GREEN ENVY

MAT-SU — Growers of Alaska’s famous giant vegetables have a big problem this summer.

In the valley of the giants, Wasilla dentist Steve Hubacek stands tallest. His world-record 127-pound green cabbage assaulted the Alaska State Fair Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off in 2009 and set a new benchmark for a fair that has produced nine world-record giant vegetables.

Anyone expecting to see Hubacek or anyone else come close to another world record this year may be disappointed. An unusually wet and overcast summer is stunting the progress of the giants this year, he said.

“There’s way too much rain,” he said. “But it’s basically been low light conditions that hurt the most. It really plays hell on the cabbage; they really like the sun. I’ve heard we haven’t had this kind of weather since 1951. The overnight temperatures have been decent, but we haven’t had enough sun.”

Long days of direct sunlight is part of what makes Alaska unique in its ability to produce giant vegetables, said Scott Robb, owner of Colony Greenhouse in Palmer and holder of six world records. His 82.9-pound rutabaga set a new mark at last year’s fair.

“It’s just been a (crappy) summer, to put it bluntly,” Robb said. “Personally, I’m just growing the cabbages this year, and I’ve also got four giant turnips.”

Hubacek and Robb are friendly rivals when it comes to the cabbage weigh-off. Robb’s a former winner of the event and brought an 88.5-pound entry last year that finished second to his friend’s world record.

While the weather is the wild card each growing season, there’s more to the science of producing gargantuan vegetables, Robb said.

“It’s something that if you’re not paying attention to it’ll come up and get you,” he said. “It’s not luck when people like Steve go in there with a 100-pound-plus cabbage.”

Hubacek has “six or seven” giants growing now, but he won’t know how big they’ll be until he harvests them just before contest time. There’s 17 days until the Sept. 3 weigh-off.

“I have some that have the size, but the head isn’t there yet,” he said. “Anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of the weight’s going to be in the head. If we’re hunting for another world record this year, that’s highly unlikely. … A lot of these plants are going to be rotten by Sept. 3.”

Another concern is the heads growing too quickly and bursting before being harvested for competition, Hubacek said.

“If they pop open, it’s over, you can’t bring it,” he said, adding he learned a lot from last year’s effort. “We had a nice, sunny year then. I know what a world record looks like growing, so I really don’t think the world record is in danger.”

There are always things to pay attention to with cabbage and other giant vegetables, like slugs, moose and root maggots, Robb said. Those can all become more prevalent with excess moisture.

Still, “You never really know,” Robb said. “Last year, Steve just kind of blew everybody out of the water. There’s still going to be somebody who’s going to come in with some decent stuff. It’ll impress the tourists, but for local competitors and people who know about these things, I don’t think they’ll be overwhelmed.”

Although the weather is making it difficult to grow outdoors, others who cultivate their crops indoors or in greenhouses have more of an advantage.

Palmer resident Arthur Keyes took top prizes last year for his cucumber (7.306 pounds) and 8.48-pound fennel. He expects to do well again with those vegetables this year.

“I might have a cucumber to enter. I have a couple giants I’ve been letting go, and maybe a giant zucchini or two,” he said. “It certainly isn’t the year for records. I’ve also got a pretty big fennel this year, too.”

Growing a prize-winning cucumber means picking just the right fruits to focus on, he said. It’s not so much about size early on than it is picking one that’s straight and has a nice, even shape.

“You need that really nice shape, because cucumber and a zucchini is really all about seeds,” he said. “That’s their whole purpose in life, to make seeds. And the 20 hours of day length we have here is huge. That’s why Alaska carrots have three times the sugar content of a California carrot. You can always make it rain, but you can’t make the sun shine.”

If history is any indication, the giant vegetables at the upcoming fair will be a little less giant, Hubacek said.

“The last year we had weather like this they all came in light,” he said. “I think the winner (of the cabbage weigh-off) that year was 73 pounds.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

RECORD VEGGIES

Since the Alaska State Fair began tracking giant vegetables in 1990, there have been multiple world records set at the fair. Steve Hubacek, Scott Robb and John Evans hold all nine of the world records.

Year Weight (pounds) Grower

1998 18.985 Carrot Evans

1999 42.750 Beet Root Evans

2003 63.3 Celery Robb

2004 64.8 Cantaloupe Robb

2004 39.2 Turnip Robb

2006 96.95 Kohlrabi Robb

2007 105.9 Kale Robb

2009 82.9 Rutabaga Robb

2009 127 Green Cabbage Hubacek

Source: Alaska State Fair