OF CABBAGES, PUMPKINS AND SUNFLOWERS

 Local legend Scott Robb won the 2023 Alaska State Fair 27th annual Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off earlier this month.  Only 113.05 pounds

I say only because his world record 2012 cabbage weighed 138.25 pounds.  Measured seven feet three inches from outside leaf to outside leaf.

Just like those turkeys the President honors on Thanksgiving, these monster cabbages these days get to live a slightly longer life in a wildlife garden refuge.  Did you know that a cabbage plant can live on for a second year if not picked?  From all reports, these giants taste about the same as the one pounder you buy.  And yes, there are cabbage fairies at the Alaskan State Fair.

You ask, why do vegetables grow so large in Alaska?  The summers stay lighted for 20 hours/day.  Also takes a lot of planning, from the right seed variety to a series of transplanting in pots beginning in January, and finally into the ground in May.  Robb indicated he had an electrified fence to protect his cabbages from mooses.  He grows them in Palmer, Alaska.

The largest USA pumpkin at 2554 pounds was grown in upstate New York last year.

For the longest time the USA and Canada held the title.  In 2014 Beni Meier of Germany broke the world record at 2324 pounds.  However, the Guinness World Record went to Italy in 2021 at 2702 pounds.  This great pumpkin, for it is the heaviest vegetable fruit ever grown, was cultured by Stefano Cutrupi of Bordighera.

Why isn't the heaviest grown in Alaska?  The record there was set last year at only 2147 pounds by Dale Marshall of Anchorage.  Yet another challenge for the 49th state.

If you live in Honolulu, you'll love this article, which was published earlier this week.  Our heaviest might be 100 pounds, but Aloun Farms will host their 21st Annual Pumpkin Festival at the largest pumpkin patch in Hawaii on three weekends:  October 14-15, 21-22 and 28-29, from 8:30 AM to 5 PM.  Will cost $5/person, but parking is free.  You can also take photos of their sunflower patch.

Of course, the Aloun sunflowers will not be as large as the ones I grew in Kilauea, Kauai in 1963.  Here is one of them with Pearl, and my story.

I was then working at the Kilauea Sugar Company, and there was a competition for who could grow the largest sunflower.  According to this guide, GIANT sunflower plants can reach 10 feet high.  Mine grew to 16 feet and produced this monster.   I baked it in an oven, added some salt, and served it as pu-pu at a reception.  I did not offer Ten High Bourbon, the popular choice of colleagues in this community.  I used the upscale Seagrams 7 and Johnny Walker Red.

My one and only attempt to grow this flower was not quite Guinness world record size, but close, for Kevin Fortey of Cwmbran, Wales grew this in 2021, with the head weighing 14.21 pounds, heavier than a bowling ball.

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