Cabbage patch kids raise vegetables in Plains

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 2.4 billion pounds of cabbage were produced in the U.S. in 2005. This year, 33 pounds of that number will belong to 10-year-old Sophia Brown, Plains’ winner of the Bonnie Plant Farm 3rd Grade Cabbage Program.

According to their Web site, Bonnie Nurseries gave 1,200,000 third graders cabbages to plant in their own homes and gardens. Sophia and her father planted their cabbage in the spring and watched it grow over the summer.

By September, Sophia’s cabbage weighed 33 pounds and was almost as big as she was. It took both her mother and her father to haul it back into the classroom to be judged. Not that Sophia expected her cabbage to win.

“It was ugly,” she said.

Sophia’s mother, Melissa Brown, explained that the cabbage had almost split in the middle, but Sophia’s teacher, Julie Warner, said bring it in pieces, if necessary.

Luckily, it wasn’t a beauty pageant, and Sophia’s bug-eaten, gigantic green cabbage took first place. Kelsey Peters and Josh Connolly tied for second place cabbages weighing 30 pounds. Alyssa McCracken’s cabbage came in fourth with 9 pounds, Cody Sheehan came in fifth with seven pounds, Colleen West's came in sixth with four pounds and Matthew Buchanan and Annie Bright's cabbages tied for eighth, weighing two pounds each.

This isn’t Sophia's first time in a vegetable patch. She’s entered large beets and purple carrots in the Sanders County Fair. The green thumb runs in the family — Sophia’s younger sister took home the grand prize this year for her pears.

Besides gardening, Sophia’s other hobbies include piano (she likes learning Hannah Montana songs and can play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) and photography.

Though the statewide winner of the cabbage contest for Montana hasn’t been posted yet on Bonnie’s Web site (http://www.bonnieplants.com/), Sophia and her mother have been checking daily on the off chance she’ll win. The Montana winner receives a $1,000 scholarship. Organizer Sandi Lane said they also held an award ceremony for last year’s winners in Butte with the Governor.

After Sophia’s mother had to haul her daughter’s prize-winning cabbage to the school, she wasn’t quite as excited about the cabbage program as she is now.

“I said, ‘I never want to see a cabbage again,’” said Melissa Brown.

12 Excuses from students who didn’t turn in their cabbages (submitted by Sandi Lane)

• Annie said the deer ate her cabbage.

• Josh took his cabbage home after the contest and they made coleslaw out of it.

• Stephen’s rabbits and chickens ate his cabbage.

• Hailey accidentally ran over her plant with her bike.

• Chance’s brothers put his cabbage under a tire and it got run over.

• Aaren’s cabbage had white bugs.

• Sam’s cabbage only grew leaves.

• Ivy’s plant accidentally got kicked off the deck.

• Megan’s pets ate her cabbage.

• The chickens pulled the leaves off Spencer’s plant.

• The dog ate Isabella’s plant.

• Matt’s cabbage only grew the leaves, no cabbage head.