At the annual National American Agricultural Fair in Palmer, Alaska, some exhibits look more like aliens from another planet than the usual vegetables we're used to seeing on store shelves.
Ordinary cabbage can weigh about 70 kilograms, melon – 40, and broccoli reaches 17 kilograms. What is the secret you ask? It's all about the unusual climate of Alaska and abundant sunshine.
Gigant Vegetables
By compared to other countries, Alaska has a rather short, short growing season – only 105 days a year.
Giant Cabbage
The secret is that the night is less than 5 hours long, which ensures that gardens and orchards are illuminated by abundant sun, and vegetables do not go into a long dormant period at night.
Alaska Giant Vegetables Are Weighed
Alaska giant vegetables. Photo 1
Alaska Giant Vegetables. Photo 2
Gigant Alaska vegetables. Photo 3
Gigant Alaska vegetables. Photo 4
Alaska Giant Vegetables. Photo 5
Due to the climate of Alaska, with proper care, many vegetables can grow to truly gigantic sizes.
Giant zucchini
Alaska Giant Vegetables
Most giant vegetables are grown in the Matanuša-Susitna Valley, where experimental gardening was organized in the 1930s.
Alaska Giant Vegetables, USA
Apart from anything else, these giant vegetables are much sweeter. For example, a typical Alaskan carrot is ¾ sugar and only a quarter fiber and starch.
Gigantic cabbage garden
Alaska's Giant Vegetables Show
Show record-breaking horticulture at the annual Palmer National Agricultural Fair today.