How a 5-year-old turned garden cucumbers into a pickle business

A roadside stand selling homemade pickles is not the usual sight associated with a five-year-old. Yet Donovan Atkinson, a young boy from Attleboro, Massachusetts, has found himself running just such a venture, with cucumbers from his family's garden providing the starting point.

What began with a surplus of home-grown vegetables eventually developed into a small business, complete with its own name, customers and jars carrying a distinctive label. Known locally as 'The Pickle Kid', Donovan has already sold more than 500 jars since setting up his stand in 2025.

His experience has also introduced him to some of the everyday responsibilities involved in selling a product.How Donovan and his mother turned cucumbers into picklesThe idea came about after Donovan's family grew more cucumbers than they could readily use in their garden. Rather than letting the extra produce go to waste, he and his mother, Gabrielle Atkinson, started experimenting with making pickles at home.The kitchen became the first place where the project took shape.