Fall is well and truly here, with two hard frosts in the last week. Upside: Suddenly, the mosquitoes are all gone. Downside: We’re coming to the end of the raspberry harvest. But we had a pretty good year there, so there will be plenty of raspberry preserves and even raspberry wine this year.
Now then: Talk about a great pumpkin. The Alaska State Fair always produces some impressive pumpkins, but this one’s a real eye-opener.
A 1,436-pound pale orange pumpkin with no name took the crown at the Alaska State Fair Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Monday afternoon, marking nine straight wins for reigning pumpkin champ Dale Marshall.
Marshall’s entry far outweighed its closest competitor, a 291-pound light yellow pumpkin grown by Chugiak resident Keith Malone that he dubbed “Joan Blondell” in honor of the iconic Hollywood actor.
Hundreds of people crowded around the ring in the fair’s livestock barn to witness the event, which marked its 20th anniversary Monday.
This isn’t Dale Marshall’s first great pumpkin; in fact, he holds the state record.
Marshall, whose pumpkins have come in smaller each year since 2024, said he hopes to start boosting the weight again next year. He set the state record in 2022 with a 2,147-pound whopper.
Dale Marshall won a $1,000 cash prize for his noble effort.
Alaska has a reputation for enormous pumpkins and other vegetables. While we have a short growing season, that growing season is famous for long, long days, and in a bright, dry year, that can mean 20 hours of sunshine a day. That can yield some big pumpkins and other produce, as we see here.
Alaska Man score: Five Great Pumpkins. Also, Linus Van Pelt would like a word.
Now, here’s another fun agricultural thing: Yes, we do grow crops here in the Great Land (for us, it’s raspberries and our slowly expanding watermelon berry patch), and now harvest time is here. Local farmers’ markets are really picking up steam now.
With fresh snow dotting the tops of the Chugach mountains, farmers across the Matanuska-Susitna Valley are rolling into harvest season ahead of the winter.
For one Palmer farm, the work began months in advance.
“Harvest season for me starts mid-June,” said Brandi Jo Nyberg, the owner and operator of Sauntering Roots Farm.
“It could go all the way through mid-September, or it could go all the way through mid-October. Last year we had a very elongated fall, and we finished harvest mid-October.”
Snow is indeed dotting the mountains, not only the Chugach to the south of us, but also the Talkeetnas to our east and the great Alaska Range to the north. The snowline is working its way down the mountains, but there’s still growing time left here in the Valley. Our local farmers’ markets are going great, and just last week we bought a couple of big bags of fresh chives, onions, and potatoes from our neighbors, who operate a substantial truck farm on their land. With that, we are prepared for some great winter soups and stews.
Alaska Man score: Five moose nuggets, while hoping the moose stay away from our raspberries this winter.
Now, hang on to your cookies, because I have an angry rant for you in this week’s video.