‘Cabbage patch kid’ wins $1,000 prize for growing a 57-pound vegetable in California
A 10-year-old boy from Stockton has won a $1,000 saving bond for growing a massive 57-pound cabbage.
Lorenzo Bruno is the California winner of the National Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program’s plant growing contest, according to a press release from the organization. Bruno was selected randomly by the California Agriculture Department.
Lorenzo is actually the second one in his family to win the cabbage-growing contest — his brother Tino first won two years ago for growing a 29-pound cabbage, Chris Bruno, their father, told McClatchy News.
“Tino received accolades and a $1,000 check,” he said. “That stoked his brother to grow a bigger cabbage because even though he knew he might not win, he just wanted to grow a cabbage bigger than his brother’s.”
The family first got the call on Jan. 6 and were told by Bonnie Plants that they had never had two siblings win the competition before.
Lorenzo composted for 11 months to prepare and first planted the cabbage in February 2019, according to Chris. He harvested it in May 2019 and by then, it weighed 57 pounds and had a 50” circumference.
When they got the good news, Lorenzo couldn’t stop jumping up and down in excitement, Chris said.
But the big win came with some life lessons, too.
“Probably the funniest thing of the whole ordeal was when Tino won $1,000, Bonnie Plants sent him a 1099 form and he had to pay his taxes,” Chris said.
Chris said that Tino told his brother, ‘Yes, you have to pay your taxes too now!”
The Brunos decided to destroy the cabbage by dropping it from a 50-foot forklift.
“Like most kids they aren’t big vegetable eaters, but we really hit it hard with fertilizer to push the size and didn’t want them to eat much of it,” Chris said.
They’ve also grown a 75-pound watermelon and 201-pound pumpkin, Chris said.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 3:54 PM with the headline "‘Cabbage patch kid’ wins $1,000 prize for growing a 57-pound vegetable in California."