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FARR WEST, Weber County — Levi Johns is a fourth grader at Silver Ridge Elementary who loves soccer and rock climbing. But he also has an impressive green thumb.
So impressive that the 10-year-old Farr West boy won a $1,000 scholarship for growing a massive cabbage plant in his backyard.
"It was heavy," said Levi, who won the contest last month after growing the biggest and best cabbage plant in the state.
When Levi was in third grade, his class got little cabbage sprouts as part of the Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program. His plant started out in a cup with soil, but it soon grew too big and he transferred it to his family's garden.
After lots of hard work, watering the plant every day and learning how to keep his plant safe from hungry caterpillars, Levi's cabbage grew to a whopping 21 pounds.
His family joked all summer long about how his plant might be a $1,000-cabbage plant, and Levi was so excited when "it turned out to actually be it!"
"It was a fun experience," Levi said. "I learned that hard work pays off."
He said he will save the money for college.
As for the cabbage plant, the Johns family turned it into coleslaw and ate every last bit.
