Help us congratulate our 2023-2024 Cabbage Program Winners!
Kristina – Alabama
Kristina did a great job caring for her cabbage. She kept it watered, fertilized it and used neem oil to keep the bugs away. Our family got to enjoy eating the cabbage when she harvested the cabbage.
Harper – Arkansas
This was a learning experience, and so much fun!
Haley – Arizona
Haley now has a green thumb. Growing her cabbage was a fun family activity. She now helps with the flower, corn and other vegetable garden.
Maci – California
We usually have a garden each year and Maci likes to help out. Her sister won the cabbage program in a few years back. How cool would it be for her sister Maci to win 2023/2024 for California!
Sadie – Colorado
This made me want to plant a whole garden. I think the reason why my cabbage grew was because I would sing songs to it, like My Little Sunshine and Old McDonald.
Teagan – Connecticut
Teagan began growing her cabbage indoors in front of a window in May. It outgrew 3 pots! According to the internet you can move your cabbage outside after Memorial Day, which is what she did. To a bigger pot. She loved watching the changes and growth. She watered it daily and noticed that the bugs were really liking her cabbage so she sprayed it with vinegar and water. She really loved the whole experience. Attached is her photo that we took during the Olympics (hence the USA theme). The cabbage was 25 inches in circumference and it made the most delicious cole slaw for our summer picnic!!!
Garrett – Delaware
“Garrett’s aunt, Jennifer Ross a teacher at Clayton Elementary School wanted to make sure Garrett had an opportunity to grow a Bonnie cabbage plant just like her 3rd grade class. Jennifer and her children (Garrett’s cousins) live next door and would get Garrett really excited about how his cabbage was doing, as they both had positive growing experiences with Bonnie Cabbage plant project in the past.
Garrett and I (his mom) planted the cabbage plant in our garden the second week of May. Every week, Garrett would check in on his cabbage head, noticing the difference from one week to the next and measuring with our arm how the cabbage was growing. Often Garrett would also notice that some bugs enjoyed snacking on some of the leaves too.
When it was time to harvest the cabbage and bring it in to the house, Garrett exclaimed, “”Whew this is so heavy!””
We plan to share half of the head to his grandma to make coleslaw and we will make a batch of ham and cabbage this week to share. “
Christian – Florida
This journey of Christian’s cabbage has been quite an adventure. I learned a lot about this student and his dedication to growing this cabbage. I would like to attach the letter his mother wrote to me halfway through the contest. It is about Christian not wanting to give up on his cabbage even after a hailstorm raised havoc with it, a neighbor shot it with an airsoft gun, and various other mishaps with Hulk (that’s what he named the cabbage). He did not want to “pull the plug” on it. His mother wrote that Christian had cancer in 2019 and told be about the battle he and his family fought and their not willing to give up. This attitude and determination transferred to his cabbage. His mother has chronicled this journey so much better than i am explaining. I have been involved with this contest for at least 17 years, and I have never seen a student and family so totally involved with the growing process. Thank you for providing Christian and his family this experience.
Raygen – Georgia
Raygen worked very hard to grow this amazing cabbage. Her grandfather supervised and encouraged her!
Talon – Idaho
I liked to tend my cabbage plant everyday. I looked for bugs and any damage.
Colton – Illinois
Elise – Indiana
Elise planted her cabbage with help from her grandparents!
Liam – Kansas
Scarlett – Kentucky
This year was the first time that Scarlett has ever grown any vegetables. Today she told me she doesn’t care if she wins because she had so much fun gardening. It warmed my heart! thank you for providing the seeds. this really was a wonderful experience.
Ford – Louisiana
Penelope – Massachusetts
I’ve helped garden at the school garden and with my mom in her community garden plot. This is the first time, I have grown something on my own. It was fun looking and writing notes in my journal on how much sun, water and fertilizer the cabbage needs. We also had 3 seedlings and grew them in different sized pots. The cabbage that was in the biggest pot grew the largest. We also had a lot of hungry caterpillars that also enjoyed the cabbage leaves and I had to look up how to prevent caterpillars eating it all. I feel very happy picking and feeling how heavy the cabbage is today. Now I need to think of how to eat this cabbage.
James – Maine
The caterpillars were so hard to find because they camouflaged so well! It was cool to see how big it grew. I really loved seeing it grow bigger and bigger!
Cassidy – Michigan
I had fun watching my cabbage grow. There were lots of green caterpillars that I pulled off. I had no idea a cabbage could get that big.
Nathan – Minnesota
I had a great learning experience growing my cabbage. My family set up a raised garden bed for the first time. We hope to continue to grow more vegetables every year. My grandfathers were farmers, but since I grew up in the city, I hope this cabbage made my family proud!
Seeley – Missouri
Seeley loves to garden! He has grown vegetables in his garden for a few years as part of his 4-H project. Seeley spends a lot of time in the garden weeding, watering, and checking on his plants!
Addison – Mississippi
My cabbage experience was so fun, and I learned a lot! My grandmother taught me how to take care of the cabbage and how to grow it properly. I covered the cabbage on the nights it was cold, gave it plenty of water, and made sure it had lots of sunshine. I even gave my cabbage a name because I thought it would help it grow bigger ……its name is May! I loved my cabbage experience!
Damien – Montana
Damien has been “helping” in the garden since he was a baby. As he got older we’d leave a section of the garden unplanted for him to play. But he got very interested and tomatoes started to appear. And even more interested when I told him he could eat them. As the years have gone by he’s definitely become more helpful. Maybe not the planning part. But the getting the soil ready, and planting part. And definitely helpful in the eating of the produce.
Srinithi – North Carolina
Ashton – Nebraska
Ben – New Hampshire
Ben’s family owns a farm in Loudon, NH. The farm has been in the family for generations, with an apple orchard being their primary focus but they also grow other fruits and vegetables. They are known for their delicious hot cider donuts! Ben and his older brother help out around the farm. Ben also joined the Garden Club, at Loudon Elementary School, where he helped prepare the raised garden beds, planted seeds, and harvested the crops. This year crops were green beans, squash, corn, watermelon, carrots, and potatoes. Thanks to the Bonnie Plant Program, he was so excited to be able to show his growing skills by nurturing his very own cabbage plants.
Giovanni – New Jersey
Not only did Giovanni grow the most beautiful cabbage we’ve ever had in our garden, it tasted unbelievably delicious and we were able to share with neighbors family and friends.
Thank you for this opportunity to participate. It was a fun summer in our household watching grow bigger and bigger by the week.
Charlie – New Mexico
It was a long process to grow the cabbage since March. It was a lot of fun growing a new vegetable in our summer garden. I had a lot of fun. I learned if I do it again to pick the cabbage earlier. It was fun to grow and eat the cabbage. We used it to make Polish Cabbage Rolls with my Babci (Polish for grandma). The cabbage made the food delicious.
Dodge – Nevada
Dodge couldn’t believe that his cabbage survived in the desert climate. His cabbage isn’t as large as the ones on the website, but it sure did make a delicious apple coleslaw. He can’t wait to try for a larger cabbage this year.
Jackson – New York
Our 3rd grade class grew cabbages. We took care of them in pots in the classroom watering them, making sure they had light and even reading to them! When the cabbages got too big for the pots we planted them on our school’s farm and made bi-weekly trips to the farm to care for the cabbage which included weeding, feeding and sketching/jotting our observations. The cabbages grew so big!
Colton – Ohio
“At first the cabbage was very small so I put the sprout in a small pot and mom let me keep it in the house by a sunny window. I left it there until it was warm enough to be planted outside in mom’s raised garden bed. I got to use the whole box so the cabbage had plenty of room to grow. I sprayed my cabbage once a week with special juice to kill the bugs that like to eat it. We also have good fertilizer that I mixed into the water. I used this water several times a week. I checked on the cabbage a couple of times a week and had a bunch of fun watching it grow larger and larger. By the end of the summer the little cabbage grew and filled up most of the raised bed garden. Thanks for this experience.”
Jocelyn – Oklahoma
Hello my name is Jocelyn. I’m 9 and had so much fun growing my cabbage. I like in Oklahoma so it gets hot. I would water my cabbage extra on those hot days. So crazy to think how small it was to how big it got. My dad has a garden so we grew it next to his vegetables. We had a great time doing this product. We ate some of the cabbage but also shared with my papas livestock. They loved it!!! Sincerely, Jocelyn
Mya – Oregon
We experienced an issue with grasshoppers, and we were able to mitigate them! Then we left for a few days right around harvest time and came back to an overly mature cabbage. She worked hard, and learned a lot through the process.
Kylie – Pennsylvania
Kylie moved her plant into a pot and had it indoors for a while. Then she moved it outdoors and planted it in mushroom soil. She pulled weeds that grew around it and put miracle grow on it. Some bugs chewed on the leaves. It was fun and we were all amazed how big it got. Her grandma is planning on teaching her to make a massive batch of sauerkraut with it.
Sadie – South Carolina
Sadie loved growing and caring for her colossal cabbage. It was a great project for the entire family!
Aden – South Dakota
Aden helps his grandparents with their garden.
Kinsley – Tennessee
Will – Texas
Good growing conditions this winter. It didn’t get too cold. He did battle the bugs in the spring and got some holy leaves, but the cabbage grew well.
Grayson – Utah
He helps his parents plant in the yard.
Katherine – Virginia
Teigan – Washington
Teigan was so excited to grow this cabbage. Her Grandpa always has a garden so she couldn’t wait to grow something for herself!! This summer we went camping for 9 days to Silverwood (theme park in Idaho). She was so worried about her cabbage that she wanted to bring it with us. Luckily her Dad ordered a timer and was able to set up a watering system so we didn’t need to bring it with us.
Evelyn – Wisoconsin
Evelyn states: I got my plant. I put it in a small pot, but it got too big and it got bigger. I got a raised garden bed to put it in. I transferred it to the new bed. It got lots of holes from bugs, lots of bugs. Moths had eggs on it. The eggs hatched and caterpillars ate some leaves. I got up in the morning to check it for months in the afternoon and evening. Then slugs came in the morning. It was disgusting. Then it got to be 90 degrees every week. So I harvested my cabbage. I made eggrolls and cabbage rolls. They were delicious! I’ve learned that gardening is not easy. It takes work, effort, and patience to make you plant successful!
Rosalyn – West Virginia
