Addy Lefevre is proud of her 40-pound cabbage, but she didn’t bring it into school for show and tell, because, well, the thing is huge.
“It would probably take up my whole book bag,” she said.
Addy, 9, is a student at Holly Springs Elementary STEM Academy in Canton. Last spring she planted the cabbage seedling as part of a competition sponsored by Bonnie Plants, the Alabama-based vegetable and herb-plant company.
Nearly 200,000 third-graders from the contiguous 48 states participated in the contest, with a winner chosen for each state. Addy grew Georgia’s best cabbage, a cabbage that weighs a little more than half as much as she does.
According to a statement from Bonnie Plants, “Winners were selected by Bonnie in collaboration with state departments of agriculture based on the student’s enthusiasm to participate and learn in addition to the size and overall appearance of their cabbage.”
Credit: Daniel Lefevre
Credit: Daniel Lefevre
In addition to bragging rights, Addy won a $1,000 scholarship, though she’s not sure where she might be going to college. “I don’t know what I’m going to need when I grow up,” she said. “I don’t know what I want to work at.”
Addy got some help from her father, Daniel Lefevre, who was in charge of using a little Sevin dust to keep the inchworms at bay, and Miracle-Gro to boost the nutrients in the soil.
Addy was in charge of watering, with reminders from her mother Amy. The Lefevres are not farmers. They live in a regular subdivision. “We grew it in a little teeny 2-by-4 foot bed in our front yard, between our driveway and our sidewalk,” said Daniel.
Bonnie Plants chose the O.S. Cross variety of cabbage for the contest because cabbages were the first profitable crop that the company sold when it was founded a hundred years ago. In the spring the third-graders were given a starter cabbage plant and lessons in caring for their crops.
The cabbage-growing contest was postponed last year due to the pandemic, but resumed this year. “We relaunched the Third Grade Cabbage Program in the spring as a safe, remote-friendly learning activity to inspire children of all backgrounds to grow a love of gardening,” said Mike Sutterer, president and CEO of Bonnie Plants, in a statement.
The Lefevres have already eaten five pounds of cabbage, and an uncle is talking about making coleslaw, but they’re not sure what they will do with the rest.
Addy said she enjoyed growing the cabbage and was happy about the prize, but next time she’d like to try strawberries or grapes.
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