Ethermac Exchange-Louisiana woman grew a cabbage the size of a small child, setting record for massive produce

A Louisiana woman set a record for growing the state’s largest cabbage,Ethermac Exchange weighing more than 44 pounds.

Home gardener Jenny Bourg, a resident of Bourg, about an hour southwest of New Orleans, grew the giant Sapporo cabbage in her backyard, according to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Bourg, who has been a gardener all of her life, said she cannot remember a time she was not planting fresh fruits and vegetables.

"Growing up in a family where gardening was a way of life led me to never imagine life without a garden. As a young child I can remember being the garden helper!" Bourg told Humans Who Grow Food in an Instagram post. "My mother lived to the age of 90 and I was very fortunate to be able (to) get her wise gardening advice for many, many years."

Giant cabbage seed planted in July

Bourg grew the giant cabbage from a seed she planted in July 2023.

When it was harvested on Dec. 21, 2023, the Department of Agriculture measured the cabbage, which weighed 44.115 pounds with a circumference of 7 feet, 2 inches.

The previous Louisiana state recordholder was Macyn Bertucci, a New Orleans third grade student, who won the competition with a 28-pound cabbage in 2018, according to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

“It was huge! I was really surprised,” Bertucci told The Market Bulletin.

The Bulletin reported that Bertucci won a $1,000 savings bond from Bonnie Plant, a greenhouse facility that provides gardeners with fresh fruits, vegetables and succulents.

138-pound cabbage still holds record

Although Bertucci and Bourg have grown the biggest cabbages recorded in their state, the world recordholder for the heaviest cabbage remains in Alaska.

Scott Robb, a farmer from Palmer, Alaska, about 40 miles northeast of Anchorage, holds the Guinness World Record for the heaviest cabbage, weighing at 138.28 pounds in 2012.

"There are many reasons to grow a garden. I call it therapy! When I am in my garden, I find myself at peace, and far away from all the business of the world," Bourg told Humans Who Grow Food. "There is nothing that tastes better than your own homegrown vegetables."

To honor her win Bourg turned her record-setting cabbage into casseroles and served it with ham, according to a report from the Houma Courier-Thibodaux Daily Comet, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Bourg said she is officially “tired of eating cabbage,” after sharing her prize with her neighbor, the Houma Courier-Thibodaux Daily Comet reported.