John 12:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
Busy, busy, busy ...
The Alaska State Fair is in progress, and this week has featured the agricultural segment. Most people don't think of Alaska as an agricultural state, but they'd be wrong.
When you combine our volcanic, glacial soil with 23 hours of daylight, even our 100-day growing season produces plenty.
Here's the champion pumpkin; it's not a record, but still a big'un:
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Dale Marshall, last year's state pumpkin champion outdid himself this year with a 2,051 lb pumpkin that was weighed in at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer today. [Emphasis added - Ed.]
His record from last year: 1,471.5. That's over a 500 lbs increase.
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| The Great Pumpkin, a 1,471.5-lb. whopper |
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| The local paper got the photo I was hoping for ... so I'll share it with you. :) All pumpkins over 900 pounds. |
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| The lumberjack show; not unique to Alaska, but not seen in most fairs farther south. |
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| The blue ribbon winning reindeer at the fair, and the lovely young lady who raised it. |
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| As always, click to enlarge. |
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| Pioneer Peak to the right; note the snow-covered peaks in the distance, to the left. I really didn't need to see that. |
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| We rested for awhile here. The Crow Creek Bagpipers were playing about 30 feet away. We like it (and I used to play, myself) so it was all good. Until another piper set up, 50 feet away in the other direction, and started playing a completely different song at the same time. It was time to move on. |
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| We're guessing they were filming a Men In Black sequel somewhere on the grounds ... |
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| Raggedy Anne at the fair? |
The small world of giant pumpkins in Alaska just got bigger.
The state's field of competitive growers -- all two of them -- squared off at the Alaska State Fair's Midnight Sun Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off on Tuesday.
Anchorage's Dale Marshall hauled in a pale orange 1,182-pound monster that edged out state record holder J.D. Megchelsen for the top prize.
Megchelsen's pumpkin actually weighed more -- 1,289 pounds, two pounds over his own record -- but a hole in the bottom disqualified the Nikiski grower's entry from the competition.
Pumpkin judges and J.D. Megchelsen check out the bottom of Megchelsen's large pumpkin at the Alaska State Fair pumpkin weigh-off, Tuesday, August 27, 2013. It was disqualified for having a hole, but weighed in at 1289 lbs.
ZAZ HOLLANDER — Anchorage Daily News
Marshall was modest in victory. After all, he grew a monster 1,789-pound pumpkin two years ago that got disqualified for a small hole that extended into the inner cavity. That violates fair rules requiring structurally sound produce.
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| Backdrop for the State Fair grounds (click to enlarge) |
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| More backdrop |
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| Kettle Korn, for Stephen |
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| Chad Carpenter, creator of Tundra Comics (featured here from time to time) |
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| Here's a grill emblem most of you won't have seen before. |
PALMER -- The Alaska State Fair starts Thursday, that annual late-summer homage to carnival rides, donut hamburgers, and the monster vegetables of the Matanuska Valley.
Rock out to Foreigner, laugh at Bill Cosby, unearth replicas of King Tut's Treasures, show off that moose call or just ogle a giant kohlrabi that looks more like a pineapple ate a bowling ball, all against Chugach Mountain views. Weather permitting.
... Thanks to what fair marketing manager Dean Phipps calls a "paradigm shift" to schedule big-name performers at some public venues, live music fans can check out legendary guitarist Nokie Edwards, country rockers Pure Prairie League and several other choice selections for free.
Dozens of new booths also join the 475 vendors selling food and wares, including Celestial Dragon Massage on the Yellow Trail and Howling Wolf Furs on Purple.
