayed, there is a complete list of the Alaska records for you to marvel at.
And then there was the Great Pumpkin Scandal of 2011. The winner of the giant pumpkin weigh in, and of the all-time Alaska record, was a 1287 pound pumpkin named Lucy Lu. Yes, we name our giant vegetables in Alaska- doesn't everyone? To give you an Alaskan comparison for how much that is, this pumpkin weighed about as much as a baby beluga or humpback whale. The grower of Lucy Lu has been doing this for a while, and was among other things the first to break the 1000-pound mark. But wait! You thought that was big- even though Lucy Lu broke the record, there was a 1723 pound pumpkin named Patrick that was also entered in the weigh in. 1700 pounds! That's as much as an old Volkswagen Beetle! It took the grower five years to grow this pumpkin! But poor Patrick had a hole in him, so he was tragically disqualified by the judges. We can't have vegetables with holes in them- people could be juicing their stats, injecting them to increase the weight. So, only entries with skin intact can be considered. If he had won, Patrick would have come tantalizingly close to the world record of 1810 pounds. Oh, the world of competitive pumpkin growing- who knew that you could actually grow a pumpkin that could, say, be made into a carriage that you could then ride to the palace ball? This year set the bar pretty high, so in the future if anyone wants to break the Alaska record, they are going to have to be shooting for the world record, too. I for one will be keeping my eyes on next year's weigh in to see if Lucy Lu's record can be toppled.
So there you have it - the thrills! The excitement! The giant zucchini jokes! It's just another day at the Alaska State Fair.
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