Palmer

With mountain-ringed farms, Palmer is charming and photogenic. This is the place to search for 100-pound cabbages and fresh farm cheese. Historic buildings are scattered throughout the Matanuska-Susitna Valley (often just referred to as the "Mat-Su Valley" or simply "the Valley"); in 1935 the federal government relocated about 200 farm families from the Depression-ridden Midwest to the Mat-Su Valley. Now it has developed into the state's major agricultural region. Good growing conditions of rich soil combined with long hours of summer sunlight result in some huge vegetables.