Lockdown proves fruitful for 3-year-old who grows his own fruit and veg

Bolton lad Jamie Whelan got into gardening and now is growing his own fruit and vegetables.

Blackberries, strawberries, carrots, sweetcorn, and even pumpkins are some of the produce growing in his garden.

The green fingered toddler simply loves planting and growing his own fruit and vegetables and started doing it after there was nothing else to do in the first lockdown.

His mum, Stacey Withington said: “When the pandemic first hit we were trying to think of things we could do at home because nursery was closed and we could only go to the supermarket.

“Then at the supermarket you could see the garden section and Jamie loves looking at plants so when we came across the seeds, we thought we could try planting.”

Stacey and husband Lee Whelan showed Jamie how to wash, plant and water his growing vegetables, and the youngster is now a dab hand at it and needs nothing but supervision in his gardening tasks.

She said: “Ever since then, he just loves doing it and can plant the seeds and the soil in the pot himself.

“He knows when to water them as well and will ask to go outside and water them when it’s sunny.”

Jamie has taken the pumpkins into his school that he has spent a year growing and is now decorating them for Halloween.

The love of gardening comes from his dad, police officer Lee, who first showed Jamie how to plant his own vegetables, but Jamie’s grandfather is also green fingered, often taking Jamie to see the squirrels in his own garden.

Stacey said: “He had about six pumpkins, so he kept the biggest one and gave the rest to his nursery, showing his friends."

The only thing Jamie won’t share is his fruit, because he eats all of it and his favourite thing sis to grow is sweetcorn, because the there-year-old can see actually see it growing.