Kids can learn about gardening in giant cabbage-growing contest

Is your third-grader interested in gardening? Here's one unique contest that could win them money for college.

When kids enter the national Bonnie Plants cabbage-growing program, they get the oversized cabbage plant for free, and they must cultivate it over a period of about 12 weeks. The plants need full sunlight and plenty of space they can grow to be bigger than a basketball and up to 50 pounds.

A picture of the cabbage and the student entry is submitted to Bonnie Plants by mail or online. That student's name is then included in a statewide drawing to receive a $1,000 scholarship towards education. The winner of each statewide drawing is chosen by the Commission of Agriculture, state to state, in a random drawing.

Last year, 2 million students participated in 45 states.

"The cabbage program is our way of sharing our love of gardening with children," said Dennis Thomas, of Bonnie Plants. "Because we believe so deeply in the joy and peace gardening can bring to the soul, we want to afford the opportunity to children to experience this same joy and sense of accomplishment." "We also want to do our part in supporting education".

Students must be registered by March 1, 2010, and Bonnie Plants has to receive the picture of a giant cabbage by Sept. 10, 2010 in order to be entered.