Thanks to the sun shining longer than usual, the land of Alaska, America every year produces strangely sized vegetables and fruits… such as 63 kg cabbage, 30 kg yellow melon, 16 kg broccoli. kg, pumpkin over 800 kg… Huge but excellent quality

In Alaska, the growing season is typically very short, averaging only 105 days, while the growing season in California and elsewhere is 300 days. However, during the growing season in Alaska, the nights are often short and the days are very long. Because the state of Alaska is located near the North Pole, during the summer and during the peak of the growing season here, the sun shines 19 hours a day. Too much light, plants in Alaska continuously grow and bloom, making it easy for Alaskan farmers to harvest the world’s largest vegetables, tubers, and fruits.

Farmer Evan has been honored many times by Guinness

Not only do they dominate in size, vegetables and fruits in Alaska also have excellent quality. Thanks to short days and long nights, the photosynthesis process of plants also increases, making the fruits here sweeter than elsewhere. For example, Alaska carrots have up to 19 hours to absorb sunlight to form sugar and only have about 1/4 of the remaining time of the day to convert sugar into starch. Similarly, other vegetables, tubers and fruits such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, potatoes, carrots, spinach, lettuce… in Alaska all grow “terribly”.

The annual Alaska Agricultural Fair is held in Palmer, 68 km northeast of Anchorage – where local farmers often proudly display the largest vegetables, tubers, and fruits they grow. .

Giant cabbage plants can surprise many people around the world.

Many attendees certainly couldn’t help but be surprised and excited when they saw cabbages weighing up to 63 kg, cucumbers weighing 30 kg or broccoli weighing 15 kg… However, those are just a few examples of “Monster” vegetables, tubers, and fruits are born from this harsh land.

“There are so many types with such huge sizes that you can’t even believe your eyes, thinking it’s fake…” – Alaska Agricultural Fair Director Kathy Liska shared.

Elaborate fertilization

People often start sowing seeds in January, when the weather is still cold, the plants grow with artificial light in the greenhouse. When May is warm, they move the plants into pots exposed to direct sunlight. . An experienced farmer named Brown said that the farming process is very difficult, from building irrigation systems, fertilizing… to producing the desired products. Next, the step of bringing products to the fair is also very difficult, many people have to eat hungry and thirsty, and stay up all night to look after their products.

The pumpkin weighs more than 8 quintals

“The plants remind me of Frankenstein’s laboratory. If someone wants to see farmers growing crops to produce huge products, I think they will be very impressed with the scientific and technological steps invested in it.”

Thanks to diligent care and the blessings of nature, this region’s agricultural products have been recorded in the World Record Book many times. For example, farmer Rob has been recognized by Guinness five times as having the largest cabbage product in the world.

To have surprising fruit and vegetable products, he had to spend more than 20 years researching and applying many scientific methods to production.

A farmer named Evan in Anchorage, Palmer also grew the world’s largest cauliflower, weighing 14.1 kg, recognized by Guinness in 1997. In 1993, this farmer himself intensively cultivated cauliflower. 15.8 kg, also honored by Guinness.

Uncle Evan even had an affinity with Guinness when in 1998 he created an 8.5 kg carrot, which was also recognized by the World Record Book. Not stopping there, in 1998, Guinness recognized him as owning the biggest cabbage weighing 34.4 kg…

Giant vegetables, tubers, and fruits are displayed at the annual Alaska State Agricultural Fair

Farming in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley began as an experiment in the 1930s to increase America’s agricultural output during the Great Depression. More than 971 million square meters were exploited for cultivation and settlement for farming families from the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Inadequate infrastructure and unavailability of basic necessities discouraged colonists. By 1940, more than half the residents had left the valley. In 1965, there were only 20 families still living here.

Reclamation did not greatly increase the region’s population, but transformed the Matanuska-Susitna Valley into Alaska’s key agricultural region. Today, bountiful harvests and giant vegetables have become trademarks of this region.