Aikin Elementary School recently showcased third-grade student Grey and his green thumb ability as he brought to school his giant cabbage to show staff and students how much it had grown.
“Every year, our friends at Bonnie Plants donate a cabbage seedling for each 3rd-grade student. Once they go home, we never really know what happens to them,” the post on the school’s Facebook page stated.
Aikin Elementary School is a participant in Bonnie Plants’ “Kids Grow Green: Cashing in Cabbage” program.
“We estimate Grey’s cabbage to be roughly 30 inches wide,” said Frances Reed, the technology coordinator.
Grey was one of the many kids in Texas and around the country that took to the challenge to grow cabbage from the seedling given to him.
According to the Bonnie Plants website, the program was initiated in 1996 with a mission to inspire a love of vegetable gardening in young people and grow the next generation of gardeners.
In 2002, the program rose to a become a national affair, including 48 contiguous states.
Now every year, Bonnie Plants trucks more than one million free O.S. Cross, or “oversized” cabbage plants to third-grade classrooms across the country. Seeds used for the program are donated by American Takii Seed Company.
According to Bonnie Plants, “If nurtured and cared for, kids can cultivate, nurture and grow giant cabbages, some bigger than a basketball, tipping the scales, often over 40 pounds.”
The program awards a $1,000 scholarship to one student in each participating state. At the end of the season, teachers from each third grade participating class select the student who has grown the “best” cabbage, based on size and appearance.
From there a digital image of the cabbage and student is submitted online, and that student’s name is then entered in a random statewide drawing. State winners are then randomly selected by the Commission of Agriculture, in each of 48 participating states.
Best of luck to you and your gigantic cabbage, Grey!
