Cabbage weigh-off: It’s a really big show

PALMER — It takes quite a giant to overshadow the Alaska State Fair’s largest event. But that’s just what Scott Robb’s world-record 138.25-pound cabbage did at last year’s Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off.

Tonight, the Palmer greenhouse owner and perennial giant veggie champion returns to defend his title. The year since setting the world record — previously set in 2009 by Wasilla dentist and giant cabbage guru Steve Hubacek — has passed quickly for Robb, who said he’s optimistic about retaining his crown, but is leery we’ll see another world record.

“I’m not going to have a 138-pound cabbage this time,” Robb said Thursday afternoon while preparing for tonight’s 18th annual Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off. “This year, the heat didn’t help. I have a nice cabbage and it may be between 90 and 100 (pounds). I think if you have a 100-pound cabbage this year, that may win it.”

Robb may be estimating a little low, but judging by the weights of cabbages already logged in at the fair, Hubacek agrees it’s unlikely Robb’s record will fall tonight.

After a disappointing growing season last year that precluded him from winning another title, Hubacek took this summer off from the contest. But he and Robb still talk frequently, and he admits to feeling the itch to get back to growing giants.

“It’s a definite maybe,” Hubacek said about returning for next year’s weigh-off. “I want to see how these guys do this year. I already know (Robb) is off his mark, and I know he’s still got one in the ground. He wants me to come back, because it helps to have someone pushing you.”

Even with some growing setbacks, Hubacek finished second to Robb last year with a 126-pound cabbage. Third-place finisher Brian Shunskis of Salcha, who weighed in a 94.4 pounds, should give him a run for his money this year, Robb said.

“I have reached out to a couple of other growers who finished second and third last year,” he said. “The heat there (in the middle of summer), there were times they were growing at a nice, steady rate, but not like last year when I had what I call exponential growth.”

That “exponential growth” is nothing new for Robb and his giant vegetables. Along with cabbage, over the years he’s set nine world records and currently still holds five. Earlier this week, he brought to the fair a red cabbage that’s off the world record mark by just 2 pounds, 4 ounces. He also has on display an enormous 86.8-pound rutabaga. That’s actually a full pound over the current world record, but because it has a hollow neck it’s not eligible to be an official record.

That the Alaska State Fair is home to the world record cabbage is fitting, Robb said. It’s the fair’s most well known event, and it feels right for Alaska growers to hold that title, he said.

“For a long time, a lot of Americans thought we had the world record up here (because of the weigh-off), but England had it for 150 years or more until Steve broke the record,” Robb said. “We have an ideal environment and climate to grow big vegetables.”

That’s a sentiment shared by the Alaska State Fair, said Dean Phipps, the fair’s marketing director.

The Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off “is pretty much what we’re known for outside Alaska, and it definitely has a following here,” he said. “It’s our signature event.”

Having the world record associated with the weigh-off also goes a long way in legitimizing the weigh-off as more than just a carnival side-show-type event, he said.

“I think the world record — first of all, we got the world record the first time with Steve at 127 pounds, and that was a big leap in terms of how big it was for us,” he said. “For Scott, the perennial second-place guy who has all the other world records, not only did he win and had a new record, but he had 138.25 pounds. It’s wonderful, and for anybody outside of Alaska, that’s what we’re know for.”

Those outside interests will have more opportunities to follow the Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off this year, Phipps said. During the event from 7 to 8 p.m., GCI cable will televise the weigh-off live on GCI Channel 1. It also will be streamed live over the Internet at the fair’s website, alaskastatefair.org.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or

greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.