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Large and leafy: Salcha farmer wins Cabbage Weigh-off
4 min read
PALMER — This year’s Alaska State Fair Great Cabbage Weigh-off tallied 20 entries. When the weighing was over Friday evening, Brian Shunskis of Salcha was declared the overall champ with his effort weighing in at just under 81.5 pounds.
This marked the seventh try for the Salcha farmer, who said he grew his monster “Stinky II” organically. He said while Southcentral had a cool and wet summer; growing conditions on his farm just south of Eielson Air Force Base along the Tanana River were great. He said those conditions allowed for a May planting.
“I started out with 11 but ended up with two big ones,” he said of this year’s cabbage patch. “No chemicals or pesticides in this one. We had a beautiful summer with lots of sunshine and weeks of temperatures in the 70s.”
He figured the beast dropped 5-10 pounds after he cut it and removed some decay from around the edges.
“Too much rot; I lost a lot of weight…but it recovered,” Shunskis told the large crowd gathered to witness the annual event.
Shunskis said the originally Stinky, which weighed in around the 90-pound mark, was harvested in 2012. While that would have been plenty of weight to take the 2017 title, the behemoth didn’t measure up to the Guinness World Record holder Scott Robb’s 138.25 pounder that was entered the same year.
Shunskis’ 81.35 cabbage was almost 10 pounds better than his next competitor, 14-year-old Keevan Dinkel. Dinkel, who also ran in the open class, weighed in at 71.55 pounds. To show that it’s not always the most experienced grower that finishes in the top three, 10-year-old Daisy Christensen, who ran in the junior class, placed third with “Sauerkraut.” At 67.85 pounds, the cabbage weighed more than she does.
A total of 23 entries filled the makeshift arena inside the farm exhibit building competing for bragging rights and a part of the more than $4,000 in cash prizes. Boy Scout Troop 367, also known as the “Green Mountain Boys,” wrangled the monsters to the scale. In the junior class competition, Christiansen placed first followed by Kade Harmon with a 56.45-pound entry and Jenna Abbott with a 47.25-pound effort.
The following is a list of this year’s contestants, cabbage weight and entered division: Shunskis, 81.35, open; Dinkel, 71.55, open; Christiansen, 67.85, junior; Robb, 67.60, open, Walter Chastian, 62.15, open; Carol Kenley, 58.90, open; Harmon, 56.45, junior; Thom Robert, 56.20, open; Abbott, 47.25, junior; Taylor Passard, 42.85, junior; Elsa Rodriguez, 40.85, junior; Katie Larson, 35.00, open; Lizzy McQuillin, 29.85, junior; Warren Keogh, 23.95, open; Zachary Janneck, 21.45, open; Tenzin Vang-Thompaon, 21.00, junior; Gage and Brook Hronkin, 19.25, junior; Joe VanDiest, 17.60, junior; Anna VanDiest, 16.95, open; Blake Franke, 14.8, junior.
