Home of the Alaska State Fair and freakish veggies The traffic light pulsing like a heartbeat at the intersection of Alaska Street and Evergreen Avenue gives Palmer a definite small-town feel. And though nestled in Alaska’s fastestgrowing borough, the town retains its charm and friendly pace. Still, it’s far from sleepy. Each autumn, Palmer is home to the Alaska State Fair, but throughout the year farmers markets, community celebrations, parades, and popular cafes, restaurants, and boutique shops keep things hopping. In 1935, when Alaska was still a territory and the Great Depression ravaged the nation, 203 families traveled from the Midwest by train and ship to reach the Matanuska Colony, an experimental farming community formed under President Roosevelt’s New Deal. They lived in a tent city at first, then began farming individual 40-acre tracts. About 6,500 people call Palmer home today. The town’s roots are firmly planted in the fertile…