Cabbages are thriving in parts of the N.W.T — so much so that one gardener decided to make a competition out of it.
Lone Sorensen from Northern Roots Market Garden in Yellowknife started the contest to grow the biggest cabbage, and she invited all gardeners in the N.W.T. to participate.
Sorensen said the idea came from seeing some of her friends in Alaska participate in a cabbage growing contest they have every year at the state fair
“I’d seen some pictures of some amazing, like huge cabbages,” she said.
“And I thought jeez, maybe it’s time to try it out in the Northwest Territories.”
With the help of her friends in Alaska, she ordered cabbage seeds and started the competition on social media.
Sorensen said she’s not really sure how many people took part, but there are 80 or 90 people in the Facebook group created for the competition.
Not all the cabbages survived.
Whatì gardener Jim Stauffer purchased half of Sorensen’s cabbage and plans to make soup with it. (Submitted by Lone Sorensen )
“Some were eaten by rabbits, some of them were vandalized,” Sorensen said. “I had a big cabbage growing in another garden and it was just gone.”
“Apparently cabbage is very popular.”
Sorensen’s biggest cabbage, grown in the Northern Roots Market Garden in Yellowknife, was just under 27 pounds.
But a giant cabbage is more than just an accomplishment — it also needs to be eaten.
She said she ended up selling to a gardener in Whatì who likes to make cabbage soup, and donated the other half to the Yellowknife Women’s Society.
Lone Sorensen’s cabbage came in at nearly 27 pounds. (Submitted by Lone Sorensen )
“The key is to take very good care and to give it lots of water,” she said. “Cabbages love our climate.”
“If all of a sudden your garden gives you lots of something and you don’t know what to do, that’s when you have to get creative.”
Sorensen thinks she’ll run the cabbage competition again next year.
“I think it has potential for other vegetables too, not for the sake of competition but to connect with other gardeners.”
There were two winners of the cabbage competition, each taking home $100 worth of garden supplies from Northern Roots plus an hour-long, one-on-one garden consultation.