By Tammy Asnicar
Rogue River Press
Cammie Hansen
enjoys writing and gardening.
Both hobbies
could produce the story
of "Cammie and the
Giant Cabbage." Her
inspiration, the nearly
25-lb pound cabbage
the nine-year-old grew
in her backyard garden
last summer.
These days, it takes
a lot of cabbage to pay
for college tuition, and
in Cammie's case, she
literally grew a hunk of
cabbage that turned
into a chunk of change
for her college education.
Cammie grew a
humongous cabbage
and was randomly chosen
by Oregon's
Agriculture Commissioner
as the state's
winner and will receive
a $1,000 saving bond
towards her education
from Bonnie Plants of
Alabama.
In May, the-then
third-grader and fellow
students in Crystal
Pump's classroom
received seedlings cultivated
to produce
humongous cabbages,
courtesy of Bonnie
Plants. The Evans
Valley Elem-entary students
were encouraged
by Pump to plant
their cabbage in their
gardens at home and
take care of it throughout
the summer.
"Cammie was the
only student from my
class who kept hers
alive," said Pump, who
entered her former student
in the competition.
And, live it did. In
September, when
Cammie and her mother,
Randi, pulled it out,
the cabbage measured
39 inches in diameter
and weighed in at a
whopping 24.88
pounds. Now, that's a
lot of coleslaw!
"Every day, it just
got bigger and bigger,"
Randi said.
When asked her
secret, Cammie replied,
"I fertilized it with
Miracle-Gro and just
watered it everyday.
"And, I let the spiders
crawl all over it,"
she added. "Spiders
killed the bad bugs."
The colossal cabbage
has ignited her
interest in gardening.
Previously, she had
grown purple cabbage,
green beans and
strawberries, and
occasionally a giant
pumpkin or two.
Now, a fourth-grader,
she is looking forward
to next year's gardening
season, and
would like to grow a
giant purple cabbage.
For the past nine
years, third grade students
across the nation
are invited to participate
in Bonnie Plants'
cabbage-growing competition.
As the Oregon
state winner, Cammie
will be entered into the
national competition.
Each year, the 92-
year garden company
distributes the free
cabbage plants to third
graders across the
country to foster an
interest in gardening
and the environment.
The cabbages
intentionally produce
oversized heads, making
the process even
more exciting for kids.
As part of the program,
Bonnie gives a $1,000
award to one student in
each state. Through
the annual Cabbage
Program, Bonnie
Plants hopes to share
a love of gardening as
well as inspire kids to
develop an interest in
nature and the outdoors.
Cammie is the
daughter of Randi and
Corey Hansen of
Wimer.
Oh, and the fate of
the giant cabbage---
after photos were
taken, the deer
enjoyed the fruits of
Cammie's labor.