- All right. So back when schools went virtual,
lots of class projects were cut short.
Well,
one third grader refused to let her gardening assignment go,
even when she no longer had to do it and good for her
because she ended up growing the largest cabbage
I've ever seen weighing in at a whopping 31 pounds.
Look at this. It is enormous.
And we actually have Kira
along with her mom, Angie zooming in.
Hey, what's up Kira? What's up Angie?
- Hi! We're doing good. How are you?
- I am so great.
I love that you're such a little green thumb
at such a young age. That's so amazing.
What an amazing skill to have,
to be able to like plant something,
and harvest it and then eat it. That's so cool.
So tell us more about this cabbage assignment
and what a random assignment from your school.
That's so cool.
- We was given a little cabbage
and I put it in my great grandparents' garden
and I make sure I watered it, make sure it gets lots of sun
and put a bucket over at night so it won't foster and die.
I mean, that's so cool.
I love that this was a class assignment.
These are like the skills I feel like
no one ever taught me in school that I would
have loved to have had.
Like these life skills that are
more important now than ever like such a financial crisis.
Having people being able to grow their own food.
That would be amazing.
So, Kira, I mean,
why did you keep up with the assignment
even when you didn't have to?
- I wanted to see how fun it would be
to grow a cabbage for the first time
and just to stay positive during COVID-19.
- She had the cabbage for like three to four weeks
before the pandemic.
So it kind of was like a routine for her.
And she stuck with it. She did really good with it.
I'm proud she did.
It kept my mind off all of the crazy things
that were going on.
- Yeah. That's why I say it's been a big year,
so there's a lot of stuff going on.
So, I mean, Kira and Angie,
I understand that you had a big celebration
where you dug the cabbage up, right?
- Yes. We had a big celebration
when we was harvesting it, when we weighted it
and we used a water hose to you know,
get all the dirt and stuff off
but we ended up wetting each other with the water hose
and it was really funny.
- Yeah.
So, I mean, that's so cool to be able to, like I said,
just have that life skill is, it's invaluable.
Angie, what did you guys do with all that cabbage?
- Well, we cut it up and we gave it to six households,
which equal to be about, around about 25 people.
And with those 25 people,
they did lots of things with theirs.
Some steamed their cabbage,
and some,
one of my cousins made us a coleslaw out of hers,
but it was really good. Kira says it was better than store.
- Oh my God. It is. That's the thing too.
It sounds like such a cliche thing to say
but when you grow it and you take, it's different.
And especially if you're not, you know,
use any pesticides or any kind of that stuff, it just,
it tastes so good and so whole.
Well, Kira there's someone pretty famous
who's also really great at gardening.
She grew the biggest cabbage I had ever seen in my life
until I saw yours.
I'm actually talking about miss Oprah Winfrey.
So Oprah actually sent us a message just for you
cause she was so impressed by you. So let's see it.
- Hey Kira. Well, you know, heard about the incredible
cabbage that you grew,
even though all the rest of the class,
gardening project was canceled
when schools closed earlier this year.
You know, I love gardening. All my cabbage are gone.
So I'm standing her in front of my brussel sprouts.
And I heard that you watered your cabbage,
you made sure got plenty of sun, you watched it grow
and it grew to be 31 pounds.
Well, you, you win. That's very impressive.
I've never had a 31 pound cabbage.
So I'm so glad you stuck with your school project.
As you can imagine,
I love gardening and I can see that you love gardening.
And this is what I know for sure,
when you do what you love, love follows you.
So keep doing what you love.
Don't let anybody stop you from doing
what you believe is right for you.
And I hope you continue finding joy in your garden.
Love to you, Kira.
- Wasn't that cool? That was so cool.
- Yes. - That was amazing.
- I was so excited. I was like, you're the,
I am not that cool.
I didn't get Oprah to do that. You did.
You are cool. And that's how that happened.
And I'm just so proud of you and keep up gardening.
And it's so cool.
It sounds like your family already gardens, like you said,
your grandparents, right? That's where you were growing it?
- Yes.
- Yeah. I mean,
it sounds like you already have some green thumbs with it.
Keep that. That's such an amazing life skill
and food is medicine and to learn that at a young age
is so important.
So congratulations Kira.
I'm so proud of you. Angie, way to be a great mama.
And I hope y'all like that little video message.
We'll get that message to you. A big shout out to Oprah.
Thank you so much. It was so, it was special.