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Cabbage, garbanzos, bucks, bread, moolah, shekels, greenbacks, C: In other words, money. Cold hard cash.

Justin Douthit hit the money jackpot when he turned one cabbage into a $1000 scholarship, first prize in a contest sponsored by Bonnie Plant Farm for growing a tiny plant into a huge 30.1 pound cabbage.

Justin, a third grader at Good Hope Elementary School, spent more than 12 weeks nurturing his plant with the help and gardening wisdom of his grandfather, Pete Douthit. The two are residents of the Trimble Community, just four miles out of Good Hope and together, they made quite a gardening team.

Justin and Pete Douthit teamed up to produce a 30.1 pound cabbage and turn one vegetable into a $1000 cash crop.

The Douthit family, (L-R) Pete, Donnie, Don, super gardener Justin and Leanne.

Contest rules said the plant had to be turned in by the middle of July and so the two planted it in a pot in February when it was very, very cold and kept it on the windowsill inside the house. After a soil sample, they planted it in the ground, adding bone meal, mulch and fertilizer. Much to their dismay, “It just sat there and didn’t do anything,” Grandpa Pete reported. Justin decided he definitely was not going to win anything this way and so the two decided to experiment.

”We bought a heating cable and tried heating the ground,” Justin said. They then decided to build

the plant its own greenhouse, complete with a Southern exposure. “We put warm water on it on cold nights and tucked it in with warm water bottles,” Grandpa said. “Through March the cabbage just sort of cuddled with the warmth. It didn’t grow much,” he added, “but it didn’t die either and so we kept up the heat. Then we put a grow light on it for 20 hours at a time, but it still didn’t take off. The cabbages in my garden were doing just as well as the special cabbage,” Grandpa said with a shake of his head.

What did Justin, pictured with Grandpa Pete and Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, do with the cabbage after it won money for him? Fed it to the neighbor’s cows. Did the cows like it? The nine year-old grinned. “I guess they did, there wasn’t nothing left.”

At the end of March they took the greenhouse off and the cabbage started growing faster. It needed something more, they said. “Grandpa said ‘let’s add Miracle Grow’ and it just about jumped out of the ground,” Justin said. After that, they could see it grow every day.

The cash crop’s progress was recorded by Justin on a chart posted on the fridge at his grandparents’ house and Grandmother Donnie supervised the charting. He reported its progress to his teacher, Diane Corbin and other members of the class, who were also growing cabbages. Soon, friends, cousins, aunts, and neighbors were coming by to get a look at the super-growing cabbage. It generated more excitement than was anticipated by the growers. Justin explained, “My mom went out to check it one day. She ran into a big black snake and jumped right out of her shoes.”

When Justin could no longer get his arms around the cabbage and estimated it to be about the size of seven basketballs, the cabbage was cut. Certified scales confirmed the cabbage was really big; leaves and all, weighing 30.1 pounds. “My grandpa could barely pick it up,” he said.

Later, when Justin was called to the office, he thought maybe he was in trouble, although he wins more scholastic awards than lectures. “I got over being scared and I hollered when they told me I had won,” Justin said.

Justin was presented his award in Montgomery by Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks and a representative from the Bonnie Plant Farm (BPF).

BPF Assistant Manager Kyle Curington said this was the largest prize that has been given in the four-year history of the contest, with each state winner being awarded a $1000 scholarship.“ We distributed half-a-million plants to third grades in 40 states,” Curington said. “Teachers picked the winners from each class and those were taken to Mr. Sparks where a drawing. determined the state winner. Bonnie Plant Farm organized the contest to encourage gardening in young people,” adding, “Justin being the winner in Alabama, he’ll definitely be a

gardener.”

Justin likes to garden with Grandpa Pete and just may carry out Mr. Curington’s prediction. Meanwhile he’ll get ready to use his prize. “I’m going to use the scholarship to go to Auburn or the University of Florida,” he said. “I might be a pro MotoX rider or a pro skateboarder some day, too. But I also want to be a mechanical engineer so I can design dirt bikes.”

Justin is the son of Don and Leanne Douthit. They live in the Trimble Community, just a hop and a skip from his grandparents, and all the gardening advice a fellow needs to make a cabbage a cash crop.

Fran Sharp is a freelance writer in Alabaster and a frequent contributor to Alabama Farmers Cooperative News.