Terrebonne Parish gardener harvests record-breaking 44-pound cabbage

Jenny Bourg of Terrebonne Parish recently made history by growing the largest cabbage ever recorded in the state of Louisiana, right in her back yard– weighing in at a whopping 44 lbs.

“I’ve lived in Bourg for 30 years, and I grew up in a family that always had gardens,” explained Jenny Bourg. “My mother, grandmother, father, everybody grew a garden, so I guess you could say it has always been in my blood!” Bourg gardens in raised beds in her backyard, spanning about 640 square feet, and grows a variety fresh vegetables. Her lifelong hobby began to garner national attention when Bourg started sharing pictures of a giant cabbage she was tending to in her beds, which soon grew to a record-breaking 44 lbs.

“I ordered these particular cabbage seeds from Baker’s Creek Rare Seeds Company, and it was the first time I had planted a Sapporo Giant Cabbage,” explained Bourg. “All the research I did said we could expect a cabbage anywhere from 17-38 lbs and that it would be very sweet and delicious, so I was really interested in growing one.” Bourg potted her Sapporo seeds in late July 2023, and moved them to the garden in September of 2023. “This particular one that grew massive was bigger than all the other plants from day one,” chuckled Bourg. “It was the front runner the entire time. It was amazing to watch grow.”

Bourg explained that as the cabbage kept getting bigger over the weeks, she started invited her neighbors and family members over to look at the amazing plant. Bourg decided to harvest he cabbage right before the holidays, and at the advice of other Louisiana gardeners on Facebook, called the Louisiana Department of Agriculture to have the cabbage weighed. “The Department of Agriculture sent someone to weigh and measure the cabbage, and he told me the last record as 23 lbs- and mine was 44 lbs!” said Bourg. “They were really excited about it and even put it on their website.”

Bourg says that this accomplishment has been an amazing experience as a gardener. “Different news channels have reported on the story in Louisiana, Texas, and even Ohio, which is so neat,” said Bourg “The thing that excites me the most is that on the package, it specifically states that in a perfect scenario, this cabbage can reach a maximum of 45 lbs– so I know that I did everything I could possibly do to grow this cabbage to this size. That is a huge accomplishment for me as a gardener.”

Now that the giant cabbage is harvested, Bourg has been using it to cook delicious meals with her family, as well as to continue a fascinating tradition that her mother taught her. “You can’t really eat the outside of the cabbage, so what my mother used to do is roast the outside cabbage leaves, wrap them in foil, and carry them in your wallet to bring you good luck,” said Bourg. “So I made hundreds of those tokens and gave them to my family, friends, and neighbors, and also mailed about 250 out to fellow Louisiana gardeners. It makes me happy to share my good luck with everyone else.”

Congratulations to Jenny Bourg for this amazing accomplishment!