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UNION SPRINGS, Ala. — Christina Pulsifer, a student at Lisbon Community School was named the Maine winner in the Bonnie Plants Third Grade Cabbage Program.
Christina grew an 8.9 pound cabbage for the program, and was randomly selected from Maine’s entrants by the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
Christina will receive a $1,000 saving bond from Bonnie Plants towards education, the company said in a news release.
A total of 4,229 Maine students participated in the program, and more than 1 million third graders in the 48 contiguous states took part.
In 1996 Bonnie Plants initiated the program in Alabama, with a mission to inspire a love of vegetable gardening in young people and continue to “grow” the next generation of gardeners. By 2002 the program had become a national endeavor. The company delivers O.S. Cross cabbages to the schools for the children to nurture and grow, and at the end of the season, teachers from each third grade class select the student who has grown the “best” cabbage, based on size and appearance. A digital image of the cabbage and student is submitted, and the student’s name is entered in a statewide drawing. State winners are randomly selected by the office of the commission of agriculture, in each of 48 participating states.
Green thumbs and perseverance can pay off, providing participating children with as great sense of pride and accomplishment, a humongous cabbage, and for the lucky state winner, the beginning of an educational fund for college.
Cabbages were the first profitable plant sold by Bonnie Plants in 1918, and are known to be a hardy vegetable. The cabbages provided to the third-grade program are “O.S. Cross” cabbages; this variety is known for producing giant, oversized heads, making the process even more exciting for kids.
For more information, visit bonniecabbageprogram.com.
PHOTO: Christina Pulsifer, a student at Lisbon Community School, was the Maine winner in the Bonnie Plants Third Grade Cabbage Program. (Bonnie Plants photo)
