SALINAS – Miranda Lopez won a $1,000 education bond for having tended and grown a huge cabbage.

The contest is part of a marketing program of Alabama-based Bonnie Plants, which awards one $1,000 scholarship in each state that participates in its National Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program.

Miranda is a third-grader at Madonna del Sasso School in Salinas, and her 28-pound cabbage was selected as the best in her classroom. Her name was then entered in a statewide drawing, where it was selected.

On Friday, Miranda will be acknowledged for her cabbage and her efforts by local officials and the California Department of Agriculture.

Any third-grade teacher can participate in the program. For more information, visit www.BonniePlants.com.

More than 67,400 California students took part in the contest, which was launched nationally in 2002.